Author: admin (Chris Smith)

I am not in same camp as those who bemoan the lost art of handwritten letters. (And I am certainly not getting into here the question of script, or cursive, versus print.) For the record I see nothing wrong with using a computer (or, for that matter, a typewriter [!]) to write personal letters—even condolence...

This is Banned Books Week, celebrated—if that is the right word—by libraries and bookstores, not to mention authors, all across America. How does a book get banned—and by whom?

The world of publishing has quietly been undergoing a revolution for some time now. Three forces have converged to level the playing field for authors, enlarge the selection of books for readers, and make the whole game more interesting all around.

As little kids in elementary school, you may have participated in “Show and Tell.” But as writers, we are always advised, “Show. Don’t tell.” This admonition is intended to guide us into showing rather than telling what a character in fiction or a real-life person in nonfiction is thinking, feeling, planning, and so forth. But...

Thanksgiving 2016…well, “as near as makes no never mind,” to use an old colloquial expression that, while it isn’t grammatically correct, is very expressive. Thanksgiving 2016. It’s been a turbulent year, but if I don’t get into politics here—and I won’t, I promise—that excludes most of the turbulence and most of what everyone is still...

LAKELAND — Ferguson Addison first became aware of Frances Langford through a family connection. Addison, who grew up in Southwest Florida, had a cousin who played piano in the 1920s at WDAE, a radio station in Tampa. Langford, a Lakeland resident, appeared on a weekly show on WDAE, singing in front of a band.

Yesterday I read Created Equal to a group of kids in an after-school program. At first they were less than thrilled that I wasn’t going to be reading a storybook. Almost all the kids I read to in after-school programs prefer fiction over nonfiction. And history? That’s something they have to study in school, but...

“My birthday is in September.” “My birthday was last week.” “My dad is taking me to DisneyWorld for my birthday.” The cacophony of counterpoint voices rose in pitch and volume as each child struggled to be heard above the competing claims. It all started when one girl in the audience eagerly announced, “Today is my...

In last week’s blogpost I told you I had written a play while still in elementary school. Let me tell you about it…and what followed thereafter. I don’t have any idea what on earth inspired me to write a play when I was in sixth grade. By then I had co-opted my mother’s typewriter and...

Writers write and readers read and authors gather—at least the authors and other writers of 4 Authors by Authors do.   I have always wondered what the difference is between a writer and an author.   We all write in some way or other, especially in today’s digital world, where texting and posting on Facebook and Twitter...