There are collections, and then there are Collections

I’m not a hoarder, but I do like to collect things. Certain things. Like pottery. I had to sort through an outrageous number of pottery mugs recently, deciding which ones could be culled (to make room for more, of course). In addition to mugs, I have pottery serving bowls, plates, casseroles, sauce dishes, jugs, vases and more. Not a

Poetry or Not (preferably not!)

  “Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes.” [Joseph Roux] During April I’ve been participating in National Poetry Month. Participating how, you may wonder; it’s a far stretch from novel writing. Well, I admit I didn’t write a single poem during the month. The initial challenge at Tweetspeak Poetry was to pick a poet and study

Seasons of life in transition

I wasn’t expecting it… not yet. The subtle sweetness that whispers the approach of fall caught me off guard yesterday. We’ve been away for the past four weeks, enjoying summer’s sunshine and heat. But as we travelled homeward I sensed a gentle shift. Verdant trees and bushes were tinged with copper and gold. Flowers still

Ordinary or Extraordinary — what’s the difference?

As a weed, the common dandelion – Taraxacum officinale – is the bane of most gardeners’ existence. We yank it out, dig it up, spray it, and grumble. But still it persists. The cheery yellow flower is pretty, but its puffball of flyaway fruit allows seed to be transported on the wind, and it multiplies in

What’s right and wrong with Christian fiction?

. Does anyone really know what constitutes good Christian fiction? Four years ago I was invited to do several book reviews for our national church magazine, The Presbyterian Record. The books ranged from historical fiction to children’s fiction, and I chose to consolidate the reviews in one article, incorporating the reactions of fictitious readers. Those

That’s Not a Real Book!

. “But that’s not a real book. It’s just a cookbook.” Excuse me? Have you looked closely at the cookbooks that spill from shelves and display tables in your favourite bookstore? Not long ago I went hunting for one with recipes for my bread-making machine and was stunned at the selection.  The one I chose

Variations on the Romance Genre

Monday’s post was my contribution to a blogfest… a circle of blogs related to a single theme with links to facilitate movement between them. Its theme was “Romance… or not so much” and after reading all the different posts I couldn’t help marvel at how many different relationships have a romantic flavour. A year ago