Today, January 3, I, Amira K. Makansi, am 25 years old. A quarter of a century. When I was born the Berlin Wall was still around, the Internet hadn’t been ‘invented’, and ‘smartphone was a nonsensical word. Now I’m twenty-five, thinking about history and wondering where I will be in another twenty-five years. Birthdays are…
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Writer, explorer, and keeper of Alder the dog.
Blog Awards, Or, Those Whom I Love
A great way to ring in 2014 – my good friend Nillu has just nominated me for a blogging award called the “WordPress Family Award”! I have no idea what this means, but I guess I’m in some sort of family now, and I’ve inspired at least one person with all these words I type.…
Read More2014: Looking Forward As A Writer
Talking to Carol Cooper yesterday about resolutions for the New Year got me thinking about my own. I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but this past year was full of so much promise, so much untapped potential, that I feel like now is a good time to focus on self-improvement to turn that potential…
Read MoreWriter Wednesday: Interview With Dr. Carol Cooper
Meet Carol Cooper, doctor, journalist, and most recently, novelist. Her debut novel One Night at the Jacaranda is about dating but has darker undercurrents. Carol has also authored a string of non-fiction titles on health and parenting. She works as a family doctor in London and is a journalist for The Sun, the biggest-selling newspaper in the United Kingdom.…
Read More2013: Year In Review as a Reader
Here I’d like to remark briefly on the past year in reading. In a few days I’ll post a list of New Year’s resolutions for my writing, but in this post I’m focusing on my favorite books of the year. I’m happy to share this list with the blogosphere, but this is meant as an…
Read MoreBook Review: “Hunger” By Knut Hamsun
I’ve been trying to add more quote-unquote literature to my repertoire of finished books. When I was a child I hated reading anything set in the real world. I found books without magic or elves or talking animals to be unbearably boring, and I had no desire to read anything that had any sort of…
Read More2013 — A Great Year to be a Reader
Wow! It’s seriously a thrill to see The Sowing included on a list like this. I can’t believe I’m seeing my name alongside names like Hugh Howey and Brandon Sanderson. Thanks to Will Swardstrom for including me, and for taking a chance on The Sowing. I can’t wait to check out his work in 2014.…
Read MoreBook Review: “Minutes Before Sunset” by Shannon Thompson
Minutes Before Sunset was perhaps the worst book I’ve ever fallen in love with. When author Shannon Thompson emailed me and asked if I’d like an e-book copy of her urban paranormal romance, Minutes Before Sunset, I was initially hesitant. Urban paranormal is not a genre I’ve read much in, and romance is a word that typically…
Read MoreBook Review: The General In His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Here again is another book about death. I apologize for reading such morbid books recently, especially around the holiday season, but there you are. It can’t be helped. The General In His Labyrinth is a departure from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ typical subject, or so I am told. His writing style, normally in the magical realism world…
Read MoreBook Review: “Red Phone Box” Edited by Salome Jones
A few months back, I got connected with TLC Book Tours because of my love for Doctor Who. So when my TLC contact asked me if I would be willing to read a fantastical, mysterious, dark story featuring as one of its central aspects a time- and space-traveling red phone box (which is actually much…
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The Z-Axis 