Joyce Carol Oates, born June 16, 1938 in Lockport, NY, is an incredibly prolific author who's also versatile in different formats—novels, short stories, essays, plays and memoirs. Having written a hundred books, Oates has covered a wide range of topics, from boxing, starlets and rebellious teenage girls to serial killers, gothic horror tales and dysfunctional…
Happy 60th Birthday, Michelle Pfeiffer!
Famous for her string of box office hits in various genres throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the talented Michelle Pfeiffer has appeared in over 40 films throughout her career. Born April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, Calif., Pfeiffer began acting after winning the Miss Orange County pageant at 19. After a bumpy start with Grease…
#TBT: Janis Joplin, Queen of Psychedelic Blues
On the surface, the singers Mavis Staples and Janis Joplin don’t seem to have a lot in common—Janis came from a small segregated Texas town, a rebel who pushed all the boundaries and lived a hardcore rock 'n' roll lifestyle with booze, sex and drugs. Mavis grew up on the South Side of Chicago, heavily…
Holiday in Space
My usual Christmas blog means pulling out some favorite crime or supernatural novels of the year (savory reads as opposed to sweet), but this year I decided to do a fantasy/scifi rewind. After seeing an English Beat concert recently, I remembered it can actually be fun to visit the ghosts of your past—especially if ska…
Boxing Movies for Boxing Day
The day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day, does not refer to disappointed kids fueled by candy canes and sugar cookies wanting to slug it out! It was the day when many British service workers received their “Christmas Boxes” of gifts or gratuities and were allowed the day off to visit friends and family. But the…
Top Picks: Novelist Alice Hoffman
Readers love the whimsical elements that turn ordinary life into something magical in Alice Hoffman's stories. The novelist creates compelling characters that you can root for while she explores the relationships in families and between lovers in ways that ring emotionally true. Over a 40-year career, Hoffman's written her trademark luminous prose, filled with images of nature, in…
Women Who Do Too Much and the People Who Love (But Secretly Fear) Them
Whether you want to lean in, lean out or just lie in a cool, dark room with a washcloth over your face—women face a host of challenges in balancing work and personal lives. Here are a variety of titles that will inspire you, confirm your worst fears or simply make you wish that tidying up…
Wreaths and Wraiths: Holiday with a Touch of Horror
The holidays bring images of cheerful songs, feasts and gifts, but as you sit by your yule log, don’t forget your Christmas Eve ghost story. W…what?! When I first discovered this historical tradition a few years ago, I found something lovely and nostalgic about people gathering to eat, drink, make merry and then try scare…
With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies?
Friends, enemies and frenemies—women's relationships can be complex: a source of endless comfort and strength or something that makes you wish human mothers ate their young. Here are some novels to help appreciate all the really good women in your life, or to help you recognize the ones that need to be un-friended! Her by Harriet Lane. A disturbing…
That’s Love (and Marriage) Baby!
Famous couples often only need one name each—Anthony and Cleopatra, Scott and Zelda, Bogart and Bacall—but what do we really know about their story? What's it like to have a famous spouse, or to live your life in the spotlight or be at the center of history? Here are some power couples as they appear in fiction. Above…
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