This is an amazing world, inhabited by amazing people. We don't have to go very far to see an animal or plant that does something incredible, if we stop to think about it. All around us, there are countless people each with their own rich inner worlds and intense, beautiful, heartbreaking stories. I think the … Continue reading (Personal) Mission Statement
Month: June 2017
(Reviews) DisneyFest: Wreck-It Ralph, Monsters University, Frozen
Remember five years ago? It was 2012 back then and we all thought we were going to die in some really weird global cataclysm because the Mayans had deemed it so. Woody Harrelson would go down outside his camper van at Yellowstone, and the only people who would survive are John Cusack and his plucky … Continue reading (Reviews) DisneyFest: Wreck-It Ralph, Monsters University, Frozen
(Review) The Shame Locked Away in Giovanni’s Room
The Paris in James Baldwin's novel Giovanni's Room is a kind of hell in which desperate men step on each other to climb out of the hole they're in, never realizing it's possible to help lift one another out of their predicament. Fear motivates everyone; they're afraid of anyone finding out who they really are … Continue reading (Review) The Shame Locked Away in Giovanni’s Room
(Writing) The View From 10,000 Feet
There are a few things that are preventing me from finishing up stories on a consistent basis: a general lack of self-discipline, toxic perfectionism, time management skills, and an inability to stick through the end of a project. As I've gotten older and learned more about how my brain works, I've realized that developing a … Continue reading (Writing) The View From 10,000 Feet
(Friday Fiction) The Only Winning Move
I keep thinking about the Br'er idea -- I think it's a potent one that could be used to explore a lot of different themes floating in my head about the black experience. I just need to drill down into it and find out where the trouble spots are; I understand not everything is going … Continue reading (Friday Fiction) The Only Winning Move
(Reviews) DisneyFest: Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh, Brave
By 2011, the fortunes of Disney and Pixar were reversing; while the former had finally scored a critical and commercial success with Tangled, the latter was navigating the second phase of its career after moving past its original stories with the final installment of the Toy Story trilogy. Disney released one movie that year -- … Continue reading (Reviews) DisneyFest: Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh, Brave
(Writing) The Anatomy of the Story
This summer I want to take the time and get really serious about my writing. That means working on it every day, reading stories from friends and colleagues as much as possible, and thinking about the aspects of my craft that I need to work on. When I asked my husband -- the accomplished writer … Continue reading (Writing) The Anatomy of the Story
(Friday Fiction) Urban Gardening
I'm currently at Biggest Little Fur Con, a furry-fandom convention in Reno, NV. One of the things this particular con is known for is its incredible attention to theme and atmosphere. In 2015, a propaganda-filled dystopian theme slowly fell apart through the weekend to reveal the theme for the following year -- the Resistance. This … Continue reading (Friday Fiction) Urban Gardening
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 