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What Was Lost could have been two different novels: a delightful children’s story about a girl sleuth, or a gothic tale of urban despair. Catherine O’Flynn chooses the darker path, but only after making us fall in love with Kate Meaney, a ten-year-old aspiring detective who hangs around a shopping…

Don’t you wish sometimes that you could recapture your childhood talent for adaptability? To welcome new experiences, rather than fear them? To deal with parental contradictions and inconsistencies? When strangers spirit Carmel Wakeford away from her mother Beth, the child accepts it as an adventure. For Beth, the separation is…

In his previous novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles had great fun creating a hotel oasis for an aristocrat in Joseph Stalin’s Russia. This time his pattern is a mishmash of heroic legends based largely on Homer’s Odyssey, as four 1950s youths embark on their own quests. Two of…

I’m sorry to report that nobody entered the contest I posted on last week’s blog. So nobody won the prize: a free copy of Weapons of Remorse. Regardless, here are the answers to the quiz: What is the name of the main character in C. S. Lewis’s “Space Trilogy”? The…

This week’s blog is a chance to win a prize. I will send free copies of my novel, Weapons of Remorse, to the first three people who can answer the following two questions: -- What is the name of the main character in C. S. Lewis’s “space trilogy”? -- On…

Except for the Bible, I cannot think of a book more relevant to the present age than The Honey Bus. This memoir of a young girl emerging from the shards of a wrecked family offers a prescription not only for broken relationships, but for the broken culture of humanity. Meredith…

This month marks five years since I entered the world of publishing. Here are some things I’ve learned: Book Genres My book can’t be categorized. My book ended up in a category. Writing Advice Plot is the most important element. Character is the most important element. Theme is the most…

In today’s anarchy of social media and “breaking news,” it’s hard to recall a time when America’s journalistic standards were so high that fact-checking took precedence over speed. That era ended on March 6, 1981, when Walter Cronkite bade his audience goodnight for the last time. Cronkite built his reputation…

When I got ready to publish Weapons of Remorse, I browsed many websites in search of a publisher. Though I was flying blind, the service I selected was ethical and delivered what it promised. Many writers aren’t so lucky. Some businesses with fancy home pages and gaudy book covers are…

Anthony Doerr’s narrative reminds us that human beings define themselves by what they value. An orphaned German boy values knowledge, asking endless questions few of us ever ponder, such as “Does a bee know it’s going to die if it stings somebody?” or “Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside…