The best response to the GPT controversy
GPT stands for Generative pre-trained transformers (GPT), a family of language models by OpenAI, that are generally trained on aContinue Reading
Category: Creative Process
Now I know what generosity of spirit means
Allow me to get personal for once: Usually I try to remain objective and businesslike when I write on theseContinue Reading
Avatars, pen names, pseudonyms and the 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse
Isn’t it funny how things go round and round? It’s probably human nature to keep repeating history, but it sometimesContinue Reading
For once, something truly meaningful
I have been feeling very down lately, quite discouraged, because I am in the process of being retrained. I cannotContinue Reading
Ha! Told you so. I was right about Neil Gaiman
After last week’s post, when I wrote about my reassessment of Neil Gaiman’s writing, I thought, oh dear, what ifContinue Reading
Backstories Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of anthology Review of Fantasy Reviews of short stories
Don’t say you weren’t warned – Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning
On April 28, 2022, Neil Gaiman started doing again what all writers do when they make a living as aContinue Reading
Backstories Creative Process getting published List of top books Review of translated novel Translated work
So many ways to get lost in translation…
A multilingual perspective Yesterday, someone asked me how my Spanish, Portuguese and French skills are, because those are the languagesContinue Reading
Where does inspiration come from? (and a poem about music)
I recently completed a collection of compositions that share the theme of heat. It’s called Thermós, and, until today, IContinue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of classical fiction Review of classical novel Review of historical fiction Review of translated novel
Two tales of Japan of more than a thousand years ago – The Tale of Genji and The Tale of Murasaki
Tension between Russia and Japan is increasing at the moment, because of the disputed nation status of the Kuril Islands,Continue Reading
The “accidental dance between collected memory and influence” – Nick Cave’s affectionate honesty (2)
In the previous post, I wrote about how much I enjoy Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files. A recent Red HandContinue Reading
How to be kind to your fans – Nick Cave’s affectionate honesty (1)
The Red Hand Files, musician Nick Cave’s responses to questions from his fans, readers and listeners, has passed the 180Continue Reading
Hopefully, your opening line does not need a possum
I wondered what would happen if I added the random sentence, “But one day they found themselves on a possum woolContinue Reading
Art Creative Process Discussion of lyrics Historical Nonfiction music Music Criticism Music History musicians review of biography
What is your unguilty pleasure? – ENYA, by Chilly Gonzales
Musician Chilly Gonzales (born Jason Charles Beck) hates bananas. I’m not that fond of bananas myself. It’s that sticky, doughyContinue Reading
You’re a writer – What is your time worth?
Over the years I have discovered that people, for many reasons, give their services or creative products away for free,Continue Reading
All the little angels…
There’s a thing that really good authors do – and I don’t know what’s the word for it – theyContinue Reading
Award-winning novel Creative Process Discussion of writing style Literary analysis New Non-Fiction Readers and reading Review of historical fiction Review of literary fiction
A man on the roof of a 70-storey building – Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall is 672 pages long. It is 672 pages in which every single line and every single word haveContinue Reading
So you want to be a writer?
On the subscription film channel, MUBI, there’s a documentary about the writer Charles Bukowski (1920 – 1994), who wrote acerbic,Continue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of literary fiction Review of modern fiction Review of new book Reviews of short stories
Finally – Then what happened? in First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami
While looking at First Person Singular, by acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami, I asked myself three questions in order toContinue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of literary fiction Review of modern fiction Review of new book Reviews of short stories
The most important thing in First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami
Trying to make sense of the new collection of stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, I asked the question: WhatContinue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of literary fiction Review of modern fiction Review of new book Review of translated novel Reviews of short stories
What is it about? – First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami
Acclaimed Fantasy author Neil Gaiman teaches in his Masterclass course on The Art of Storytelling, that a writer and aContinue Reading
It all depends on how you look at it…
As my reward for having gotten through 2020 without any major ructions, while at the same time staying productive, IContinue Reading
(How) can a computer produce Bach chorales and Harry Potter books?
My discovery of the Google Doodle which celebrated the music of Johann Sebastian Bach started me on the road toContinue Reading
“Nothing comes from nothing.”
Pondering creativity When you have read and reviewed many books, as I have done, you eventually realize that even theContinue Reading
Nick Cave explains his departure from fictitious narrative songwriting
Nick Cave has become a writer of note in addition to being a celebrated musician, lyricist and composer. His blog,Continue Reading
Author interview Backstories Creative Process Discussion of writing style Readers and reading Review of previously published novel Review of translated novel
Dear BBC, what is there to know about Sjón?
Here is the sad tale of a quite discombobulated radio interview. In the post before this one I discussed theContinue Reading
Author interview Backstories Creative Process Discussion of writing style Readers and reading Review of previously published novel Review of translated novel
Performing to an empty room – Is there anyone out there?
