What is the purpose of reading stories, especially made-up stories?

According to Laura Miller, Senior writer at Salon.com, it is the Puritan work ethic of American readers that takes all the fun out of reading fiction. She says:

[It] boils down to the belief that reading can only be the means to an end, whether that end is moral betterment or worldly success (two classic Puritan preoccupations). For some of us, however, reading is an end in itself, and what fiction has to offer isn’t lessons but an experience, a revelation, a sudden expansion of the spirit. Like any art, it can teach or motivate, but it doesn’t have to, and it’s often better when it doesn’t.

I read fiction to become a better fiction writer. So I guess I do have some “Puritan” in me that wants to study by example. But I also read for fun. A good story expands my view of the world. It helps me see how we’re more alike than different. Why do you read fiction? As always, I’d love to hear from you.

A mural of Neruda graces the Bellavista neighborhood in Santiago, Chile.

These Top 10 Literary Cities in the World were picked by National Geographic. For descriptions of each city and why it is considered one of the top 10 go here.

1. Edinburgh, Scotland

2. Dublin, Ireland

3. London, England

4. Paris, France

5. St. Petersburg, Russia

6. Stockholm, Sweden

7. Portland, Oregon

8. Washington, D.C.

9. Melbourne, Australia

10. Santiago, Chile

I’m humbled to say that I have only been to one of the ten on this list, though several are on my bucket list. What about you? Are there places listed here that you’d like to go someday or have already visited?

For a writer so notoriously prolific (closing in on three hundred titles, according to Wikipedia) Jane Yolen is notable for maintaining a high standard of writing across many genres, including poetry, picture book texts, and fiction of both the realistic and fantastic kinds. Her latest novel, Snow in Summer, is a fresh blend of historical fiction and fairy tale, a “Snow White” set in 1930s West Virginia.

Here is an excerpt from an interview The Horn Book Magazine did recently called Five Questions for Jane Yolen. Of those five questions, I especially liked her answer to number 4, so I’ve pasted it below.

4.Do you believe in magic?

JY: I believe there are prestidigitators who can do card tricks and saw-the-woman-in half tricks. I believe there are politicians who can make us believe up is down and wrong is right. I believe there are preachers who try to sell us a mess of pottage.

And then I believe that an owl in flight, a hawk in stoop, an otter rising out of the duckweed, a triple rainbow over the Isle of May, the New Jersey skyline as seen from the Highline in Manhattan on a night of the full moon, the small greenings of spring, honeybees on a blossom, and a newborn’s finger curled around mine are small everyday miracles, another word for ordinary magic. And that I believe in.

Oh — and if anyone can show me a real fairy, or a ghost, or a unicorn, I am so there . . . .

I like what she says about “ordinary magic.” Sometimes in the early morning, when the mist is clinging to the mountain range outside my window, I could believe in almost anything.  So what’s your stance on magic? Are you a believer?

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My website.

Once, when asked about his writing routine, award-winning writer, E.L. Doctorow, said:

“Here’s how it goes:
I’m up at the stroke of 10 or 10:30. I have breakfast and read the papers, and then it’s lunchtime. Then maybe a little nap after lunch and out to the gym, and before I know it, it’s time to have a drink.”

Here is D.L. Doctorow’s bio. It’s definitely longer than 25 words and doesn’t at all sound like the bio of someone who lounges through the day.

As I’ve shared before, I write in the mornings, Monday thru Friday, from around 9 until 12:30 and then I do marketing in the afternoons, which involves querying agents and/or publishers, typing in changes to revised manuscripts, and promoting Seeking Sara Summers. If I was a drinker, I’d definitely drink in the afternoons.

What about you? What is your writing routine? As always, I’d love to hear from you.

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Author website.

The very private, William Wall

I don’t believe that the details of my life have any relevance to a reading of my work. Besides, in many ways I lead a pretty boring life — I get up early and work as much as I can, I make coffee etc. What I want to say about my life, my thinking and my beliefs is in my books and other published materials. If I wanted to be a ‘celebrity’ (whatever the hell that is), whose every living moment is of vital interest to ‘the public,’ I wouldn’t be a writer. Writing is an essentially private business. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s an intimate one.

By the way, here is the 25 word bio on his homepage:

What do you think? Do you like knowing the personal details of the writers you read? Would 25 words be enough? As always, I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. Here’s the bio page on my website. It’s at least 500 words, maybe more. Could you do your own bio in 25 words? If you can–and you feel like sharing–please put it in the comment section!

Did you get a Kindle e-reader for Christmas? If so, here are 10+ books that you can download for free because they are old enough to be considered public domain. I pulled this list from:

Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life.

Wilkie Collins: Love Dragon Tattoo? This wildly popular Victorian-era novelist was a precursor to the modern detective novelist. His fascinating, densely plotted page-turners often focused on revenge and the plight of women. Download The Moonstone and The Woman in White.

Arthur Conan Doyle: Speaking of great mystery writers, the Sherlock Holmes creator’s works are available for free. Save yourself the price of admission to the Hollywood version and go straight to the source.

Phillip K. Dick: Last year, 11 of the prolific sci-fi master’s works were made part of public domain. Others like Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly aren’t free but will only cost you a dollar or two.

Jane Austen: You’ve probably read and re-read Pride and Prejudice, but check out Emma, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park as
well.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: This children’s classic never gets old. Also available for free: Little
Women by Louisa May Alcott.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: This captivating novel about New York society of the very early 20th century feels utterly fresh and surprising today.

Anton Chekhov: Pretty much any short story writer will point to Chekhov as a master of the form. It seems almost wrong that his stories (including the perfect “The Lady with the Dog”) and plays won’t cost you anything.

