"Watership Down" author, Richard Adams, dead at 96

I just learned that author Richard Adams passed away today at 96.

Lee Gambin 3/23/16

Before cable, a lot of special cartoon films and animations would be on regular TV channels. It's how I got to see a lot of these stories before they were put on VHS and later migrated to cable companies' channels. When I was about six or seven, I caught "Watership Down" one evening. With its Genesis-like 'In the beginning'-type introduction, I was immediately pulled into the very brutal story about a group of rabbits leaving their warren to journey where there would be plenty of food, space, and resources where they could breed and live in peace.

reddit.com/r/thewarren/

These rabbits had a society, they had culture - their oral history was expansive - and they had spiritual beliefs - the sun was Lord to them - and they had lore and legends - Elahrairah was their Adam and the one that made them fall from grace. However, he was still revered and considered responsible for giving the rabbit race their cunning, skills, and physical capabilities.

watershipdown.wikia.com/wiki/Violet

Early in the animation, it got quite violent and visceral, with Fiver, the runt of the group but also a prophet, experiencing horrific visions that compelled the small group of protagonists on their quest. One of my siblings, I am the youngest, came into the living room and asked in horror what kind of bloody cartoon was I watching. I begged them not to change the channel and for the rest of the program, my belly on the rug, twirling my feet in the air, I was enraptured.

Goodreads.com

When I learned "Watership Down" was a book, I kept in mind I would read it when I had a chance. That chance came when I was in community college and usually hung out in the English department, chatting with my Creative Writing professor and some of the other faculty that knew me. One day, while wandering in the department's lobby, I chanced on a table of books. An office worker said I could take as many as I wanted. She explained that every couple of months, faculty members will cull through their office libraries and bring their findings to the lobby for anyone popping up to take what they could. Lo, there was a copy of "Watership Down"! I immediately looked at how many pages (it's a hefty novel) and grabbed it. When I got home, I couldn't put the story down. It had, of course, more details and subplots that the film could not include. It was still as brutal but with the psychological impact of the reader's imagination. To use a cliche', it 'fired my imagination'. I had already decided I wanted to write fantasy when in high school after getting the "Death Gate" trilogy from my sister as a Xmas gift. Reading 'Watership' validated for me to continue to write in the Furry genre!

RIP Richard Adams. We will miss you but your characters, Elahrairah, the Black Rabbit of Elil, Hazel-Rah, Fiver, and Bigwig will continue to live on as will you, in our hearts. :(

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - PART 6 [PHOTOS]

My next post in honor of Andre Norton being taught within an undergraduate course at my college campus.

According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the artist for this book cover is by Laslo Gal, another favorite Ms. Norton book illustrator.

front cover 

Here is another book cover and story that has heavily influenced me. As a reader. As a writer. As an artist. Breed to Come was the second story I read after 'Warlock of the Witch World' (more on that title later:)). This story was a milestone in that it not only featured what I would later learn to be anthropomorphic characters, but the level of world-building was astounding. In a nutshell, this is what would be considered a Dystopian sf tale. This is millions of years after earth was ruined and abandoned by the human race, who took to the stars, leaving a wrecked planet, the animals, especially the cats, dogs and rats, have evolved into separate civilizations. The story starts with a feline character and Norton explains his biology as if his remains were examined by scientific forensics. It's an incredible spare kind of writing that just took my breath away with its precision details! As Furtig (cat protagonist) explains, he is about to partake in some sort of ceremony to determine if he will be chosen as a mate. Norton has a knack for dissecting complex cultural and social mores into an interesting journey for the reader.  

back cover

Furtig goes on a quest to figure out what his purpose is. But, this protagonist has another motive and so he decides to follow in the footsteps of a clan ancestor who pursued his quest for knowledge and was never heard from again. The story ebbs and flows. It picks up and slows down, especially by Ms. Norton's expositions on the landscape and what earth now looks like after millions of years of missing us. Of course, there is conflict and invaders touch down on earth to check it out as well. Furtig has to find his place in this new world and we the readers must figure out our place in this magnificent novel as well. 

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - PART 5 [PHOTO]

Another Andre Norton book cover! According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the artist for this cover is Davis Meltzer.

