Sep 21, 2024 | Current Ned Note, Fantasy, On Writing, Past Notes
J.R.R. Tolkien published his famous novel The Hobbit on September 21st, 1937. That was 87 years ago today. Tolkien’s little story was soon seen as destined for greatness. The book won a prize from the NewYork Herald Tribune and was soon nominated for a Carnegie...
Aug 30, 2024 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes
Steve Silberman (1957 – 2024) I’m sad today. I’m sad because I just heard that my friend Steve Silberman is gone. I didn’t expect him to die. I don’t think anyone expects to die. I especially don’t expect my friends to go away at...
May 27, 2024 | Book Media, Current Ned Note, On Books, On Writing, Past Notes
I was honored to be asked to be this year’s Judge for the Willow Springs Press 2024 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. After reading all the entries with great diligence, I selected Nightwatch by Mathew Goldberg, and in concert with the Willow Springs team,...
Mar 5, 2024 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes
New Book News! In recent months, I’ve been writing a memoir… and I’ve now completed a first draft. Tentatively titled “Seven Deaths,” the story interweaves my own near-death experiences over the years with my stumbling, staggering,...
Dec 1, 2023 | Current Ned Note, On Books, On Writing, Past Notes
The holiday season sees a million variations on Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, yet this marvelous supernatural tale all too often overshadows the ghostly echoes that permeate Dickens’s entire oeuvre. In John Irving’s book of personal essays, Saving...
Sep 25, 2023 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes, Poetry
Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America Tell me what it’s like to live without curiosity, without awe. To sail on clear water, rolling your eyes at the kelp reefs swaying beneath you, ignoring the...