The use of videotelephony software, such as Zoom, Facebook Live, Skype or Teams, for video and audio streaming of whatContinue Reading
At the end of your tether with typos? Read this
I know from personal experience how tiresome and aggravating it is to pick up mistakes in something you’ve made afterContinue Reading
Art-themed Fiction Arts-themed novels Authors to watch Creative Process Discussion of writing style Künstlerroman Review of historical fiction Review of literary fiction Review of new book
Wonderful! – Hamnet and Judith, by Maggie O’Farrell
For the first time in a very long while, I could feel tears coming to my eyes while I wasContinue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of genre Discussion of writing style Modern fiction Readers and reading Review of anthology Review of modern fiction Review of new book Reviews of short stories
Many tantalizing twists in these tales – If It Bleeds, by Stephen King
What is Stephen King known for? Horror Fiction. Suspenseful mysteries. I bought If It Bleeds in the hope that IContinue Reading
children’s book Children’s Literature Creative Process Discussion of writing style Review of Illustrated Book Review of Literary Graphic Novel Review of new book Reviews of graphic novels and comic strips
Buy it because it’s beautiful – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
This small book, with the tremendously long title printed in gold letters on the cover, is classified as a LiteraryContinue Reading
Absolutely excellent – Going Medieval on Pop Music
One of the books I’m reading now is William Shakespeare’s Get Thee…Back to the Future, by Ian Doescher, which isContinue Reading
The Blogess has a new book coming out – Broken, by Jenny Lawson
Here’s news from one of the writers I admire – Jenny Lawson, who made me laugh long and loud atContinue Reading
Backstories CanLit Creative Process Detective fiction Discussion of genre Discussion of writing style List of similar books Mysteries and Thrillers Published books Realistic Fiction
Real World Meets Realism – Devil’s Run, by Gordon Mohs (Part 3 of 3)
In this post I continue looking into the subject of factual accuracy in Fiction, and specifically Realistic Fiction and theContinue Reading
Real World Meets Realism – Will the Real Robinson Crusoe Please Stand Up? (Part 1 of 3)
This month’s site header (below) is of a painting called The Tooth Extractor, by Dutch artist Theodoor Rombouts (1597–1637), in theContinue Reading
Going off the rails – Too many alterations in the TV version of “Altered Carbon”
In my review of Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, I wrote that season 1 of the TV version of the bookContinue Reading
The surprising results of using a machine text generator
Writers could encounter two problems specific to their profession: One is finding the right line or the right word, andContinue Reading
Creative Process Discussion of genre Discussion of writing style Meta-data Review of new book Review of science fiction Reviews of graphic novels and comic strips Science Fiction
A perfect combination of Sci-Fi art and prose – Above the Timberline, by Gregory Manchess
Reading the screenplay of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by Joel and Ethan Coen led me to the real artistContinue Reading
Art-themed Fiction Backstories Creative Process Meta-data Reviews of Screenplays and Dramas Reviews of short stories
From one book discovery to the next – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs screenplay
One of the enjoyable aspects of reading, is that in the process of sniffing out a particular book or authorContinue Reading
Simply perfect! Nick Cave explains the writing process
This post from Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files is too good not to share. From: Nick Cave Date: October 22,Continue Reading
How writers and reviewers connect, and how to avoid a war of words
A recent comment from an author on one of my book reviews got me thinking. I was pleased at theContinue Reading
What is it about Rebusfontein and King Louis VIII?
On the subject of fictional worlds: I’d like to introduce you to “Rebusfontein”. Rebusfontein (pronounced rhéá-booz-fonteyn) is an Afrikaans name meaningContinue Reading
Backstories Creative Process Discussion of author’s portfolio Discussion of film/TV series List of similar books
Fascinating Fictional Fiction – Off the page into your hands (Part 3)
In the last of this series of posts on Fictional Fiction, I look into those famous authors whose invented booksContinue Reading
Fascinating Fictional Fiction – You’re pulling my leg! (Part 2)
In this series of posts, I’m looking into some examples of “fictional fiction”. I’ve already spoiled the fun about books in Dr.Continue Reading
Fascinating fictional fiction – You never know if it’s real
Books associated with characters in a book or a film sometimes look real and are actual published books. But sometimesContinue Reading
A case for the quiet voice – The writing of Nick Cave
In a world filled with loud, angry voices, there’s something to be said for the quiet, thoughtful voice. Nick Cave,Continue Reading
A Source for the Perfect Rhyme? Sorry, there’s no easy solution
Rhyming is devilishly difficult. It’s a serious head-scratcher, as people who write poems, lyrics and rap well know. If youContinue Reading
If you want a second career as an author, the clock’s ticking…
In the past few years, I have met quite a few authors, including self-published ones, who began writing late inContinue Reading
Author interview Creative Process Mysteries and Thrillers Review of Gamebook (CYOA) Review of Mysteries and Thrillers
It’s up to you who lives and dies – The Friar’s Lantern, by Greg Hickey
When embarking on Greg Hickey’s novel, The Friar’s Lantern, you would be forgiven for thinking you are about to startContinue Reading
The long, hard road to getting a book published – Josiah Bancroft responds to eager fans
Josiah Bancroft is one of those authors who has defined his creative process with care and can explain how heContinue Reading
Art-themed Fiction Best of 2018 Creative Process kunstlerromane Review of modern fiction Review of new novel Review of translated novel
An idea that asks to be murdered – Killing Commendatore, by Haruki Murakami
Killing Commendatore was published in Japanese with the title 騎士団長殺し (Kishidancho Goroshi) in 2017, and the English translation came outContinue Reading
The Charm/Curse of Cliffhangers – The Hod King, by Josiah Bancroft
The Hod King, Bancroft’s third book in his Books of Babel tetralogy, is an exercise in exquisite torture through cliffhangers.Continue Reading
Julian Barnes on hard work, luck and serendipity in his writing career
Here is the fascinating first-hand exposé of how Julian Barnes wrote his first novel, Metroland, and got it published inContinue Reading
Into the mind of an author – Helena Gunter on what motivates her to write
In a previous post, I commented on Helena Gunter’s recently published anthology of short stories called Tweespoor (meaning “Double Track”).Continue Reading
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 