As an artist, there are many things that inspire me, especially when it comes to book covers. Nowadays, some of these front covers are being digitally done and I find the artwork often uninspiring, which is sad to say the least. However, with some of my favorite stories, I have been fortunate to have favorite covers too. Here is another from Norton's Web of the Witch World, which I think is the second book in her long-running 'Witch World' (c) series. 

For some reason, it reminds me of a 1970s comic book cover, and the tale within is filled with powerful women, magic with science, inter-dimensional villains, and a protagonist from our planet who is still adjusting to the culture of this new world. It is a refreshing, exciting, sense of wonder tale. To read it multiple times is to find something new. Pure delight. 

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - Part 4 [PHOTOS]

Now, on to the Book Covers!!!
*Kermit the frog cheer*

As I said in an earlier posting, since finding out from some college students that my favorite, favorite author Andre Norton is being taught in an English course on-campus, I have decided to revisit my love and 'fangirling' of this amazing woman. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In previous posts, I gave URLs on her newest official site and older homepage as hyperlinks in the post, re-posted a classic post on her, and just about ranted on the unfairness that while an undergrad, many folks didn't seem to know about her and now, as an employee on same campus, she is part of a college literature curriculum!

But, I am an artist first, and I judge books by their covers, and, for some reason, perhaps because Ms. Norton was prolific and was still writing and publishing almost to her death, her bibliography is varied, long, and epic in scope as her stories. Yet, it was the various artists that tried to capture her ideas that mesmerized, baffled, or even bewildered me.

Without further ado, on to the book covers! 

The first is Norton's The Zero Stone. The book is from my family's personal library. These are the Viking editions that my father acquired during the 1970s. According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the cover artist is Robin Jacques.

What struck me was the highly-detailed almost digital preciseness of the piece. Also, the illustrator captured a pivotal scene. Do you see the detailing? I used my Chromebook's webcam to take this picture so I apologize if it's not clear enough. 

 Not only is this one of Norton's more zippier-reads (the action is not breakneck but it does breeze by during the action scenes), but my biggest regret is that I removed the dust jacket! It annoyed me and so I took it off the book! What can I say? I was 11-12 at the time. I regret it now. I still regret it. I know better. 

Still, what was on the dust jacket is what's on the actual binding as well as the front and backcover. I've seen other editions where this gorgeous illustration was on dust jacket only, so, I lucked out.

Andre Norton as undergrad studies - PART 3

I got that last rant out of my system. Now, on to more serious topics.

There are plenty of reasons to enjoy Ms. Norton. I will give the list on why I adore her.

 1. Her protagonists are often outcasts/pariahs/lepers in her/his respective community/society/world/planet.
2. This outcast often does not know what is in store for them. Then, in the middle of their woes, their destiny arrives!
3. Norton appears to have used more disabled characters than other fictional authors. Also, because her character is disabled, doesn't default them to 'bad guy/bad girl'.
4. The disability stays with the character. Whether it's in a Norton science fiction or fantasy, the disability is often a boon.
5. The disability is also not glorified but is unpleasant for the protagonist. Norton's literary descriptions of how a real-life or fictional disability can affect the character in profound ways - by their internal monologues, their physical or 'magical' limitations, she as a writer appeared to have a good grasp on portraying a disability in a realistic way. However, by the middle of the story, he/she finds out how the 'disability' helps on the quest or in the middle of a conflict.
6. Norton likes 'furries', and the protagonist will often be accompanied by either a recognizable creature (cat or dog), or, a creature native to that particular planet/dimension/world.
7. Said 'furry companion' will often be more intelligent than the protagonist and often dispels the reader's ideas about 'pets'.
8. There are clues, riddles, puzzles to solve, ancient languages to decipher. Some of Norton's best stories (Most are) read as crime thrillers or murder mysteries.
9. Her novels, short story collections, series, and shared worlds are equally populated genderwise. That means she has just as much female protagonists as her male protagonists.
10. Norton appears to like shape-shifting, polymorphism, and out-of-body-experiences.
11. The woman got me more obsessed about psychic phenomenon! In many of her stories when the protag and 'furry' companion were 'linked', it was often through telepathy.
12. Norton's villains were not the Van Dyke-mustache-twirling types. Often, they simply were philosophically/politically/socially/genetically opposed to the protagonist. And if there was 'evil', it was a forgotten source of power left on some ancient abandoned world.

