Laura Benedict's Blog, page 22

Listen to This: There Will Come Soft Rains

 

(first edition cover)

 

In Sunday’s post I had a quote from Ray Bradbury. His work isn’t much in fashion right now, though so many of his stories and ideas have become imbedded in our culture. Bradbury let his imagination play, particularly in the possibilities of our collective future. But one of the things I like most about his work is its ability to evoke empathy.

I love to listen to old radio dramas, and recently Husband downloaded a number of Dimension X episodes. It didn’t run for ver...

Sunday, 9 April 2017: Wonder

 

 

 

 

(Lantern festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens)

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder. –Ray Bradbury

 

How delightful it would be to always be able to see the world through the eyes of a child. Many artists come close to it, but it’s available to us all. Look at the sky, the stars, a single blade of grass, and marvel. We can see entire new universes all around us, if only we will pause, and let the child in us look, and wonder.

 

 

April 8th Words

J...

Saturday Serendipity, 8 April 2017

 

Grasshoppers, falcons, and wine–Oh, my, and a Thriller nomination, too!

I’ve always wanted to be brave enough to correct bad grammar on signage. This guy does it.

The world needs more people like this wonderful pet detective.

Color creation: who knew there were degrees of the color black, and that color creation was so competitive? Fascinating.

Falcons in vineyards. What a brilliant idea.

Speaking of wine… Does it really engage your brain as much as music does?

Grasshoppers on my taco? Jus...

3rd Edit Is Always the Toughest

Despite the serious title, this is a celebratory post. I’ve just finished the 3rd edit of my work-in-progress. It’s always the most challenging because it’s usually the one where lots and lots of details are cemented and made consistent. And because this book has a background story that’s about ten chapters long, I had to figure out the best placement for them.

So these are all the words I have for you about what happened Thursday, because we are actually well into Friday. *yawns*

Here’s a ce...

Another Frabjous Day: A Thriller Award Nomination!

 

 

2017 is shaping up to be nothing short of amazing!

On Wednesday I learned that my short story, The Peter Rabbit Killers, has been nominated for an ITW Best Short Story Award. I confess I’m finding it very hard to wrap my mind around. I wrote it for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine last year. EQMM is one of my very favorite places to publish and, in fact, published my very first mystery story way back in 2001!

I first joined the International Thriller Writers way back in 2007, when my debu...

Novel to Film: Matheson’s Stir of Echoes

(I’m over at TKZ today, talking about making writing a choice. Here’s a post I did a while back about one of my favorite book-to-film projects.)

 

 

 

Novel to Film: Matheson’s A Stir of Echoes

Saturday morning, P came home from breakfast at a local diner to find me standing about six feet from the television watching Kevin Bacon in Stir of Echoes. I’d started out watching it on the exercise bike about an hour before. I had my work schedule set for the day: to work out, get cleaned up and ge...

See the Blossoms Before They Disappear

Monday started out gloomy and rainy, but late in the afternoon, the sun came out. That’s my favorite time of day to take photographs because the light changes so dramatically from one moment to the next, and I’m opportunistic when it comes to light because I’m not so knowledgable about the technical stuff.

The dogs and I took a long walk in the upper meadow, though we are getting so many volunteer redbuds, it may not be a meadow much longer. Mostly I wanted to capture the blossoms before they...

Vindication at Last–I Really Am Viking Barbie

 

 

I love bulk discounts. That’s why, last December, when Ancestry.com had a sale on its basic DNA heritage kits, I bought several. Two went to my parents, and the other two came to Husband and me. I know it’s a little goofy, but here in the End Times, anything goes, yes?

Only my mother’s and my results are in, and they are truly surprising. My mother had always assumed that since at least three of her grandparents were German, she would have a high percentage of German DNA in her blood. (A...

Sunday, 2 April 2017: Joy

(Even a common joy is unique)

 

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.– Khalil Gibran

Where will you find your joy this week? Remember not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Have a lovely week, my dears.

Saturday Serendipity, 1 April 2017

 

Happy April Fool’s Day!