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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
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On Writing & Reading

Here you'll find author profiles as well as mini – and not-so-mini – book reviews. I’m a writer who loves to talk about writing, so if you like to write I hope you’ll stop by now and then for some writing tips and to chat about the writing life.

A Case of the Human Condition: He Never Called Me Back . . . Why?

August 21, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 5 Comments

book jacket for Why He Didn't Call You Back by Rachel Greenwald.

The book’s cover was fuchsia, its title blunt: “Why He Didn’t Call You Back.” Just what I needed years ago when I was young and single and wondering why so many guys would take me out once or twice — then disappear without explanation. Gone. Evaporated. Poof. Read more.

Noah Lukeman on the Colon, That Most Majestic of Punctuation Marks . . .

August 14, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="374"]Noah Lukeman portrait. Noah Lukeman[/caption]

Ever since I read Noah Lukeman’s treatise on the comma in a 2006 issue of The Writer’s Chronicle, I have been a fan. A devotee. No, let’s face it, a groupie. Read more.

The Writing Room: If It’s Religious, Can It Be Art?

August 10, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

Religious art. A rose wind in a church. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Is religious art an oxymoron these days? Can “great” art address matters spiritual in the modern era? Read more.

More Thoughts — on Sex — From/To/About Lauren Winner

August 7, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

Something I’ve learned about current trends in evangelical Christian sex: it’s sexy. Note, for one thing, the voluptuously unfolding magnolia on the cover of Lauren Winner’s book, “Real Sex”.

Writing Room: A Week With Lauren Winner — Of “Girl (Woman) Meets God”

August 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God, is anything but girlish. First of all, she’s a woman, not a girl — she’d like that to be clear. She also has a tough, incisive mind.

Book Openers: Jon Krakauer — A Macho Writer Who Hooks Me in Every Time

July 31, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

jon krakauer photo

I don’t want to read a book about people dying on the slopes of Mt. Everest. I don’t want to read about murderous Mormon polygamists. Unless, that is, it’s Jon Krakauer telling the story. In which case, I’m in. Read more.

Book Openers: I Still Haven’t Figured Out How to Pray — But I’m in Good Company

July 20, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

“I am a failure at prayer,” author Barbara Brown Taylor confesses . . . Now there’s a woman after my own heart.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Grace Falconer Perlmutter Kleis — How to Be a Glamorous Gal at Age 98

A glamorous red-head with her great nephew

My aunt was tall, red-headed, blue-eyed, self-sufficient and glamorous at a time and place when most women in her hometown wanted nothing more than to get married, have babies and put up green beans and blackberry jam. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press spoke at the Oct. 5 meeting of Left Coast Writers at Book Passage, Marin. Photo by Barbara Newhall.

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press Shares Fifty Years of Book Publishing Wisdom

A mural painted on a building in East Austin TX shows a man with sombrero and Spanish lady and the words, "Viva el Este." Photo by bf newhall

SXSW: The Funky Charms of East Austin, Texas

A frozen lake surrounded by trees, snow and animal track in the Midwest in winter. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A Midwestern Flower Garden — Beautifully Dead In the Dead of Winter

invasive-eucalyptus-in-california

Is It OK to Kill Stuff? Yes, If It’s a Mosquito or a Eucalyptus Tree

MORE DON'T MISS!

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