Category Archives for Uncategorized
FICTION: LITERARY OR GENRE?
FICTION: LITERARY OR GENRE? Back in 2010, when my newly acquired agent asked for the genre of my debut novel (The Third Grace), I identified it as literary fiction. He immediately corrected me: “No, no. We’ll call it contemporary women’s fiction. No one today reads literary fiction.” I almost gasped. Was it true? My own […]
READ IT ANEW
READ IT ANEW Symbols of the Old, Old Story Reused in Literature When you read a novel or short story, do you sometimes suspect the author is trying to say a whole lot more than the words on the page? I’m no expert by any stretch, either as reader or writer (much less as scholarly […]
Tagged Bible, Defoe, fiction, Literature, Melville, Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe, Symbolism
MASQUERADE: AM I A FRAUD?
In The Third Grace, my character Ebenezer MacAdam owns Incognito Costume Shop and individually recommends rentals based on a client’s personal character. He says, I’d like to think the purpose of my costumes has been to reveal the real in this masked and disguised generation. But on a grander scale, I myself am being unmasked […]
Tagged authenticity, Costume, Façade, Fraud, Heart attitude, Humility, Hypocrisy, Mask, Speak truth
FIND THE DIVINE IN PARIS
FIND THE DIVINE IN PARIS My favourite destination is known as the “City of Lights,” and God is called the “Father of Lights.” Merely coincidence? Hmmm, I think not . . . Paris, to me, is heaven on earth! I invite you to observe the following steps if you’re planning a trip to the capital […]
HOW TO TAME A CITY-SLICKER
I was born for uptown living. True, the view from the maternity ward of the Mennonite village that first heard me squawk showed only flat Canadian prairie—not a mall in sight. But my parents soon moved me and my sibs to the big city, and, by the time I was a teen, I could shop […]
CHARACTER INTERVIEW: AGLAIA
Let’s have a conversation with Aglaia (aka Mary Grace Klassen), main character in the book The Third Grace. She’s a designer at Incognito Costume Shop (rentals for parties, stage, and screen) in Denver, but she grew up in small-town Nebraska and her author (Deb Elkink) has finally allowed her to visit Paris . . . […]
Tagged Aglaia, character interview, fiction, Paris, PRADIER, The Third Grace, Three Graces
HOW TO TASTE PARIS
Greek mythology tells of ambrosia, the food of the gods bestowing immortality, but I’d give up my place at Zeus’s eternal table for a bite of French gastronomy any day. My salivary glands activate just thinking about my next trip to Paris. Here are some foodie tips I’ve picked up that guarantee a nonstop feast […]
OFF THE GRID
Are you planning a day trip to the countryside or visiting a farm? Go prepared! I was a bred-in-the-bone uptown city girl, attended a large Canadian high school, studied in the Twin Cities, shopped in San Francisco, and fearlessly strolled Tokyo’s Ginza at midnight. All the while I wouldn’t have been able to tell you […]
Tagged city slicker, farm and city, visiting the farm
GET LOST IN PARIS
MY FAVORITE NOOKS AND CRANNIES I’ve been to Paris half-a-dozen times in the last two decades and can’t wait to lose myself again in its ancient, cobbled streets. I used to travel by schedule, but with scores of museums and countless monuments, cafés, shops, and adventures unexpected, I’ve learned that all I really need is […]
A New Look for Grace
A NEW LOOK FOR GRACE Fresh cover, same award-winning story . . . . . . and same old author! QUESTIONS ABOUT ME (DEB) AND MY NOVEL (Adapted from an Author Interview by Michelle Griep) A licensed pilot, speaker, cattle herder, academic editor . . . So Deb, why writing? Actually I’ve been writing since […]