Dubliners by James Joyce: Okay, so I may not get to Ulysses any time soon, but I read the spectacular story/novella “The Dead” from this collection a couple times a year.

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain: His better-known books are available, too, but Twain’s account of his European “grand tour” is still gutbustingly funny.

Fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm: These weird, dark classics aren’t for kids — and in today’s pop culture, they’re more relevant than ever.

This list only scratches the surface. Do you have any free Kindle ebooks that you’d like to share?

Please note: This one isn’t free, but it’s mine, so I will also suggest: Seeking Sara Summers. Available on several e-readers, including: Kindle, nook, ipad, Sony, and Kobe books.

Happy New Year, everybody! And, Happy Reading!!

Author, naturalist, and environmental activist, Terry Tempest Williams says:

“I live in a very, very quiet place. I have a sequence to my creative life. In spring and fall, I am above ground and commit to community. In the summer, I’m outside. It is a time for family. And in the winter, I am underground. Home. This is when I do my work as a writer — in hibernation. I write with the bears.”

I love that quote and love thinking of writing that way. A few weeks ago I started a new novel that is a huge, yet wonderful, distraction. You may have noticed that I’m not posting as often and that is why. I am obsessed with finishing the first draft and keep having fantasies of going to live in a cave (or maybe a 5-star hotel) so that I can. (As of today, I have 57,000 words. A typical novel for me is around 80,000 words.) What about you? Are you working on something right now? Are you writing with the bears? As always, I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. Happy Holidays!

P.P.S. A new book is coming out next year. You’ll be hearing about it soon.

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This post has nothing to do with writing or books, but I thought these photographs were beautiful. My favorite is the one with the lush, green landscape and the red umbrella. A close second is the lightning. Powerful! Which one is your favorite?

National Geographic website.

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Author website.

1) my mate, my daughters, my friends

2) mountain streams

3) authenticity

4) song birds

5) readers of my books and blog (thank you!)

6)  seasons

7) sincerity

8) well-written fiction

9) advanced writer’s groups

10) milk chocolate with nuts

11) blues

12) female vocalists

13) storytellers

14) hummingbirds

15) deciduous trees

16) clean rivers

17) meadows

18) white-tailed deer

19) word processing

20) Pentel mechanical pencils

21) a genuine smile

22) independent & foreign films

23) a really good story

24) creativity

25) gusts of warm wind

26) falling leaves

27) deep breaths

28) a good hamburger

29) coffee shops that sell quality tea

30) bookstores

31) libraries

32) get-togethers with friends

33) waterfalls

34) sitting by a mountain stream on a sunny day

35) writing in the mornings

36) artistic excellence

37) writers who focus on craft

38) art museums

39) kindness

40) a good southern breakfast

41) time to contemplate life

42) courage

43) quests for brilliance

44) wisdom

45) symbolism

46) mysticism

47) nature poetry

48) nature poets

49) four-legged family: current and past

50) dogs: Emma & Jack

51) cats: Sammy, Squeaker, and Timmy

52) grace

53) forgiveness

54) knowledge and intelligence

55) artists of all kinds

56) travel that expands

57) freedom to write what I want

58) soul

59) book sales

60) Scrabble

61) memories that lift and nourish

62) integrity

63) cheese Danish

64) Assam tea

65) ancestors

66) consciousness

67) drawings & illustrations

68) comedy

69) laughter

70) our house in the forest

71) wood stoves

72) wood floors

73) holidays with select family and friends

74) a good joke

75) walks by the river

76) red-tailed hawks

77) grocery stores

78) farmer’s markets

79) white squirrels outside my window

80) playfulness

81) shade on hot, sunny days

82) campfires

83) deep conversation

84) dreams, dreams, dreams

85) dancers at the top of their game

86) moonlight

87) sunlight through trees

88) stars

89) oceans

90) children laughing

91) grand-dogs

92) hearing

93) sight

94) intuition

95) live music

96) a book that enlightens me

97) good health

98) sacred landscapes

99) the desire to listen deeply

What about you? What are you grateful for?

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Author website.

Whenever I read what I feel is a really good poem, I want to share it with people. A lot of times I email them to friends and since a lot of you have become my friends over the years, I wanted to share it with you.

In addition to writing novels, I also write poetry and I have been modestly published a couple of times. I think a good poem makes us realize that we’re not alone. It expands our world in some way. See what you think of this one by Malena Morling. As always, I welcome your thoughts, and if you have a poem that you’d like to share with other readers, please email it to me or put it in the comment section. –Susan

Simply Lit
by Malena Morling

Often toward evening,
after another day, after
another year of days,
in the half dark on the way home
I stop at the food store
and waiting in line I begin
to wonder about people—I wonder
if they also wonder about how
strange it is that we
are here on the earth.
And how in order to live
we all must sleep.
And how we have beds for this
(unless we are without)
and entire rooms where we go
at the end of the day to collapse.
And I think how even the most
lively people are desolate
when they are alone
because they too must sleep
and sooner or later die.
We are always looking to acquire
more food for more great meals.
We have to have great meals.
Isn’t it enough to be a person buying
a carton of milk? A simple
package of butter and a loaf
of whole wheat bread?
Isn’t it enough to stand here
while the sweet middle-aged cashier
rings up the purchases?
I look outside,
but I can’t see much out there
because now it is dark except
for a single vermilion neon sign
floating above the gas station
like a miniature temple simply lit
against the night.

“Simply Lit” by Malena Mörling, from Astoria. © University of Pittsburg Press, 2006.