Prose

Pink Chop at the Crossroads
A Fairy Tale
Barbara Stoner Read more about The Crossroads

It seems that every time someone is introduced as a speaker on MSNBC lately we are told that, besides impressive professional credentials, they also have a podcast. But I don’t have time to check them out. I’m busy enough with the four I already follow. Add that to the number of shows I’m streaming, the 1500 piece crossword puzzle I’m working on, and a couple of video games I find challenging and amusing, it’s a wonder I have time to write this paragraph. Still, I feel I should carry on, since these are podcasts that I really like and it would be lots of fun if you did as well. Read more about My Favorite Podcasts

Ever wanted to write a novel? I always did. Know what people told me when I told them that I wanted to write a novel? Nothing. Really. Nothing. Well, my dad did say that he understood Barbara Cartland made a lot of money. Now, Barbara Cartland was a well-known romance writer for Harlequin Books in the 70's, and I had no ambition to follow in her shoes. No, I decided. Making money would not, could not be my prime objective. Sorry, Dad. Read more about How To Write a Novel

Thanks to a Facebook friend of mine, I’m trying out Audible for the first time. I wasn’t certain that I could get into it, just listening. Not fiction, anyway. Read more about Audible

There is very little I watch on a TV set these days, which has me thinking the unthinkable: getting rid of cable or, in my case these days, the dish.

It’s a hard decision for a dedicated TVidiot like myself. Before recording options became available, it was not unknown for me to leave a party so I wouldn't have to miss an episode of whatever. I refuse to call them “my stories” because that might infer afternoon soaps. No, “my stories” included the likes of Dr. Who, Babylon 5, Masterpiece Mystery. You know. The good stuff. Read more about TV or Stream

Wrules for Writers

When you first sit down to write, unless you have been through a rigorous writing regime at an accredited university (nothing against them, but I don’t advise it), you will soon discover a universe of rules, most of which you may have broken in the first paragraph – first page at least. And unless you are a stickler for rules, most of them can be broken. But you need a little practice, a good ear for prose, and an iron constitution for staring down the disapproving looks from your writers’ group. Here are a few. Read more about Wrules for Writers

If you love Tolkien, as I do, you will love re-reading The Hobbit in companionship with Dr. Corey Olsen’s Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit as much as I did. Read more about Hobbitry

Summer reading was a little sketchy this year. Read more about Summer Reads 2021

This is rewritten slightly from an essay I wrote in the late 70's for a class on the place of art in society. Much has changed since that time, and popular culture has come into its own in ways we never dreamed way back in the olden days. Today you might find me reading a romance or scifi or fantasy novel which lives on the same shelf with Woolf and Faulkner and Rushdie. But I think my argument remains valid, and that there are more pages than we dream of in which we might find pieces of ourselves to examine. Read more about Who's Afraid of Litrachure?

Why is a clipper ship called a clipper ship?
Answer: they clipped time off journey durations.

The American clipper ship, sleek and narrow with a formidable yardage of sail could convey high-value, low-volume freight at up to 400 miles per day. It was the technological apogee of the sailing ship. Combined with the telegraph it was the mid-19th century forerunner of the internet and the jet plane. Combined with a few other factors, they led to the 1850’s producing what Ben Wilson calls the Dawn of the Global Age.

A plethora of gold strikes: Read more about History of a Decade