PODCAST-GANGSTER GRANNY Photo Courtesy of Pexels 0:00 / 0:00 Gangster Granny GANGSTER GRANNY first appeared in Medium. One morning, I wake up to an accusatory and largely inaccurate email. I haven’t recovered from that smackdown when I’m on the phone negotiating with a healthcare provider on behalf of my elderly mother. The “provider” gaslights me […]
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PODCAST-HELP-SHORT FICTION Photo Courtesy of Austin Chan 0:00 / 0:00 HELP-Short Fiction This short story first appeared in the Virginia Writers Project Journal. It is reprinted here with permission. Every morning, she shapes the word “HELP” in the steam on her glass shower door. She leaves it there for no one to see. She understands
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PODCAST-TV REVIEW-PRESUMED INNOCENT Years ago, I read Scott Turow’s book, Presumed Innocent. Later, I saw the movie starring Harrison Ford. I liked both, so when Apple released David Kelley’s television adaptation, I decided to watch it. I vaguely remembered the plot. But, as it turned out, that didn’t matter. David Kelley made significant changes to
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PODCAST-MOVIE REVIEW-WICKED LITTLE LETTERS I just watched a gem of a movie called Wicked Little Letters. The film is based on a true story about a hate mail scandal that occurred in the 1920’s in Littlehampton, England. A pious English woman named Edith Swan accuses her foul-mouthed Irish neighbor, Rose Gooding, of sending her obscene
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PODCAST-MOVIE REVIEW-PERFECT DAYS 0:00 / 0:00 Perfect Days Recently, I watched Perfect Days. Released in 2023, it’s a film directed by Wim Winders. I’ll have to admit, I had a hard time sitting through the first hour of this movie, but then it grew on me. On the surface, nothing much happens. We follow Hirayama
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BOOK REVIEW-ALLEGIANCE Set in 2025, Erika Raskin’s novel, ALLEGIANCE, anticipates what would happen if a fascist wins the U.S. presidential election in November 2024. The story is told from two points of view. One is a prescient grandmother (Natalie) on the run with her two grandchildren. She’s hoping to find safe harbor for them. The
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PODCAST-THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR-MOVIE REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 Wonderful World of Henry Sugar Last week, I decided to hold my own Wes Anderson Film Festival. I had a little time on my hands because I was stuck home with a respiratory bug, so I watched four of his short live action films: The
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PODCAST-THE CARETAKER-BOOK REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 The Caretaker-Book Review Ron Rash’s lovely novel hooked me on the first page then kept me engaged straight through to the end. He accomplished this by portraying his main characters in close point of view, which made me care about them immediately. Also, his vivid descriptions of place and
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HAZEL MOON-A SHORT STORY Photo Courtesy of Altinay Dinc 0:00 / 0:00 Hazel Moon One blistering hot day in June, eleven-year-old Hazel found herself waiting on the sagging front porch of her Grammy Moon’s ramshackle rambler. She’d never met the old woman. Furthermore, she hadn’t even known she had a grandmother until the week before
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PODCAST-HOW TO PICK UP A CHICKEN Photo Courtesy of Sahand Balabi 0:00 / 0:00 Picking Up a Chicken Picking up a live chicken requires a certain amount of intestinal fortitude, intestinal fortitude that everyone in my family lacks. And yet that doesn’t mean some of us aren’t good with animals. My son Ian is
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