Lost Treasure Trails
My parents gave me a book called Lost Treasure Trails by Thomas Penfield when I was twelve years old. I was enthralled, fascinated,...
The Last Day of Ramadan
In The Last Day of Ramadan by Gandharva raja, a new novel by Gandharva raja, university student Gora and his friends in Delhi, India,...
An Adventure of the Senses
My brother, Larry Haavik, is a fine musician who defines music as an “adventure for the ear.” I recently attended his two lectures on the...
Getting the Most from a Writers' Conference
Since I’m president of the Maryland Writers’ Conference, I am privy to all the factors that go into producing this annual event in...
Way of the Word
What makes a better writer? I’ve been pondering this question after taking a class on award-winning short stories. The stories we read...
Learning to Foil Criminals
As a mystery writer, I am fortunate to live in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area with its plethora of agencies involved in...
The Leaden-Eyed Worker
Traveling broadens the mind and the soul, I’ve heard, and it has certainly made me aware of the desperate lives many people around the...
From Fact to Fiction
When I wrote my latest novel, Rembrandt’s Shadow, which alternates chapters set in 1999 with chapters following a painting’s provenance...
11/20/2017 - From Fact to Fiction
When I wrote my first novel, Shadow of the Rock, I wanted to subject my heroine, Sara Miller, to an assault and near-rape, but I needed...
The Book Business: What Is Valuable?
I watched the appraiser pick up a book in good condition, hold it up for us to see. First edition, published in 1912 and a first-person...
