It's fantastic. Go see it.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Neil Gaiman! Joe Hill!!! And Five New Writers I Love!!!
On June 15, Shane R. Toogood and I attended a panel discussion on popular fiction with Neil Gaiman, Lawrence Block, Walter Mosley, Kat Howard, Joe Hill, Kurt Andersen, and Jeffrey Ford at Columbia University.
How was it?
THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!! I sat on Ivy League benches, walked on Ivy League grass, and fell in love with Ivy League libraries.
And also listened to masters of the craft discuss writing. (Pictured below.)
(Photo by Shane)
Read more about it on Tainted Tea's blog. Here's a sample: To paraphrase Gaiman, fiction is about making the reader turn the page, asking the question "And then what happened?" Everything is about disappearing into a world of fiction.
Short Story: A Few Thoughts on Catholicism
Suddenly, it dawns on you. What if another dictator comes to power, this time with a vendetta against the Catholics? And what if his power reaches across the sea to you?
Because there is no written record of how you stopped caring about all religion. But there is a paper trail a mile long about your Catholic upbringing. You graduated from a Catholic grade school, graduated from a Catholic high school. You come from a family of devout Catholics, the kind that donates money to the Catholic church and volunteers at Catholic events.
And your parents. Religious apathy is one sore subject between you and them. They would never tell that army you are no longer one of them. In their eyes, this would be the perfect way to get you back in the church. And surely, they will think, our child will no longer burn in hell because our child has died a martyr with us.
Even if they did defend you, no one would believe them anyway.
You sure hope that doesn't happen.
And then, you go on with your day.
Because there is no written record of how you stopped caring about all religion. But there is a paper trail a mile long about your Catholic upbringing. You graduated from a Catholic grade school, graduated from a Catholic high school. You come from a family of devout Catholics, the kind that donates money to the Catholic church and volunteers at Catholic events.
And your parents. Religious apathy is one sore subject between you and them. They would never tell that army you are no longer one of them. In their eyes, this would be the perfect way to get you back in the church. And surely, they will think, our child will no longer burn in hell because our child has died a martyr with us.
Even if they did defend you, no one would believe them anyway.
You sure hope that doesn't happen.
And then, you go on with your day.
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