Last year, I set some goals for myself for the year. Now that we’re here in 2015, let’s see how well 2014 measured up. … OK, fine. Let’s see how well I measured up in 2014. (Spoilsports). Drum roll, please!
(Alternative title: fortune cookies by Sarah) Today is the thirtieth anniversary of my existence. They say that you’re supposed to get wiser as you get older, but to be honest, I don’t feel much of either. I’m sure my ten- or twenty-year-old selves would see the difference between me then…
Not all characters are likable. Not all of them are supposed to be or need to be… at least, not for a reader. But writers do have to like all the characters in a story — not necessarily because those characters are right or because they’re great people or even…
Let’s get this out of the way: Elementary lacks a certain je-totally-sais-quoi compared to other contemporary Sherlock Holmes TV series. Its mysteries often make little sense ; the bad guy is almost always the only next-tier guest actor who is not a canonical character; and in one of its recent episodes,…
One thing — okay, one of the many things — that troubled me about J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is how it deals with murder. In the third book, we learn along with Harry that there are three Unforgiveable Curses: the Imperius Curse, which forces the caster’s will upon…
Hey, folks! It turns out that revising a novel while also teaching (reduced) full-time is a lot more time-consuming than I anticipated. In order to do a good job on important things rather than a terrible job on everything, I’m giving the blog a rest until Dec.1, 2014. Or until…
There are as many different types of Jews as there are Jewish individuals, so my Yom Kippur is both shared and unique.
It’s difficult to explain to those who have never lived in a place where they are cultural or religious minorities the dilemma of choosing to work on an important holiday. Where I live, for many people, holidays are something you get off work as a matter of course: everybody gets…
In the framing device of Bertolt Brecht’s play The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1948), two farming communes argue over the ownership of a piece of land. One wants it to grow fruit trees; before the political disruption previous to the start of the play, the other commune raised goats there, and…
What do boy wizard Harry Potter and Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum have in common? Apart from messy black hair? Answer: another kid against whom competition feels personal. Someone competing at the same level but for the other side. Someone whose actions hike up the in-story tension. In short… a rival.