“Newspapers are horror happening to other people.” — Nadine Gordimer 
Maybe I’mold-fashioned, but I like to read paper books and news that smudges your fingersand is damp on the sidewalk after the rain. The print needs to be gray to thepoint of vanishing like invisible ink, and the paper needs unrolling andrecycling. God help me, sometimes the newspaper arrives inside a plastic bag.I’m eco in many ways, but this is my literary sin. 
These days, with fewersubscriptions, newspapers are often thin enough to need an Ensure supplement,but even so, you never know what inspiration you’ll find between the pages.Besides, what would we put in front of the litter box if not for a newspaper?Reading the Star Tribune’s Science and Health section (which is sadly no longerinside the Star Tribune) offered random scientific data to plump my aliencharacter from my debut novel, The Levitation Game. Did you know birds have amolecule behind their eyes that may allow them to see the Earth’s magneticfield? Thanks to a timely article about the mystery of bird migration, mycharacter, Dob-Dec, became fascinated by how Earth’s avians navigate longdistances, and don’t get him started on those eye molecules. I don’t read manynonfiction books, but I love birds, and reading Jennifer Ackerman’s The Geniusof Birds also feathered the nest of my alien character. Weird, right? Beforewriting and publishing my novel, I worried I couldn’t create an alien geniuslike I imagined otherworldly visitors to be. So, I created a slightly dim-wittedalien that is still smarter than most humans, and a bird book helped me do it.Birds are so intelligent! Who knew that being a bird brain was a compliment? 
Now, I’m writing a book about green witches, and scientific newspaper articlesabout iconic Sequoia trees, green burial, and the symbiosis between plants andhumans are all fodder for my tree-hugging Coven. Please bring back the Scienceand Health section! Sigh. 
“The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, thehumble man his blessings.” ~ Fulton J. Sheen 
I have happy news this month. Myshort story, Default 666, is an honorable mention in the 93rd Annual Writer'sDigest Competition! There were 3,571 entries from 44 countries. You can find itin the Scared to Death Anthology available on Amazon. Plus, my latest Goodreadsgiveaway is in full swing until September 1st. So far, over 2,500 people arefighting (or maybe just marginally hoping) to win one of ten signed print copiesof The Levitation Game!
“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed.”
— Mark Twain

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