[Written by Stephen Wright] Author Clara Fay’s debut novel, Mark of a Crescent Moon, has earned rave reviews from critics and won three literary awards. The novel, described as a “compelling tale of intrigue, destiny, and the surprising intersection of an artistic and spiritual journey” is available at the The Bookmart, Bermuda Bookstore in Hamilton, […]

[Written by Stephen Wright] Bermudian poets Elijah Bean and Rhys Campbell have collaborated to create a collection of work that views the “world through a spiritual lens.” Lumin: A Poetic Collaboration, published on December 1 and features 87 poems, was borne out of weekly meetings at sunrise in Astwood Park in Warwick, where the pair […]

Three Bermudian women — Margaret Swift Thompson, Andrea Tompkins, and Lorene Phillips — have been featured in the ‘Voices of the 21st Century Women: Empowered Through Passion and Purpose’ book. A spokesperson said, “Three Bermudian women admit to feeling “empowered” and “proud” as their stories are featured in the 7th Edition of ‘Voices of the […]

The winners of the 2023 Bermuda Literary Awards have been announced, with seven winners across the same number of categories. A Government spokesperson said, “Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Senator Owen Darrell announced the 2023 Bermuda Literary Awards winners. Dr. Angela Barry, Elizabeth J. Jones, Junior Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Kim Swan, […]

Nikita Robinson is once again hosting a community initiative to celebrate World Book Day, with over 1,300 books to be delivered to schools throughout the Island. A spokesperson said, “Evangelist Nikita Robinson of The Worship Room on Magic102.7FM is inviting the public to support a nursery, preschool, public primary, middle, high school or boys and […]

Nikita Robinson of The Worship Room on Magic102.7FM is celebrating Community Readers who have volunteered to read on World Book Day 2024, which will be held today. A spokesperson said, “From St. George’s to Somerset our community readers will show off their reading skills to our Nursery and Primary Schools starting from 8:30am – 3:30pm. […]

Unstoried announced the hosting of the first stop on Amazon bestselling author James Weeks’ book tour in Bermuda. A spokesperson said, “Local company Unstoried will host the first stop on Amazon bestselling author James Weeks book tour in Bermuda this Saturday March 9th at 12:00 pm at the Bermuda Society of Arts in City Hall. […]

The Bermuda National Trust [BNT] announce the publication of ‘Globe Museum – The Story of a House and its People’ by Diana Chudleigh. A spokesperson said, ” The author will be giving a special talk and signing copies of the book at the Globe Museum, St George’s on Saturday 16 March. “The Globe, on the […]

The Bermuda National Library has invited the public to celebrate National Library Week from April 8th to 12th. A spokesperson said, “Celebrate National Library Week with us from April 8th -12th. Immerse yourself in the enriching world of knowledge and community. Limitless learning at your fingertips all for free with your library card! National Library Outreach […]

[Written by Dale Butler] “Something from the Heart, The Journey to Love” is the culmination of a few years of hard work crafting over 800 poems and now author Wendy Ebbin is about to launch her first book with 146 poems inspired by soul mate George Vernon James Burch who unfortunately passed. Undeterred, she mustered […]

Bermudian author Neletha Butterfield will be signing copies of her latest book, “Good Vibes Only for the Soul” — a tribute to her late son — at The Book Mart on Friday [May 10] and W.J Boyles and Sons on Saturday [May 11]. Ms Butterfield said, “It was approximately three years ago I wrote and […]

[Written by Martha Harris Myron] It has been my long-term experience in my former Bermudian/international professional finance practice working with our community that still, there is little correlated, current, easy-to-understand financial information specifically focused on our uniquely sophisticated Bermuda economic environment. Bermuda’s First Financial Literacy Primer was written by me for you, all Bermuda islanders […]

Dr David Chapman is holding a launch event for his new book on the Gombeys. You can tune in and watch below, and we will have additional information later on. The 13-minute live video replay is below: Related Stories Video: Bermuda Gombey Festival Showcase Video: Gombey Festival Press Conference Video: Gombeys At BF&M 10K Run […]

Minister of Public Works David Burch was on hand to unveil the StoryWalk initiative at the Botanical Gardens yesterday [May 30]. Minister Burch said, “I am pleased to be here alongside the talented author Karen E. Franks, representatives of Deloitte, and Bobby DeGraff of Crafty Carpentry and Maintenance to officially unveil the StoryWalk initiative at […]

Bermudian David Kneisler and Stefan Lukjanczuk have teamed up to release their first urban fantasy book titled Darien Shockra and The Bermuda Triangle – Part 1. The promo for the book, which will be released on June 20, reads: “Heroes that protect the Universe are merely myths and legends … as is the Bermuda Triangle. […]

