In Pursuit of Silence
My review of IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE by George Prochnik is now up on the Globe & Mail website. Recommended, especially for those of us who spend a good deal of time with our fingers in our ears.
Read MoreExamined on the Examiner
Maybe I should travel more often! I’ve had some lovely things happen while I’ve been away these past two weeks. One was the interview I did with poet Diane Lockward on www.Shewrites.com, which I linked to in the preview blog, and now this: Renee Miller, at www.Examiner.com has written a beautiful review of THE RADIANT…
Read More5 Questions
I am writing from beautiful Stow-on-the-wolds in England — cheerful beyond measure by splendid countryside and cream teas. While I’ve been away, the folks at the social networking site for women writers, Shewrites.com, have kindly posted a feature on me, called “Five Questions for Lauren B. Davis.” This week poet Diane Lockward asks award-winning novelist…
Read More10 things I wish I'd known before I published
A long time ago, I was standing in my kitchen with my friend, Michael. Michael a big Guyanese guy with an easy smile and a laugh to fit his size, asked me if I had a piece of gum. I said I did and handed him one, but forgot to mention it was a new…
Read MoreChief Arvol Looking Horse asks we pray to stop the bleeding
I was in New Orleans recently, arriving shortly after the oil catastrophe (‘spill’ is hardly an adequate word). Even though officials said they didn’t know how bad the damage would be, every Louisianian I spoke to had little doubt, and the horror showed in their faces. My heart breaks, as I’m sure yours does. I…
Read MoreFacebook — naked in the public square?
If you read this blog even occasionally, you know how ambivalent I am about social networking. I do it mostly because it’s part of my job, to be honest. It’s not that I don’t want to hear from readers — on the contrary, hearing from readers is one of the things I LOVE about being…
Read MoreYou don't know what you don't know…
This week a friend called me, her tone a bit tightly-wound, and asked if I had a few minutes to talk. My friend is a writer, someone I’ve met only recently, and she’s just published her first book. It’s done pretty well. A few nice reviews, a bit of attention. She should be happy. But…
Read MoreAll's well that ends "well"
I read a novel yesterday by a promising young writer and although I enjoyed it, I was reminded of just how important satisfying endings are. Like openings, endings are tricky. When editors send back a short story or reject a novel, nine times out of ten they’ll say the ending didn’t work for them. It’s…
Read MoreNewsflash — nobody has a clue
Before I published, I had this fantasy that somewhere, perhaps on the top floor of a glittering skyscraper in New York City, at the end of a long corridor lined with books and the portraits of famous writers, was a room in which stood a heavy oak table surrounded by high-backed leather chairs. In these…
Read MoreApproaching the page… "Hello, Page."
I was out for dinner with a writer I admire last week, she asked me if I actually read poetry. I noted the word “actually” as a hint she didn’t. I said I did. “Huh,” she said. “I could never quite get into it.” Now, this writer is a non-fiction writer, and a humorist, and…
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