Latest Publication: The Merman in Hiding

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Merman in Hiding is now available on Amazon.  Priest-detectives Rhys and Lider are currently on Earth. A family of Siphons or merpeople nee...

A-Z Characters That Transform: The Unknowns

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A few characters in literature remain unnamed: the narrator of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca ; the narrator of The Turn of the Screw by H...

Detectives Need Jobs...But is P.I. Really the Best One?

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I mention earlier on this blog that many amateur detectives double as priests , gardeners , writers ... The professional police detective, o...

The Attraction of the Small: Thumbelina, Lilliputians, Gnomes and Borrowers

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Thumbelina raises the question, What's the reason for the character's popularity?  Thumbelina doesn't transform. There's no ...

A-Z Characters Who DON'T Transform: Thumbelina

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My current A-Z lost tackles characters who transform, internally or externally. I have also tackled what doesn't constitute transformat...

Problems with Utopias: The Best of Times

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In a previous post , I comment on the chronocentric belief that only OUR time has bad stuff in it. A "Golden Age" existed right at...

A-Z Characters & Transformation: Sam, Of Course

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Sam from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is another character who may not, on the surface, appear to transform. He remains steadfastly loya...

A-Z Characters Who Transform: Miller's Holmes

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I'm reposting the below in connection with my A-Z Characters Who Transform list.  * * *  Generally, Sherlocks don't change. They arr...

A-Z Characters & Transformation: Scrooge

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Scrooge is one of the best-known transformative heroes!  In truth, Scrooge is not entirely believable. Dickens does a fine job preparing rea...

Latest Publication: Hermes and the Hunt for Enkidu

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Hermes and the Hunt for Enkidu is now available on Amazon .  In an attached world controlled by gods, the head gods compete with the gods o...

The Desire for Noble Criminals

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In an episode of Decoy , Beverly Garland's character Patricia Casey has to bring a crime home to a small-time gangster.  She convinces h...

1 Nephi: Catholicism

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"Great & Abominable" 1 Nephi 12-13 is a kind of historical overview. It references the "Great and Abominable Church"...

A-Z Characters & Transformation: Ruth and Rahab, Radical External Change

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My current A-Z List tackles characters who transform. I mention in my post about Kate from Taming of the Shrew,   I use "transform...

Problems with Utopia: The Worst of Times

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Utopias, like all so-called revolutions, have to react against something.  Often, what they react against is "The Worst of Times."...

All the Ms: Mansfield to Marai

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Katherine Mansfield: I read a few of Mansfield’s short stories. They were about couples. Rather lightweight now,  at the time (1910s-1920s)...

A-Z Characters & Transformation: The Queen Who Transforms Yet Remains Herself

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Extreme transformation is attractive--but careful transformation is more believable. In my master's program, New England Studies, Anne H...

Quincy, Luther's Dog: Great Character Actor

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In my most recent A-Z List, I've been exploring characters that change.  One of the funniest non-human examples is Luther's dog Quin...

How to Be Cool: Golf and Black Coffee

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Many books and movies employ a kind of epithet for coolness. Just as Athena is "gray-eyed" in Homer's epics, various books and...