A book titled The Digital Polycrisis by Cha’Von Clarke-Joell is aiming to equip readers “with the tools and knowledge needed to thrive in the digital age.” A spokesperson said, “In an era of rapid technological change, professionals face unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Job security, career development, and continuous learning are more critical than ever. The […]

Bob Richards will be releasing his second book in the Triangle of Treason trilogy, “Triangle of Blood,” with a launch on July 11 at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI]. A spokesperson said, “The second book in the Triangle of Treason Bermuda historical fiction trilogy, Triangle of Blood, is being released on the 11th of […]

Bob Richards spoke at BUEI last night [July 11] about Bermuda’s involvement in the Cold War before signing copies of his new book, Triangle of Blood. A spokesperson said, “Introduced by his son, Kevin, the author spoke to the almost 100 attendees about Bermuda’s support of the US Navy in the lead-up to the Cuban […]

Jonathan Land Evans has re-published “a long and lovely Bermuda poem by the noted American novelist and poet Hervey Allen, in which he recounted the interesting, moving, and sometimes dramatic life of a black Bermudian woman whom he came to know and admire towards the end of her life, during his long sojourn in Bermuda […]

Jonathan Land Evans released “Flies in Amber: Selected Stories” on Lulu on-line bookshop, featuring 33 stories and a 15% discount until Friday. The author said, “I’ve also now just released [again via the Lulu.com on-line bookshop] ‘Flies in Amber: Selected Stories’, which gathers together 33 short stories chosen by me from my several short-fiction collections […]

Bermudian author Ravoshia Whaley has simultaneously released her debut book, The Mastermind: Introducing Lady Einstein, and companion music single. Ms Whaley, whose father is Bermudian, was born in Merrillville, Indiana, but was raised in Bermuda and Texas. A synopsis of the science fiction book on Amazon reads: “Samara Gumbs aka ‘The Mastermind/Lady Einstein’ is a […]

The Bermuda National Library’s Youth Library on Church Street in Hamilton will be temporarily closed for roof repairs and structural improvements from August 24th to  October 14th. The Department of Libraries & Archives Director, Joanne Brangman, emphasised the importance of these structural repairs and improvements, stating, “These measures are necessary to enhance the library’s facilities […]

The novella Darien Shockra and The Bermuda Triangle – Part 1 by Bermudian author David Kneisler and Stefan Lukjanczuk has won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. A spokesperson said, “Kinetikz Publishing is thrilled to announce that the highly anticipated urban fantasy novel, “Darien Shockra and The Bermuda Triangle – Part 1,” written by David […]

The Bermuda National Library [BNL] announced that the “scheduled reopening of the Youth Library, initially set for October 14, has been postponed due to ongoing remediation.” A spokesperson said, “The Youth Library staff will continue to host the following programs in the Meeting Room at the Main Library: Saturdays: Saturday Storytime, Book Babies, Girls’ Club, […]

The Bermuda Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will hold their Annual Children’s Reading Festival on November 2nd at Victoria Park, offering free books, activities, and fun to promote literacy. A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, today announced that the 25th Annual Children’s Reading Festival [CRF] […]

Attorney Perry Trott has launched ‘And the Drama Begins’, which is described as a “vital handbook aimed at demystifying the complexities of estate management for everyone, not just the wealthy.” A spokesperson said, “Well known Bermudian attorney Perry Trott is pleased to announce the release of his book, “And the Drama Begins,” which officially launches today. […]

People attended the Verdmont Museum grounds on Saturday to explore the historic site, and enjoy a Storywalk installation of Abigail’s Dream Adventures by local author Karen Franks. A spokesperson said, “There were approximately 400 treasure hunters and pirates scouring through the Verdmont Museum grounds this past Saturday. All were there to learn about the jewel […]

Have you ever found something you started writing but never finished? Here's something I started in October 2014. I've just rediscovered it in July 2020....

I'm very interested in eLearning designs that try to entwine content and exercise so thoroughly that the learner almost constructs their instruction – even if...

Sometimes, I feel like eLearning drag/drop interactions get a bad rap. Maybe that's because Serious Instructional Designers seem fairly dismissive about them in casual conversation?...

Today, I saw a definition of Problem that I disliked VERY MUCH. Granted, this was in a Root Cause Analysis manual, so I expected much...

I've kind of been ignoring this blog for a while. That's nothing new... there have been multi-year periods with no posts. I'm still writing stuff...

I posted about Situational Awareness at HPT Treasures today. What I didn't say in that post was that I've experimented with a few different methods...

