Category: Modern Mythographer
Fight The New “Hobby Lobby” Religious Order: Get Ordained
In which I explain how joining up with your choice of online church can help overthrow the misconceptions about religion that led to the Hobby Lobby verdict.
Posted on July 24, 2014 by Brook – 
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Politics, Religion | Tagged articles, mylatest, Religion Dispatches
90 Years of Spiritual Merchandising
If you’ve heard of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, a small white poetry book with a drawing of a man staring intensely out from the cover, you probably associate it with the 1960s. That’s when the so-called counterculture Bible began to be read at weddings (“Love one another, but make not a bond of love”),… More →
Posted on January 06, 2014 by Brook – Comments closed
History | Tagged history, holidays, Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Seven Storytelling Sins
I use Grammarly for English proofreading because it saves me from my overpunctuated sentences, but in a nice way, without making me feel bad. I was immediately intrigued by the recent This American Life episode “Seven Things You’re Not Supposed To Talk About.” A producer’s mother had ironclad rules about topics that should never be talked… More →
Posted on November 19, 2013 by Brook – Leave a comment
How (Not) To Conduct An Interview
It’s a reasonable assumption that I must have gotten to talk to lots of interesting people for my book on people seeking the Garden of Eden, just like it’s a reasonable assumption that I got to visit lots of beautiful places (Ohio and Missouri are nice, but hardly paradise). And I always feel a little… More →
Posted on November 16, 2013 by Brook – Comments closed
Nonfiction November
Hey, it’s November, you know what that means: National Novel Writing Month, adorably shortened as NaNoWriMo. This is not like Excema Awareness or Secretary Appreciation Month, this is a Month that actually comes with its own friendly competition, and cozy writing community. Write every day for 30 days, end up with a 50,000 word novel,… More →
Posted on November 04, 2013 by Brook – Leave a comment
When Does Research End And Writing Begin?
I use Grammarly for English proofreading because as a professional copy editor, I have learned that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone, including me. Recently I’ve encountered the question “when does research end and writing begin?” popping up all over the place. My fellow writers struggle with it while working on book manuscripts, and get a variety… More →
Posted on October 28, 2013 by Brook – 2 Comments
Rules of Three, Leave Them Be
I use Grammarly for english proofreading because I just had to tell my writing student that she shouldn’t suggest “razing the kids” in her essay. Generally speaking, I’m not a believer in all those “rules for writing” that you read about. From “don’t start a sentence with ‘and’,” to “write what you know,” most of… More →
Posted on October 21, 2013 by Brook – Leave a comment
Modern Mythographer | Tagged storytelling, structure, writing
Don’t Judge a Book Writer By Her Day Job
If you know me in real life, and chances are that the five of you reading this blog do, you know I make my modest living as a freelance copy editor for a ragtag band of New York City-based magazines and book publishers. Today was a typical Monday: I dropped off some proofreading I did… More →
Posted on August 06, 2012 by Brook – Comments closed
How to Eat A Lobster Like the 99%
1.) Help out the workers. Right now there’s a lobster glut. Too much supply is making for the lowest prices seen in decades. In Maine you can get lobster for $4 a pound, which is less than chicken breasts at Trader Joe’s. Prices are so low that the working lobster men and women–still a small-scale,… More →
Posted on July 31, 2012 by Brook – 1 Comment
Modern Mythographer | Tagged how-to, lobster
Lobster Anxiety, Part Two
As soon as we got to Maine, we began planning one-percent-style outings. My mom had booked tickets to the rare public opening of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s private garden, which is open only on eight days a year, a magnificent manicured sanctuary in the middle of the Maine woods. We drank gin at The Claremont, a… More →
Posted on July 31, 2012 by Brook – Comments closed
History, Modern Mythographer, Politics | Tagged lobster, Maine, New Jersey
