Why Creepy Neighbors Are Perfect for Domestic Thrillers
How many times have you read a good thriller or mystery novel involving the new neighbors next door? Novelist Allison Dickson, author of The Other Mrs. Miller, explains why neighbors are such good novelistic material.
the one thing that might make your neighbors more interesting fodder for a thriller than family is that when relations turn sour on the other side of the street or fence, there’s no easy way out. You can usually hang up on problematic family member and ignore their calls for a few days, but the dwelling next door and your new mortal enemy living in it isn’t going anywhere. Whether by lease or mortgage, you’re both invested for the long term and have staked your claim. You have to find a way to resolve things, or risk of becoming a prisoner in your own home.
SLOBS, REJOICE: WHY YOU SHOULDN’T CLEAN YOUR MESSY DESK
I had heard quite a while ago that a messy desk is often a sign of creativity, but it’s always nice to have my excuse for a messy desk reinforced.
Experts say disorder stimulates creativity because physical artifacts can trigger people to draw connections between separate ideas — ones already in your head and seemingly unrelated — to generate novel solutions. It’s a process known as “psychological bricolage,” according to Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, a professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan.
Is the Internet Making Writing Better?
As a former English teacher, I was appalled when textspeak such as “where r u?” entered everyday speech. But in this article Katy Waldman reviews Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
“It’s only with the rise of the Internet that a truly casual, willfully ephemeral prose has ascended—and become central to daily life,” Waldman writes.
It’s only with the rise of the Internet that a truly casual, willfully ephemeral prose has ascended—and become central to daily life.
And do you know the difference between lol and LOL? It’s a subtle but real difference, according to McCulloch.
Electric Reads Set in the ’60s
For those of us who came of age in the 1960s:
In these 16 historical fiction novels set in the ’60s, authors tackle some of the decade’s transformations and predicaments, its quandaries and triumphs. Each read is a great place to begin untangling the decade’s legacy.
I would add to this list November Road by Lou Berney.
ARE YOU CLIMATE HOMESICK? HE’S GOT A WORD FOR THAT
Solastalgia describes the feeling of distress caused by environmental change, and it was coined by Australian environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht. “It was important to give that feeling a name because it was missing from our language,” Albrecht says from his small farm in Australia’s Hunter Valley region in the eastern state of New South Wales.
Bonus: See also Every Day is Earth Day: 365 Books to Start Your Climate Change Library
© 2019 by Mary Daniels Brown
Retreading for Retirement 