"To what extent is science a strong-link problem?", Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, 10/30/2024 [emphasis added]: Here’s a fascinating and worrying news story in Science: a top US researcher apparently falsified a lot of images (at least) in papers that helped get experimental drugs on the market — papers that were published in top […]

This is a story we've been following for well over a decade (see "Selected readings").  Improbable as it may seem that the Korean alphabet might be adaptable for writing an Austronesian language of Indonesia, there are some promoters of this idea who continue to push it enthusiastically: "An Indonesian Tribe’s Language Gets an Alphabet: Korea’sThe […]

That's all I've got, so far, for linguistic commentary on the U.S. election results. According to the OED, the etymology of ballot is < (i) Middle French ballotte (French †ballotte) small ball (beginning of the 15th cent. as †balote), small coloured ball placed in a container to register a secret vote (1498) or its etymon […]

For basic facts, see below. Thanks to AI and our Japanese colleagues, the study of Peru's mysterious Nazca lines has made a quantum leap forward. AI Revealed a New Trove of Massive Ancient Symbols The 2,000-year-old geoglyphs offer clues to ancient Nazca people and their rituals By Aylin Woodward, Science Shorts, WSJ (Nov. 6, 2024) […]

Below are two lists of nominations for Japanese buzzword of the year.  Each has 30 entries, and from each list one will be chosen as the respective winner.  Since the two lists are already quite long and rich, I will keep my own comments (mostly at the bottom and focusing on phoneticization) to a minimum. […]

[This is a guest post by Michael Witzel] A few months ago you published a discussion of whimsical surnames. Since then I have paid attention and have found new ones in  almost every news broadcast. It is said that there are 1 million (!) surnames in the German speaking area of some 95 million people […]

A serious volcanic eruption on Flores Island has been going on since October 30: The Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) reported that eruptive activity intensified at Lewotobi Laki-laki during 30 October-5 November, which included a major eruption resulting in fatalities. The large explosive eruption began at 2357 on 3 November, generating pyroclastic flows […]

In recent weeks and months, we've been having many posts and comments about Taiwanese language.  Today's post is quite different:  it's all about the difference between Mandarin as spoken on the mainland and as spoken on Taiwan. "Words of Influence: PRC terms and Taiwanese identity", by Karen Huang, Taiwan Insight (8 November 2024) What is […]

The first two panels of yesterday's SMBC: The last two: Back in 1979, David Macauley's Motel of the Mysteries had a much longer story to tell about archeologists' presuppositions. Macauley's plot loosely satirizes the work of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann in excavating Troy, and also echoes Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamunn's tomb. It's 4022, and […]

There is a discussion on Linguistics Stack Exchange whether wristwatch in Chinese came from the French: As a native French speaker studying Mandarin Chinese, I couldn't help but notice that the Chinese term for wristwatch, 手表 (hand-show), is quite similar to the French term "une montre" (a "shower"/display). After further inspection, I notice that other […]

[This is a guest post by Denis Mair]      Cai Xutie was a Taiwanese woman who ran a family farm with her husband in a village near Jiayi in central Taiwan. She was a rice farmer and had never attended a public school. After her husband died in middle age, she sold some of the land, […]

An interesting recent review article (Wooster et al., "Animal cognition and culture mediate predator–prey interactions", Trends in Ecology & Evolution 2024) argues for bridging the academic silos of "predator-prey ecology" and "animal cognition and culture": Abstract: Predator–prey ecology and the study of animal cognition and culture have emerged as independent disciplines. Research combining these disciplines […]

Today's xkcd: Mouseover title: "There's a maximum likelihood that I'm doing phylogenetics wrong." It's not that Randall is "doing phylogenetics wrong", but rather than he's applying it to an inappropriate problem. The OED's etymology for phylogeny is < German Phylogenie (E. Haeckel Gen. Morphol. der Organismen (1866) I. iii. 57) < Phylum phylum n. + […]

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being a panelist at the first annual Mississippi Book Festival at the State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi!


For me, the weekend started with the plane flight out on Friday and a lovely reception that evening at the Eudora Welty House. Representatives of the Eudora Welty Foundation were on hand to provide tours and answer any and all questions about Jackson's favorite daughter.  It was a great chance to talk to the organizers and volunteers, as well as other authors.

The next morning was breakfast at the Winter Archives Building, where the staff gave us a tour and showed us the forthcoming Museum of Civil Rights and Mississippi History Museum.

Then we were off to opening ceremonies, where the Jackson State University Marching Band performed on the Capitol steps, and then the panels!  The Harper Lee Reconsidered panel, held in the old Supreme Court chamber, was lively and fascinating (and also covered by C-SPAN).  I wasn't able to make it to the picture books panel due to the long line, but hear it went well, and I'd had the chance to talk with the presenters the night before :-).

My panel was the Young Readers panel, and featured moderator Margaret McMullan, and panelists Kimberly Willis Holt, Taylor Kitchings, Deborah Wiles, Carolyn Brown, and Cassie Beasley.  Margaret did a great job as moderator and kept the conversation going and on track. :-).

Many thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and attendees for making the event such a success!

Altogether, it was a fantastic event, with standing-room-only crowds and a terrific venue!  Here's a report on the festival from the Clarion-Ledger: Book Festival Attendance Outpaces Projections.

