Tagged: Ray Bradbury

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

Deal Me In Story #8: The Small Assassin by Ray Bradbury

Just when the idea occurred to her that she was being murdered she could not tell. Card: 9♦ Anthology: The October Country Story: “The Small Assassin,” 1946 “The Small Assassin” is one of Ray Bradbury’s  darkest and most disturbing stories, at least to my mind. When Alice Leiber almost dies giving birth to her baby boy, she is convinced that the baby is trying to kill her. Her husband and doctor don’t believe her–at least at first. I’m not sure exactly why this story disturbed me so much, but it...

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

Deal Me in Stories #5 and #6: Two Bradbury Tales from The October Country

Card Drawn: 3♦ Anthology: The October Country by Ray Bradbury Story: “The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse,” 1954 When we first meet George Garvey he is nothing at all. Later he’ll wear a white poker chip monocle, with a blue eye painted on it by Matisse himself. Later, a golden bird cage might trill within George Garvey’s false leg, and his good left hand might possibly be fashioned of shimmering copper and jade. But at the beginning–gaze upon a terrifyingly ordinary man. So begins “The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse”...

Deal Me In Challenge 2018 October Country

Deal Me In Story #1: The Man Upstairs by Ray Bradbury

I’m excited to start a new year of reading short stories for the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge. Last year’s challenge was very successful except for one thing: I only reviewed a few of the short stories I read. This year I’m going to try and write about all of them, even if only briefly. That way I’ll remember them better when it comes time to review the anthologies they’re in. I always read my stories on Sundays, but I’m anxious to get started so I began...

Nonfiction November 2017

Nonfiction November 2017 Begins

My favorite reading event from last year, Nonfiction November, is back! Nonfiction November was my very first online reading event, and it was a terrific experience. It helped reignite my excitement for blogging and it connected me with several terrific book bloggers. I can’t wait to see what new discoveries are in store this year. The topic for this first week is Your Year in Nonfiction, so here we go… Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following...

Illustrated Man and Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

I have admired Ray Bradbury’s writing for several decades now, so it was natural that I would love Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity. Bradbury always writes from the heart, and this collection of writing advice is no exception. Here’s what I’m talking about: You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most...

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

Remembering Ray Bradbury

It’s almost midnight and I should be in bed, but I have to write something about the loss of Ray Bradbury. I’m too tired to adequately explain how much I admire his work. Let me just say that if I could choose any author’s style to emulate, it would be Ray Bradbury’s. I love his simple prose and vivid images. He was a true storyteller who rose above genre and left behind a legacy of powerful literature. I began to really appreciate Bradbury’s work when I taught Fahrenheit...

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

There’s nothing in the living world like books on water cures, deaths-of-a-thousand-slices, or pouring white-hot lava off castle walls on drolls and mountebanks. How I just love Ray Bradbury’s writing style. After I read any of his stories or novels, the world becomes a more interesting place. Falling leaves become tears that the trees cry; rain is the cleansing power of the universe; books are portals to new worlds. Ray Bradbury takes the ordinary world and electrifies it until it shimmers with a glow that was always waiting...