Author Archives: Nancy Pinard

About Nancy Pinard

Professionally-speaking, Nancy Pinard is an author-educator who spends her days writing, teaching, reading, and researching for her writing and teaching. She is the author of two published novels, Shadow Dancing and Butterfly Soup, and numerous short stories. She has taught the craft of fiction writing in many venues including Sinclair Community College, University of Dayton Life-Long Learning Institute, Antioch Writers' Workshop, Mad Anthony Writers' Workshop, and Molasses Pond Writers' Workshop. Personally, her faith is what sustains, inspires, and motivates her to continue to explore meaning through literature. "You are right in demanding that an artist approach his work consciously, but you are confusing two concepts: the solution of a problem and the correct formulation of a problem. Only the second is required of the artist." — Anton Chekov to Alexei Suvorin, October 27, 1888

Ahhh, Bern

Posted on 26. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Bern is a medieval city that has changed little structurally since 1410 when a law was passed, after a fire that burned all the wooden buildings, that decreed all buildings be made of stone.   Of course the old city now … Continue reading →

Posted in Anus Mirabilus, Bern, Eduard Einstein, Einstein, Elsa Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, Hadley Richardson, Hans Albert Einstein, Helen Dukas, History Museum, Johanna Fantova, Margot Einstein, Mileva Maric, Oktoberfest, Special Theory of Relativity, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Adventures in Munich

Posted on 24. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Einstein spent his childhood from age one to fifteen in Munich, though the Munich of today is a reconstruction of the city, thanks to Munich being the Nazi headquarters and therefore the target of Allied bombs in WWII. When it … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, Luitpold Gymnasium, Munich, Nazi headquarters, Oktoberfest, Research methods, Sendlinger Tor, writing | Leave a comment

Zurich

Posted on 19. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

It poured rain on our first day in Zurich and was the Swiss equivalent of Thanksgiving Day, besides.  Of the main churches, the Grossmunster was closed for a vocal concert, the Wasserkirche for services, and St. Peter’s Church for a string ensemble.  … Continue reading →

Posted in ETH/Zurich Polytech, Fraumunster, Grossmunster, Marc Chagall, Plattenstrasse 50, Switzerland, Unionstrasse 4, Wasserkirche, Zurich | 1 Comment

Lake Como, Part II

Posted on 18. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

We stayed in Tremezzo (tree-metzo) because it’s the location of the Villa Carlotta, an open-to-the-public villa with extensive gardens that Albert and Mileva visited on their ferry trip from Como to Colico.  It’s likely they stopped in other villages as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bellagio, Einstein, Lake Como, Mileva Maric, reading, Tremezzo, Varenna, Villa Carlotta | Leave a comment

The Einstein Tour Part I, Lake Como

Posted on 15. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

My husband and I arrived in Milan yesterday after the (for me) sleepless overnight flight that is penance for the luxury of European travel, meaning no taxi fare seemed too high if it meant we might settle in at our … Continue reading →

Posted in Bellagio, Einstein, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Italy, Lake Como, Mileva Maric, reading, Research methods, Tremezzo, Varenna, writing | 1 Comment

The Paper Garden

Posted on 18. August 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I have just uncovered that greatest of all delights, a book that runs so close to my vein that I look forward to going to bed at night so I can dip into it.  The book is The Paper Garden:  … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, Einstein, making art, Mileva Maric, Molly Peacock, reading, Shadow Dancing, The Paper Garden, writing | 3 Comments

How much of this is true?

Posted on 11. August 2011 by Nancy Pinard

For the second time since I began writing fictional biography, someone said, “But how am I to know what’s true?”  My answer is that the scenes are made up, the dialogue, the emotional movement, but the settings are as real … Continue reading →

Posted in Auguste Forel, Darwin, Einstein, Fictional biography, fictional truth, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Milos Maric, reading, Serbia, Stein am Rhein, writing | 2 Comments

What was different about Einstein’s brain?

Posted on 1. August 2011 by Nancy Pinard

On Einstein’s death in 1955, his body was taken to an autopsy lab in Princeton, NJ.  He had donated his brain to science, prior to the cremation of his body.  There, Dr. Thomas Harvey removed his brain, then stole it.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius, reading | Leave a comment

The Business of Dowries

Posted on 23. June 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Most of what I knew about Jewish dowries, prior to researching the Einstein novel, came from the stories of Shalom Aleichem, via Tevye the milkman and Fiddler on the Roof.  I extend my gratitude and acknowledgment to Marion Kaplan and … Continue reading →

Posted in arranged marriage, dowry, Einstein, Fiddler on the Roof, Marion Kaplan, matchmakers, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Shalom Aleichem, Switzerland | Leave a comment

What is an alp?

Posted on 16. June 2011 by Nancy Pinard

It’s not a rocky peak in Switzerland, Italy, or France, or so I learn from a 1908 volume called Peep at Many Lands:  Switzerland by John Finnemore (London:  Adam and Charles Black).   It’s one of those lovely old books, … Continue reading →

Posted in Italy, reading, Research methods, Switzerland | Leave a comment