In honor of Andre Norton being taught at my campus, I will have another post on the Grand Dame of Science Fiction/Fantasy!
And some pics from my collection! Take care!

[Part 4 coming up]

Andre Norton as undergrad studies - PART 2

Ok, remember that I learned from two students they are being taught about ANDRE NORTON? Both students are taking the same instructor/professor.

Here's my question...
WHERE WAS I WHEN THIS WAS BEING TAUGHT?
The answer: the 'Grand Dame' wasn't taught when I was a student back when the college was a community college! Back then, most folks didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned her!

Both my students (one for this semester and one from a previous semester) had to do RESEARCH Papers on her! One student interviewed me! My student I tutored asked me out of the blue about Norton. This is how I figured out something was amiss.

Now, I was told about the author's new website. I would have still been going to the fan-made one had my students not made me aware of what their teacher told them to use as citation!
CITATION. Andre Norton is being CITED?

I know, I know. This post is becoming one heavy rant, but, I can't help it. I feel like Charlie in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when he fears he didn't get the golden ticket! But he did! He did!

And what did I get? Well, I did get the chance to rant about my favorite late author on-the-job.
*Sigh* Why oh why wasn't she a college course when I was a student?
[Part 3 coming up]

Andre Norton as undergrad studies

Life is not fair sometimes. No, I mean, really unfair. Back in the almost-mid to mid-90s, I was an awkward 17-19 year old traipsing around Miami Dade Community. I was withdrawn, bookish, and by then, highly steeped into the science fiction and fantasy genres. I couldn't get enough of it and, except for a few friends and fellow art-majors, I pretty much kept to myself.

By now, I was reading Andre Norton, a living-legend sf/f author who had almost consistently published since the mid-30s. She was prolific. She churned out novels, short stories, series, and shared worlds. Her worst was better than other writers' best and I loved her books to pieces. For some reason, her works weren't often re-edited into newer editions, so, many of her stories were out-of-print. In fact, I familiarized myself with the local used bookstore in my neighborhood. It was one of only a handful where I could find Ms. Norton's works.

I have another post that I will link with this because I waxed eternal about her in it, but, I will say this: Andre Norton stories were ahead of their times in terms of style and gender-equality. Half her books had female protagonists just as the other half were male. Her writing in sci-fi was just as exemplary as her fantasy writings. She has influenced many of the speculative fiction authors over the generations. She continues long after her death.

And while I was an awkward new college student reading battered copies of her books, now in my late 30s, my community college now a 4-year, I still read her.

But there's a catch.

Ms. Norton is now being TAUGHT at my college campus...
[Part 2 in another post]

*Please Politely* Stalk Your Teacher (subtitle: Please email or call your teacher if you have a problem)

Nothing annoys me more than many in this new generation of students. 

Whether they are struggling in a class, need more info about an extra credit assignment, or just a quick question, it seems there is a lack of initiative on a student's part to be proactive.

Here is what I mean. While tutoring, a student complained about how he/she couldn't stand the teacher and that the teacher was harsh. This went on for several sessions until I asked the student if she/he spoke with the teacher.

"No."

Me: Did you at least drop them an email?

Student: Nooo...

Me: Why not?

Student: I don't wanna bother them!

Another student had a last-minute assignment during Finals' Week. After assisting, I asked the student if she/he was turning in the assignment by email. The student said no, that it had to be delivered to the teacher's office but the student had never been to the office the whole semester, and needed to start searching for it.

Me: But you went there before, right? To your teacher's office?

Student: No, not really.

Me: But why not?

Student: *shrugs* No real reason.

Me: Do you have an idea to find the teacher's office?

Student: I can look on the syllabus.

Me: *Raising my voice* That isn't the point!

Really? You're insulting your instructor, believe the person to be unfair, but instead of you asking them directly, you're going to complain to your tutor, or text your friends, rant on social media, and nowhere in sight does your teacher know of your tribulations because YOU DON'T WANT TO BOTHER THEM?

What is going on with these students? 

When I was in college, I remember my friends and I practically stalking our teachers! We would know where their offices were, know their office hours, and practically be found camping outside their doors when they arrived. We read our syllabuses/syllabi like Bibles until they were worn. We didn't use email addresses to contact our instructors because few people had emails back then. They had telephone extensions and we called these numbers. We made appointments too, according to and around the professors' office schedules.

