I am the sort of writer who likes to know the end of a story first, and have a narrative road map along the writing way. But I can't do that with this Bordertown story/novel/novellas? I have no idea yet how it will come together and I feel like Belle arriving at the Beast's castle, […]
What Cocteau Is Teaching Me About Writing Read More »
Near the end of the novel The Pirates of the Levant by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste finds himself the highest ranking survivor of one of three ships that are battling for their lives against the Turks, who out-gun, out-cannon, and just sheer outnumber the Spaniards. There is a hasty meeting of the remaining "commanders" from
Last Lines and Cool Captains Read More »
As I watched the performance of the play, I noticed how the actors carefully paced the action and continually adjusted the story to fit the audience response and preferences. Some sections were lengthened, others were shortened. When a particular actor’s characterization was well received, more time was tacitly allowed for extra pantomime or ad
Tibetan A Ice Lhamo: The World Beneath the Tents lV by Jeanette Snyder Read More »
The play we were about to see, Padma ‘od ‘bar, is based on a story of about a former life of Padmasambhava, the eighth century Indian teacher and yogin who is famous for the part he played in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet, especially his conversion of all Tibet’s pre–Buddhist nature deities into Protectors of
Tibetan A Ice Lhamo: The World Beneath the Tents lll by Jeanette Snyder Read More »
The abrupt sound of vigorous drum and cymbal music from outside the tent galvanized the audience. Lama J. leaned over and told me that this was the first drum signal, a ten minute warning that the performance was about to begin. Last minute stragglers rushed in and found seating. Others checked their supplies
Tibetan A Ice Lhamo: The World Beneath the Tents ll by Jeanette Snyder Read More »
In 1964 my mother, Jeanette Snyder, then a graduate student in Tibetan Studies at the University of Washington, received a Fulbright Grant to study Tibetan theater in India, Nepal, and Sikkim, countries that had welcomed the flow of Tibetan exiles after the 1959 uprising. As a child, awaiting her return in the States, I loved
Tibetan A Ice Lhamo: The World Beneath the Tents by Jeanette Snyder Read More »
How wonderful is this — and frankly, a wee bit strange to see my name in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. This is the Russian translation of The Greenman Anthology, and I had to count the stories based on the US edition in the ToC inborder to be certain which one was mine! And what a
There is a passage in Arturo Pérez-Reverte's The Pirates of the Levant that struck me as true. We are a military family and for over ten years it has been my pleasure (mingled with a mother's worry and sometimes grief at the violent deaths) of being in the company of remarkable men who have served
Honor & Loyalty in Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Pirates of the Levant. Read More »
In the midst of reading The King’s Gold, Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s fourth volume in his swashbuckling series “The Adventures of Captain Alatriste,” I came across one of those brilliant, long, elegant, artfully constructed sentences that takes up almost the entire paragraph. I’ve read it over several times and just can’t get over how gorgeous it is.
The Art of the Long Sentence: Arturo Pérez-Reverte Read More »
**As I have been reading the last two novels in the Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and really want to write more about them — I thought it worthwhile to revisit two earlier posts (one from 2008 — almost ten years ago! ) that provide both reviews of the earlier books and details on
Reviews of the Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Perez-Reverte Read More »
