sunsinger

“An inviolate circle of light from the lone lamp encompassed mother and child, she in a chair reading aloud from an old tan book of stories, he sleepy-eyed beneath covers hearing about trolls, witches, winds that talked, a castle, and a prince, the stuff that dreams and futures are made of before seasons matter and life hardens the soul. While she liked reading ‘Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed’ and his father liked reading ‘Why the Sea is Salt,’ David asked each night for ‘The Lad Who Went to... Read Full Story

When I review a book, I check the publisher’s description online and on the back cover to make sure I don’t inadvertently divulge plot twists and other surprises that readers won’t know when they start reading. I was a bit surprised to find a blurb on Pascal Marco’s Identity: Lost from an author claiming that this “electrifying debut puts him firmly in the hunt to succeed John Grisham.”  Really? By the time I finished reading this intricate and heartbreaking legal thriller, I decided that... Read Full Story

During Glacier National Park’s 2010 centennial, I wrote quite a few posts about the history, personalities, facilities and environment of Montana’s shining mountains for this weblog. Now, Vanilla Heart Publishing has compiled a selection of those posts into a free PDF e-book that you can download from PayLoadz . Highlights of the 49-page e-book Fast Facts and Photographs All Aboard for Glacier National Park Glacier by the Grace of God and the Great Northern Mountains and Rock... Read Full Story

from the National Parks and Conservation Association Historic gathering of leading national park champions shapes outline for supporting National Park Service’s mission for 2016 centennial and the century to follow Recognizing a growing need to unite the advocates, partners and supporters of national parks in advance of the upcoming 2016 National Park Service (NPS) centennial and beyond, the most diverse group of national park leaders ever convened gathered last week in Washington, D.C... Read Full Story

“The Bible says that in the beginning was the void, and it hasn’t escaped me how fast the Lord moved to take care of His own particular vacuum—dividing day from night, spitting out vast oceans, carving out competing continents that would one day have the power to blow each other up. What an inspired series of creations to keep the devil of boredom at bay. No wonder God kept seeing that it was good.” So begins the story of Fleur Robins. Fleur Robins is called creepy child, poor child... Read Full Story

Due to a questionable, though potentially humorous ripple in the space-time continuum yesterday, author Smoky Zeidel awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award. According to the usual half-informed sources, this award forces me to divulge seven facts about myself that most of you don’t know without the benefits of a get out of jail free card or an invitation to join the FBI witness protection program. I danced with a local mobster’s girl friend one night in Denver when he (the mobster) was... Read Full Story

When I joined the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) in the 1960s after working in and taking trips to many of the parks, the group had a oval-chaped logo with the silhouettes of three bears. That logo was around for 50 years. Now NPCA has decided it’s time for a change: “After about a year and a half of research, focus-group testing, surveys, and outreach, NPCA finally unveiled a modernized logo yesterday.” Naturally, some people wanted to keep the old logo. I support the... Read Full Story

Small juvenile crocodilians are deceptive – they seem easy enough to handle, and persuasive dealer talk can easily convince people to part with their cash. But do not be fooled. As they grow larger, crocodilians rapidly become stronger and more boisterous. After only a year, many people can no longer handle their animals and it is very common to see 1 to 2 year old animals being given away or illegally released into the wild. Larger crocodilians are, without a doubt, extremely dangerous... Read Full Story

Elmore Leonard’s “10 Rules for Good Writing” include Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose” and Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip . Savvy advice from an old pro. But suddenly, it occurs to me that there’s more to it than that.  After all, nobody wants to wistfully look back on a writing-career-that-could-have-been and be forced to admit that all hell broke loose when s/he violated one of Malcolm’s Top Ten Things a Writer Should Never Do . Never use... Read Full Story

The Infernal Republic , collected short storeis by Marshall Moore, 228 pages, Signal 10 Media Inc (2/14/2012) Marshall Moore’s seventeen short stories in The Infernal Republic not only push the envelope, they destroy it. Endlessly inventive and varied, these twisted tales tend to focus on strange—and potentially warped—characters who are often in lose-lose situations that resolve (more or less) in ironic twists of fate. For readers who love outside-the-box storytelling, each normal... Read Full Story