The only thing we didn't do was follow these instructors home! 

Why when the choices of communication were so slim, my generation knew how to contact and TALK to our teachers? 

Now that we can text, email, go on a variety of social media - some of these instructors have their own websites! - and even interact almost virtually, nobody wants to 'trouble' their professor? Foolishness!

You are in college. You are supposed to be an adult. Don't presume that by sitting back and doing n-o-t-h-i-n-g will grant you understanding and countless boons of academic favor! It will not work. Once you don't stay engaged in your college/university life or remain proactive to your success, just take the bitter pill and swallow it.

Textbooks, code, college, and Running Rabbit

CHAPTER TITLE: How I used Java code to create my library of Japanese publishers, and turned my professor on to Peachpit Press computer books
~~~~~
What does Java, phonebook manga, and what many may consider the deplorable state of college textbooks, have in common?

Let me start with a little story. 1996, I think I started my official Computer Art class. I credit this with getting me involved in Digital Art and Computer Design.

The professor reintroduced us to (what was the Mac model desktop at this time?) early-generation QuarkXpress <--- Man, I enjoyed that software!
(It's a desktop publisher, of sorts. This is before Microsoft Publisher and Adobe InDesign. And when many were using WordPerfect)

We all know that college gives us wonderful learning experiences, and we may or may not agree on the value of that education, but I think we can pretty much agree that most college textbooks are a HUGE RIPOFF.

Case in point: the professor introduced us to what I used to term 'The Running Rabbit Books' because I forgot the publisher.
These were inexpensive, yet comprehensive volumes written by various writers on any software application, operating system and code at the time.

Fast forward 4 - 5 years later:
The books (there were two used in class) proved so informative, that when I majored in Web Design, I bought the Peachpit books at Borders to supplement the required texts.

In one coding class, we had to build a database entirely from Java, highlighting favorite books. I was obsessed with Japanese phonebook manga (Brick-wide, dictionary pages amount, serial comics) and the scarcity of them in the North American/Canadian book market.

Our required textbook was rife with misprints and errors. To a coder, that's death. One colon, one comma, and the whole application refuses to run! Not to mention there are hundreds of lines of code to search for!

I used my Java Peachpit text, reading the highlighted code in red, and where one might run into problems. At one point, the professor stopped by the auditorium-length desk and flipped through my Peachpit Press book. He made a sound, asked me a question, I answered, and he said he may just use the series next term!

Oh, and I nailed the assignment.

God Bless Them, those books helped me get a B+ average in those IT classes!

I don't understand some people...

I don't remember if it was a writers' conference, a workshop, the Miami Book Fair, some random convention or event I usually attend when I'm bored and/or have some extra cash.
Anyhoo, a gentleman was impressed by the fact I was published and had my own website. He asked what inspired my stories.

I told him I grew up on Greek myth and so, at the time, Tabber the Red (my site), had Greek Mythology* on the Welcome Page. He told me that was surprising, since I'm not Greek.

Huh? What? How did you arrive at that conclusion?
No, I'm far from Greek (I'm 1st Gen Caribbean-American), but what I don't understand is that, as far as I could tell, neither was he.

Yet, I got the impression that had I matched his skin color, this man would never have said such a ridiculous summation to me.
What did being non-Greek have to do with being a lover of storytelling that has lasted through the ages?
~~~
I don't like pigeonholes: in high school art, as a girl, I wasn't suppose to draw superheroes.

Instead, I should be creating the fashion art the majority of girls were drawing (one fashion artist even got ticked off when she saw the outfits I created for my characters, and demanded to know how I could draw such outfits - so, she was jealous at how..creative the outfits on cartoon characters were?).

In junior high, I should be drawing still-life instead of cartoons.

In college art courses, an instructor/professor had the nerve to tell me I was too repressed and restrictive, especially when, after completing his assignments, I turned to sketching my own work during free time.

When I decided to take writing seriously, when it no longer became a passing interest, no longer a hobby, but something I wanted to shape my life, there were folks who told me to stop writing about animals, stop living in science fiction world, stop these childish dreams, and focus on reality, and read Urban fiction (you know, because I AM Black).

