Shannon Costello

I was really stirred up about Pegasus, but now I’m calmer and interested in the topic of partial publishings for its own sake.
I spent a lot of time perusing Robin McKinley’s blog and I found that she went through a process by which Pegasus got so long that it became easier to chop it into [...]

Don’t expect a totally logical post about what is currently an emotionally-charged topic- over a book!  Without an ending!
Like good writing, a good ending is hard to describe, but easy to identify.  There is strong closure- an overwhelming sense that all that is relevant has been told, that the circle has been completed.  Examples include [...]

Two quotes:
1)  Nevertheless, he had offered her a home under his own roof, which Lavinia accepted with the alacrity of a woman who had spent the ten years of her married life in the town of Poughkeepsie. (10)
2) “Doesn’t she make a noise?  Hasn’t she made a scene?”
“She is not scenic.”
“I thought [...]

The Thief (a Newbury Honor book) is the best YA novel I have read all year, closely followed by The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, all novels by Megan Whalen Turner.  The fourth one in the series A Conspiracy of Kings just came out last week…I’m ninth on in the library’s request [...]

This is one of Shannon Hale’s two adult novels, both of which are pretty good.  (The other one is Austenland.) Interestingly enough, both deal with females fantasizing about their favorite male actor.  In this case, the woman (a devout Mormon with four kids) actually meets her favorite actor.  The book offers an answer to the [...]

I was looking for a readable book that would give me an overview of economics, and I found what I was looking for in a big way. Wheelan uses a great deal of humor and an abundance of extended examples; because of those two elements he teaches economics, a traditionally dry subject, in a [...]

I did this on purpose:  before starting this post I headed to Vivian Vande Velde’s website.  It helps me know a bit more of where the author is coming from and that, in turn, helps me temper whatever negative things I might say.  Hey- She is from Rochester, NY!   I have warm, fuzzy feelings [...]

I have finished my first attempt at a novel and am thinking about my second.  That made it more interesting to read a second novel by a real writer. 
I think what I loved best about this book was the way the author used her writing (including some gorgeous poetic phrases) to write things [...]