Again the dream: Pinch smiling, her skin glistening, her smile solemn. The pliant light of dusk folds over her body. A deep purple cloak spreads white, colors like a kaleidoscope ripples at its heart, red, blue and pale white. A hand moves out of it’s chest and swiftly, before I can wake, before I can scream, she is run through with an instrument that flares gold, blood bubbles and a whiff of vapor coils across the scene. A voice that is me but not me calls out a truth that I have known... Read Full Story

There is a duality to everything, calm and chaos, life and death, good and evil, sin and penitence, and hungry and full. And Hannah Dubois, our Dante, finds herself, like we all do, caught within life's juxtapositions. She journeys through all terraces of purgatorio with a guide as beautiful and patient as Beatrice. We are connected to Hannah through her struggles to keep the love of her life safe, to sate her hunger with the delicious foods of New Orleans (and even as a reader, we can... Read Full Story

Word of the day: glyph- a sculptured picture or relief carving. Quote of the day: "Every spirit passing through the world fingers the tangible and mars the mutable, and finally has come to look and not to buy." Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping Barfism of the day:"I noticed again today that Sen. Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money... Read Full Story

It's Saturday! There's a few people I cannot talk to today....NFL Draft! Word of the day: palliation; playing down, minimizing, cover-up. Quote of the day: "He walked out into the night with his flashlight. He was still giggling. He was making the flashlight beam dance all over the dead people stacked outside. He put his hand on my head, and do you know what that marvellous man said to me?" asked Castle. "Nope." "Son," my father said to me, "someday all this will be yours." from... Read Full Story

Word of the day: estivate - to pass summer in a state of torpor Quote of the day: this is how publicist and author Sloane Crosley, 29, chose her last vacation spot: She spun a globe. "I had some rules when I started. No war zones. No places that would make me depressed because they are so romantic, so Paris and London were out," she says. She landed at a spot in the middle of an ocean at first, necessitating a new rule about landing on oceans, but eventually her finger found Portugal. Last... Read Full Story

I noted earlier that a book club chick lit reader didn't like The Beatitudes because of what she called spelling errors (besides, I write hard noir thrillers). That's Cajun French, my girl! For a great website to learn about all things Cajun, Cajun music and Zydeco (not the same thing, podna, Cajun music is called chank-e-yank by real Cajuns) go to www.cajunradio.com and there you will also find Clarence's Guide to the Cajun French Language. Here's the information:Clarence's Baton Rouge... Read Full Story

If so, go to www.strandbooks.com Yes, that fantastic bookstore in New York. Click on the sidebar for Books By the Foot and see neat ideas and purchases for decorating with books! An aside: I read an article not long ago by a real estate agent about what to do when selling your home. The agent suggested that if you have shelves and shelves of books to get rid of them because "today the buyer is not impressed by libraries in homes." Good lord, help us, civilization is coming to an end... Read Full Story

Quote of the day: Conversation: "an unrehearsed intellectual adventure." Michael Oakeshott Word of the day: psephology: statistical analysis of elections - coined by historian R.B. McCallum Barfism of the day: Eliot Spitzer, disgraced governor of New York, of course has an agent, and word is that the floor bid for his book, telling us all about his rise and fall (aren't you excited?) is said to be at $350,000 for now. Now you know what to do if you want your book published. Good blog... Read Full Story

Dear Lyn, When Celine asked me if I wanted a copy of your book, my answer was an enthusiastic yes. I am an avid reader. I thought I would be getting a chapbook sized publication not a complete novel. I just started reading it and am impressed with your strong use of imagery and creative approach to the story. Not even through the first chapter, I am already into the plot. Thank you for this most generous gift. Karen from West Fargo, ND Hi! I just finished your book. What a... Read Full Story

-The Times Picayune, the newspaper of New Orleans at www.nola.com. Check out the Reading Life, started a couple months ago perhaps to highlight New Orleans literature and let us all know how important New Orleans is to world literature. I have mixed feelings about the Reading Life, since it is very conventional and leaves very little room for the outstanding work done by some of the small and independent presses of New Orleans. I know that there have been book fairs around the city and they... Read Full Story