And let me also mention the English teacher, who, in my first-year of high school, accused me of plagiarism (don't worry, will explain in another post), and a science teacher from my junior high days, a truly dreadful woman, who later showed up at the college I later attended!

Here I was, working at the college bookstore as a cashier, and she, horror of horrors, was the next in line!

Dreadful Teacher: Oh, it's you, Ms. Welsh. You're here. (Because, she could never call us by our FIRST names, as she was mean enough not to make it personal)

Me: Hello, Ms. (Name deliberately omitted). How are you?

Dreadful Teacher: What're you doing here?

Me: I'm majoring in art.

Dreadful Teacher: Oh. THAT again? I thought you gave that up.

I don't know why I wanted to bite her instead of the normal thought of punching her, I guess that was just the so-called 'Furry' in me, but I grinned wide enough as if I was bearing my teeth in a snarl and wished her a nice day.
~~~
As human beings, we all have prejudices; we all make snap judgements. We're all flawed.Yes, if we know a person's ethnicity, we can hope to better understand him/her, if we know someone's name, it betters our chances of connecting with him/her.

I get it. What I don't understand is, when a person can just outright BLURT OUT his/her snap judgements at you on the summation of skin color? Or gender? And then on THAT flimsy basis, decide what you must like, what must be your hobbies, what must be your life? And when you completely change that illusion or assumption, YOU, not the person who makes the snap judgement, are the brunt of that person's ire or confusion?

I don't want to understand. I just want to draw what I like. I want to write what I like. So far, some people like it, some love it, and some hate it no matter what. We are entitled to our interests. We are entitled to our opinions.
But please, for those who think you can decide everything about a person just by looking at them, maybe you're in the wrong business.
You should probably do fortune-telling. Yet, even palmists study a person carefully before making a prediction.


*For those who visit 'Tabber the Red', I have since changed 'Greek' Mythology to 'World' Mythology because the Greek stories led me to reading other cultures' myths and folklore.

The Thrill of the Chase...

Remember the first time you had to stand up in class and recite something or read an essay you wrote or whatnot? You don't remember?
Well, good, because I remember my first time, and thinking about it traumatizes me now.

1982. Bronx, NY, Parkway Elementary School, Kindergarten.
We had to do that repulsive Show-N-Tell and I had a whole spiel ready. But when it came my turn, I froze. Absolutely and irrevocably frozen.
My teacher yelled at me. At 5, I couldn't understand WHY she was so angry with me. So I wouldn't dance like a puppet? Like the other kids?
I cried and stewed in a corner for the rest of class.

Fast forward to junior college, and I'm in the first course in Creative Writing.

I'm about 18-19 years old.

In the past, the only class coursework involving ANY of my stories has been relegated to that short span for which they devote a minute time to the ART OF FICTION (said like a bass-voice narrator speaking through a bullhorn).

Now we are in a circle, our desks to form a ring, and each session, the professor chooses who's to read the next story. She comes to me. It's my turn. My limbs are shaking. I am becoming frozen. My chin trembles so that I forget how to form words. Most every one's gaze is on me.
I can't feel the paper, and I clench it tightly. It's pastel yellow, printer paper that was once used on a dot matrix ('member those?) printer, and later, through an inkjet.
I begin to read.
I'm the only student that writes about gangster dogs in suits and fedoras.
I have a classmate who writes from the perspective of flowers in a meadow, but one can guess I am pretty much the oddball in the class.
My professor, the only one impressed by what she saw as natural talent and skill.
I continue to read.
I finished the scene when my protagonist chases a rival into a New York subway, the rival slips off the platform and into the tracks the same time a train arrives, killing him.
My protagonist looks at his watch and says, "Hm..Well what do ya know? It's right on time!"
I'm finished.
I look up. Everyone watches me and I mean EVERYONE.
I swallow as I turn to my professor. My mouth is dry but she nods, her confidence in me confirmed.
A classmate, "Whoa."
I hear, "That was the most incredible thing I've ever heard!"
"I was literally shaking."
"I'll never look at dogs the same way again."
More and more words of praise and admiration.

There's already a hater, who never liked my stuff and often criticized my work before I would even finish. She looked away. I don't care.

The words of encouragement are enough, and thank God, because this was my last stop, pun definitely intended, before I decided I may give up on writing.
From that class, from that experience and many afterwards, I decided to pursue writing, no matter how long it took me.

