empathy | empathy
Mar.24.2011
As I've passed the half-century mark, I've come to the place in life where I no longer finish an unenjoyable book or movie rental. There is a point I reach at which I know I've spent enough time at an unfulfilling piece of fiction, and can expect more of the same if I continue. So if (after a given...
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Mar.10.2011
Without planning (or plotting) to do so, a dog became a major character in my thriller. And will appear in the second. It's true that my Louie-the-dog might have too many stellar traits for one dog (he is well-trained in offence and defence). However, his empathy for his humans (and vice-versa) fit...
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Mar.01.2011
There he stood in the middle of the parking lot bordering Crate and Barrel and the Cheesecake Factory. Motorist zipped by him engaging in full on parking warfare. A small black man in his 30s, he was dressed neatly in a long t-shirt, short jacket and baggy pants. His smooth brown face was etched...
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Feb.16.2011
As much as I have needed to vent about the burgeoning ‘boat people’ issue on Australian shores, for some time now I have resisted, out of concern that I might open the floodgates of my frustration, despair and rage. Today I realised that I was being ruled by fear of the unknown. This very same...
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Dec.15.2010
When I was about 7, I had a doll, originally a "Betsy-Wetsy" doll, who had eyes that would close and who drank a bottle and wet her diaper (big toy technology when I got the doll, about 1949) I had had the doll a few years, left her out in the sun and rain, so her latex skin was blistered...
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Nov.07.2010
Gratitude, acceptance, love … These are holistic stepping stones to a joyous abundance of health, wealth and happy relationships. Or they could be regarded as the numbers to the combination lock for opening the door to THE SECRET.
I have posted numerous blogs relating to how wonderful life ...
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Oct.31.2010
Here's the text of my speech at Portland State University Friday, Oct. 29:
As the author of two novels about the Prophet Muhammad and his controversial bride A’isha bint Abi Bakr, I know something about hate. I know something about fear. Some people hate me because they think I’m an Islamophobe....
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Sep.27.2010
WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?
“Reading appears passive because it takes place in a chair, on a bed, at the beach, in the tub, etc. Reading is …
–Continued at The Laughing Yeti!
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Sep.17.2010
All this talk of Qur'an burning and immigration-status profiling has me riled, not because I favor looser security but because I'm the product of both my country and my fiction reading. Let me explain.
This country was founded, and kept strong, by its immigrants (our own families) and its...
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Aug.18.2010
I came across an interesting question from Tayari Jones, asking if writing ever helps us get close to a type of character that we wouldn’t ordinarily understand, let alone empathize with. I’d have to say Yes.
Developing empathy is a transformative act. My character Amma in Shiva’s Arms was...
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