And here are some pics from out and about festival weekend:

My duffel bag leaves the jetway in Houston

Art deco Greyhound Station, downtown Jackson

Kerry Madden, Susan Eaddy, Hester Bass, Chris Barton in the Eudora Welty House Garden

Deborah Wiles, Kerry Madden on the Eudora Welty House lawn

In front of the Eudora Welty House

MS State Capitol

Kerry Madden, Kimberly Willis Holt

W. Ralph Eubanks, Margaret McMullan

Jackson State University Marching Band

View from the Capitol steps

Capitol interior and dome

Dome in House of Representative Chamber

Dome of Senate Chamber

Mayflower Cafe

Kimberly, Taylor, Deborah, Margaret, Me, Cassie, Carolyn

As of November 10, 2015, BORROWED TIME (the sequel to CHRONAL ENGINE) is now available in bookstores everywhere as well as online (in hardcover and ebook)!  Signed copies are available from BookPeople.

In an article titled, 'Borrowed Time' mixes paleontology and fantasy, Saturday's Austin American-Statesman had a great review of BORROWED TIME, stating it's "a slam-dunk for dinosaur aficionados and will appeal as well to those who are fans of literary time travel and outdoorsy adventure."

Sunday was the launch party at BookPeople! I had great fun doing a presentation discussing the connections between the book, Charles Umlauf, dinosaurs, Johnny Weissmuller, and me (really).

The dinosaur standees for the photo booth were a hit, as were the refreshments including water, soft drinks, wine and cheese, and crackers. (The wine, from the Languedoc region of France, is made from grapes grown in Cretaceous clays where dinosaur fossils have have been found).

But the real eye-opener was the mosasaur cake by author/cakelustrator Akiko White. About two feet high, it featured a mosasaur sculpted from modeler's chocolate on a chocolate cake base with buttercream frosting! She'll be doing a youtube video on the making of it soon (and I'll link when it's available).  Suffice to say that still pictures don't do it justice -- it was mounted on a motorized turntable and illuminated with a blue strobe that made it look like it was underwater!

Here are the pics:

Me and cake

Carmen Oliver and T.rex

Akiko assembles! (photo courtesy Akiko White)

Presenting (photo courtesy Akiko White)

Cake!

Refreshments

Signing

Frances Hill and Lindsey Lane (photo courtesy of Shelley Ann Jackson)

Shelley Ann Jackson and Lindsey Lane (photo courtesy Shelley Ann Jackson)

 Many thanks to BookPeople for hosting the event, to everyone who came for the event, and to everyone who helped out: Akiko, for making the awesome cake; Cynthia Leitich Smith; Carmen Oliver; Lindsey Lane; Shelley Ann Jackson; and Cory Putnam Oakes!

Cake topper in its natural habitat

A few years back, when Cynthia Leitich Smith was off to Vermont for the VCFA residency, I undertook an exploration of Austin pizza joints and pizza blogging: the rules were these: aside from a dinner salad prior to the pizza, my meals were pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  For ten days.  For the record, the first time I did it, I lost five pounds; the second time, two and a half.

Here's the inaugural post from 2009:  A Pizza a Day and Other Weird Activities.

I tried this again January 2015, but posted only to my Facebook account (I'll be reproducing the posts here along with this edition, with the term "archive" in the header).  I also did it in July 2015.

To view the entire line-ups, just click the "pizza a day" label.

This time, I decided to do something a little different, since I'm on the verge of exhausting Austin's specialty pizza places:  I'm going to see how many pizzas I can make using various techniques.  I'll also take a look at some of the places I've missed or have recently opened.

And, for Christmas, I received this nifty little item:

Yes, it is a starship Enterprise pizza cutter.  So of course I had to make a couple Star Trek-inspired pizzas:
(You can see the Enterprise if you squint real hard).  The saucer section was Canadian bacon with an olive for the bridge.  The nacelles were scallions and the engineering section Belgian endive.  The pizza didn't turn out so great but the cutter worked fantastically.

I also made a pizza in honor of our Klingon allies:

This one sort of drifted apart due to migration of the mozzarella, but it is a Klingon D7 class battlecruiser.  The main hull was a green pepper, while the nacelle supports were red onion.  The nacelles themselves, and the neck section, were scallions, and the bridge was a mushroom slice.

Q'apla!

This is a post I originally put only on Facebook in January 2015.  Click here for background.

And the first pizza of the January 2015 #PizzaADayDiet comes from Hoboken Pie! A thin crust sausage, mushroom, and green pepper -- all the ingredients were fresh and in abundance. The sausage and sauce were slightly spicy and the crust was really thin. It could have had a tad more body, but I liked the fact that it didn't feel like I was filling up on bread. Delivery was prompt and the pizza was warm out of the box. I will definitely order from them again.