A classmate explained that as I read the piece, my speech became faster and faster, thereby intensifying the action but also making it difficult for some to understand me.
However, the class heard what they needed to hear to give me feedback, and I walked on air the rest of that day.

A class that changes...

Professor Tixier would prove a force of nature. She was a dynamo. An intellectual to be reckoned with. I was privileged by the English Department to take this dynamic teacher's class because of my high marks (Goodness, too many British dramas)/scores.

The day I walked in, I knew that, to coin and milk a cliche' to the bone, I had found a kindred spirit.

"Joseph Campbell" (c) Elephantjournal.com

Prof. Tixier taught a course - name escapes me now- about the importance of storytelling and its role in modern psychology and society.

I first heard the 'Monomyth' from her. I also learned about Mr. Joseph Campbell, and his famed "Hero with a Thousand Faces".

"Ursula K. le Guin" (c) Guardian.co.uk

She also reintroduced a writer I dearly took for granted, Ursula K. le Guin.
With myth, storytelling, and epic fantasy being taught all in one course, you would think it would be a picnic... It wasn't.

Did most of my classmates, who happened to be freshmen and sophomores to my junior, understand the treasure trove that was this class? NO, they did not.

Yet, I absorbed, and through osmosis, took in what she explained was the importance of storytelling to any culture. In coming to grips with WHY we tell stories, this topic also became the salve to much underpinnings within the Psychology industry, another field for which I am a fan.

I gave her a story I had recently finished, and she commented, not in the passionate way of my earlier English and Creative Writing instructors, but in an academic, didactic manner that forced me to view my tales, not ONLY as a source of entertainment to possible readers, but to how I viewed my world, my personal psychology.

Professor Tixier is dead and gone for over 6 years (at the time of this post), and I doubt she knew the impact she had on me as a person, and more important, as a writer. My junior/community college is now a four-year, and there is a grant named after this wonderful woman, as it should be. But the true testament to her legacy is what we, her students, and others' lives she touched, may do with the knowledge she gave freely and sincerely.

*NOTE: Please view Third Sunday Blog Carnival: Volume 1, No. 3 for more writing/poetry/essayist goodness!
Also, check out & FOLLOW Third Sunday Blog Carnival itself -- a wonderland of various genres & writerly advice! It's a SMORGASBORD of Writing, Writers, and the blogs that go with them!

Today doesn't feel like a Saturday...

It's been a while, but this week was the end of the semester and so I will have my Christmas season to do the things I WANNA DO.

I'm reading the 125th volume, Issue 1 of the Writer Magazine (please search my Twitter account for how much I adore this mag!), and I came to a realization:
Writers are influenced by so many, wide, broad strokes of humanity and conditions.

I remember being told that my book reports and stories for English/Reading were entertaining. Yet, those same strengths of what made my stories shine were my Achilles' heel when it came to writing research papers.

Finally, in community college, not only did I write an essay that glowed with my professor's comments, until I was even encouraged to take a Creative Writing course (They had these?! Who knew!).
And later, in that same class, I ended up scoring the highest - with another person - out of the entire English classes in the college, that this propelled me to being able to register for an honor's class afterward. More about that in a minute..

Eventually, before all that, after completing this course and the second required course (with a grade I was NOT happy with), I took my professor's advice and enrolled in CRW2001 with a professor Austin.

She has since retired, but not before she lit my imagination on fire for her practical yet illuminating advice into the writing business. From her, I learned to specify genre, write synopses, and how and where to market my writing.
She was also one of the few teachers who didn't mock my wanting to write about talking animals and applying Scifi tropes into my story. She was more interested in how I structured a tale, how convincing my characters' dialogues, setting, exposition, etc.

I was never so proud as when my short story, "Su Ling", was published in a now out-of-print fanzine and I handed a copy to her.
She made me blush when she handed the issue back and told me to autograph it first before she accepted it!

I want to thank my Reading/English teachers in middle school, my AP English teacher, my first English professor, Professor Austin and later the honors English on Myth, Professor Tixier. More about this wonderful woman in my next post.
A writer's work is never done, true. We constantly are bombarded by ideas, advice, and our own internal dialogue, but a writer's mentors' list doesn't end either, and for that, I AM GRATEFUL.