I love it! Friend and fellow writer Charlotte Crystal forwarded  a great article from a recent boston.com that nicely summarizes ongoing research into the personal and societal benefits of reading fiction.  In a nutshell, as the novelist George Elliot so succinctly put it, one of the many purposes of fiction is “to enlarge men’s sympathies.” No matter what your perspective, empathy for others is almost always a good thing. In fact, as the piece points out, fiction often has a greater …

I wrote my first “book” in 8th grade English class. Bound between purple construction paper covers, it came complete with glossy paper photos cut and pasted from popular magazines. (This was before the personal computer when “cut and paste” was still a literal term.) The title of my literary masterpiece? Jerry West: The Eternal Quest. Jerry West, for those who may not be familiar, starred for many years in the NBA (He is the silhouetted player in the NBA logo) …

Andy and his Harris Hawk “Glide” are interviewed about the Virginia Festival of the Book.  

Next week marks the arrival of the 18th annual Virginia Festival of the Book. It has been my good fortune to be involved with the festival for the last ten years. I’ll be around again this year, especially on Saturday the 24th. Here are a few places you’ll be able to find me:  Monday, March 19, TV appearance during 5 PM Newscast WCAV-TV CBS 19 to talk about upcoming festival.  Tuesday, March 20 — 5-6:30 PM – Pre-Festival Book Signing with …