Author: Ron Rozelle

  Sometime or another I wandered into an antique store and admired a placard.  You know the kind, with a brief phrase painted in bold letters on a faded plank and made to look old. They used to be trendy.  Everybody seemed to have them, every room proclaiming snippets of comfort, advice, wit and wisdom.  … Continue reading Lost in translation

When “Star Trek” first showed up on our big Zenith black and white console TV up in Oakwood my parents didn’t think it had much chance of catching on. It definitely caught on with me.  But that was along about the time that I was entering high school, trading in my crew cut for enough … Continue reading Ah, technology

If you’re a reader – I mean a devoted reader who is perfectly content with a good book and a comfortable chair, sofa or hammock – I have a suggestion for you: acquaint yourself with Robert Harris. I suspect plenty of you already have, since every new yarn he comes up with is an instant … Continue reading For readers: a good find. For writers: a role model.

  This coming June will mark 81 years since Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel of the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, was published. So let’s start with a little quiz:  1) What is the source of the title (which is a nice way of saying where did Mrs. Mitchell steal it)? and 2) Thomas Mitchell … Continue reading A literary landmark, a haughty heroine, and a quiz

  I sometimes kid myself into thinking, when somebody tells me they enjoyed one of my books, that their enjoyment was owing to my excellent description, suspenseful pacing, believable dialogue, and clever wording.  When, in reality, it was the story they liked.   And, almost always, the story that a writer tells is his or her … Continue reading The power of a story

Here’s a little quiz.  See how many book titles you can identify from their first sentences. 1)  “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charms as the Tarleton twins were.”  2)  “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”  3) … Continue reading First impressions

Here’s a quiz.  Fill in the missing word in these common phrases or titles: Don’t sit under the __________ tree with anyone else but me. An ___________ a day keeps the doctor away. One bad ________ spoils the whole barrel. If you didn’t put the same word in all of the blanks please get in … Continue reading A little orb in the big scheme of things

The finest moment in Charles Dickens’ novels and stories for me – thus far that is, I’m currently reading my way through him, like Ahab in quest of the white whale – is in Chapter 11 of Bleak House. Here we find a coroner’s court in session focused on the death of an unknown man, a … Continue reading A lesson from Mr. Dickens

Do any of the following things sound familiar? An article buried deep in the newspaper about some new archeological discovery on some old battlefield not only catches your attention and keeps you reading for the next few minutes but sends you immediately to the computer to find out more about the battle and the people … Continue reading Historybuffitis

One of  my goals when I launched this blog was to provide a place for readers to share what they’re reading. So let’s have it.  What are you currently reading or what have you recently read that you can recommend for the rest of us (or warn us to avoid like the plague). Of late I’ve … Continue reading What are you reading?