The Alice Network, a highly decorated web of World War I French spies led by a female master spy, has been turned into an enthralling piece of historical fiction by Kate Quinn. Within the first few pages, Quinn plants a question in the reader’s mind that drives the story, demanding an answer. Quinn takes genuine […]
Stolen scores high in writing competition
“She is an excellent storyteller, and this is a very worthwhile read.” Judge, 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Yesterday I received two emails that blew me away. One said my first mystery, The Loggerhead Murders, had advanced to round two in the 2019 Writer’s Digest Self Published eBook Awards contest. The second email […]
Miss Period badges: another bad idea
A women’s health store in Japan came up with the idea that its staff would wear “physiology badges” when having their periods. Thank goodness there was backlash when the public got word of it. Now the store is reconsidering its menstruation labeling, euphemistically called Miss Period. This is a country where some companies forbid their […]
University women swimmers told to ‘grow a thicker skin’
Three members of Niagara University’s women’s swim team are suing the university for ignoring their complaints about male swim team harassment. The women and men’s teams share a coach, who turns a deaf ear to ritualized jeers and taunts from male swimmers. The harassment involves body shaming and sexual innuendo. This story absolutely sickens me. […]
Pachinko: Koreans in Japan struggle to control their destiny
In the mid-1970s, when we were adopting our eldest son, I read that Koreans did not like the Japanese, because Korea had once been a Japanese colony. Understandable. Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, a National Book Award finalist, sees it differently: The Japanese do not like Koreans. Covering several generations from 1910-1989, Pachinko describes […]
Textbooks often miss the point when dealing with American slavery
Children spend a lot of time reading textbooks, of which not all are created equal. Some are painfully out of date, such as the Colorado textbook used by students in 2019 that went only as far as the Bill Clinton administration. Think back to all that’s happened since then… Yet, even pre-Clinton history has gotten […]
