2 responses to “Keeping the Rant in its Pen”

  1. James

    You were a BTBA judge this year? The longlist for that prize always provides ample fodder for months of reading, but the sponsorship does give me pause. I console myself by remembering that the creators and promoters of the award (not to mention the publishers of almost all the nominees) have stalwart independent hearts.

    These days I restrict my anti-Amazon ranting to polite correction. Whenever I hear someone in my store mention a Kindle, I just say, “You mean an e-reader.” I’m surprised by how often that turns into a real conversation, and by how many of those customers have never realized until that moment that it’s possible to read (and buy) ebooks in other ways.

    I always thought it was those nasty starlings who’d invaded our shores and stolen native nests. I never would have suspected the meek-looking sparrow of such depravity. Live and learn, I guess.

  2. John W. Marshall

    Hi, James,

    I was on the poetry committee of the BTBA this last year. Less reading than the fiction side, for sure. It was an interesting process and I would have gladly done it again but for the company I was keeping, meaning corporate. And I am a bit of a fan of the starling because they have stunning vocal range and, I think, are sharp mimics. Several years ago I watched one on a roof taunt a cat in a driveway with what seemed to me to be flawless feline.

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