Tom Swift Writer’s Notebook

David Bender writes with a message that makes me warm inside:
As an ancestor of Charles Albert Bender and as an American Indian, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing “Chief Bender’s Burden.” I haven’t read it yet. I actually just discovered it today on the Borders Web site. What [...]

As noted in the acknowledgments section of the book, I am a proud member of the Loft Literary Center — a terrific resource and a sturdy leg in a unique partnership. Cool to see the New York Times take note.

I appreciate a Fresh Air contributor’s essay on the oft-talked about but seldom defined E-word.

I appreciate the chance to listen to great writers speak about their books and the craft. Two recommendations for others who do as well:

The first installment of To The Best of Our Knowledge’s new series on premier authors has me looking forward to the second one.
I’ve subscribed to the National Public Radio: Books Podcast for [...]

The pooch park is a brilliant invention. The savage beast can run as he should, amongst his own, unencumbered, and I don’t have to intervene until blood is spilled or the others go home. It’s even better when the kinder, gentler person in my marriage is there, too, as was the case last night. After [...]

Here I thought I was merely reading a fun little item about a man who had been hogtied and paraded about town in the back of a pickup after being shocked with a Taser (who among us has not done that after tipping back a few on a Saturday night?), when I learned something incredibly [...]

I recommend Bill Moyers’ program from Friday night. Especially this segment. And this one is worth a view, too. I had the earbuds in, but the video probably adds something I missed.

There are a few things I learned right-quick in the South. Most likely the driver one car ahead aims to use a turn signal only when Johnny Law is near. I know to flip on the radio only if I’m in the mood for a song last popular in 1982. Or white-man rage about Hollywood [...]

When I wake up my mind often seems as though it’s already minutes into the day — contemplating the to-do list of life. Wait! Open the book instead. When I do this usually, like this morning, I am rewarded.

By the way, I’ve updated this blog’s links down-right. Included are active Northfield writer sites. If you have a minute, some good stuff.

The other day I finished “American Jezebel,” a biography of Anne Hutchinson. There are several positive things I could write about author Eve LaPlante’s fine work — especially considering the dearth of material available (Hutchinson lived in the gender equivalent of the Paleozoic era; a woman was scarcely allowed to speak much less have her [...]

How awesome is it that we belong to a species that includes men and women who are so brilliant they can look into instruments and discover new worlds that are so far away they would take several lifetimes worth of travel — aboard ships moving so fast as to defy the average person’s concept of [...]

I appreciate authors who write history I should know with clarity and depth that makes me want to know. Nathan Philbrick turns the trick in “Mayflower” — a book that tells the important story of early European arrivals in this country and the complex, seamy nature of that story.
Philbrick dispels long-running fairytales about the [...]

What do you read?
Writers are always asked that question. Well, at least that’s what I hear they’re asked. The only regular query I get is “Can you move that cart? You’re blocking the aisle.”
I’ll pretend you asked and periodically try to mention writing that moves me. You are free to disregard my reading suggestions [...]