I’ve been working with a writer who has been struggling with her heroine’s dialogue. The problem is that the heroine speaks in cryptic sentences that the other characters can’t respond to. To correct this, I had her write an interior monologue about the heroine doing some simple task like getting dressed for work, a technique […]

Ever since I signed up for my trip to Venice, I’ve happened upon a bunch of mentions of the city and the country of Italy online and in the traditional media. Articles in film magazines, a spread in the travel section and this photo on Jezebel. I’m sure there’s already a scientific name for the […]

I just witnessed the aftermath of a very serious car accident involving a taxi cab around the corner from my office. In addition to my initial concern for the driver, passengers and pedestrians involved in the collision I was also taken with the reaction from the witnesses standing around the crash. A few kept their […]

My student Lanie tried to take the bus home last night that goes down Columbus Avenue. But he was told by another driver that busses weren’t running on that route because an old shopkeeper shot and killed two of four robbers who assaulted his employee. Because we’re always talking about genre in our neck of […]

I was walking down 43rd Street earlier today and spotted an elegantly dressed woman walking her large black Doberman that was sporting a pink tutu. They trotted happily along, with her in haute couture and the dog in his Swan-Lake-inspired costume. I was too stunned to get my camera out in time, but you can […]