Category Archives: reading

The Secret of Einstein’s Ability to Adapt to Failure

Posted on 2. September 2012 by Nancy Pinard

As part of my attempt to embrace the complexity of Albert Einstein, I’m exploring a chapter in Lewis Pyenson’s book The Young Einstein:  The Advent of Relativity.  Pyenson begins by enumerating the failures Einstein overcame prior to being awarded the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dallas Willard, dealing with failure, Einstein, Helen Dukas, Lewis Pyenson, making art, point of view, reading, writing | Leave a comment

That Mysterious Natural Image

Posted on 16. May 2012 by Nancy Pinard

After writing clinically about mystery in my last post, I got thinking about how it enters the text.  First, I checked Dictionary.com and came up with these two appropriate definitions: anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown: … Continue reading →

Posted in Alyson Richman, Amy Hempel, Charles Darwin, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, mystery, reading, THE LOST WIFE | Leave a comment

Ambiguity, Complexity, and Mystery

Posted on 13. May 2012 by Nancy Pinard

I just returned from two days spent at the Ohio University Literary Festival, where lectures were delivered by writers Amy Hempel (if you don’t know her story, “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried,” read it without passing Go), … Continue reading →

Posted in ambiguity, Amy Hempel, complexity, mystery, reading, Richard Rodriguez, Terrance Hayes, writing | Leave a comment

The Need for Obsession

Posted on 5. May 2012 by Nancy Pinard

I am a writer.  I am also a tennis player.  (In fact, I have torn the ligaments in my right elbow playing tennis, and in lieu of having Tommy John surgery, I wear a wrist-to-shoulder metal  Bledsoe brace on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Annie Darwin, Charles Darwin, death, Einstein, Einstein's children, Einstein's Daughter, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Mileva Maric, obsession, point of view, reading, Serbia, writing, Zurich | 1 Comment

The Inner Conflict

Posted on 20. March 2012 by Nancy Pinard

I will be teaching a workshop on writing the endings of short stories and novels at the Mad Anthony Writers’ Workshop April 13-15 in Hamilton, Ohio.  In the process of preparing, I was made conscious of subjects that generally remain … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Darwin, Einstein, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, inner conflict, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, writing | Leave a comment

Time out to luxuriate in gorgeous prose

Posted on 23. December 2011 by Nancy Pinard

The writing matters. Last summer I was in 2nd and Charles, the used bookstore associated with Books-a-Million Corporation, browsing the remaindered paperbacks.   These are new books, sold for insultingly low prices, an insult I’m willing to inflict to benefit … Continue reading →

Posted in Edna O'Brien, image, prose, reading, sound, The Light of Evening | Leave a comment

Learning from the Historical Fiction of Other Writers

Posted on 10. December 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’m just finishing up a debut novel by Debra Dean called The Madonnas of Leningrad, a must-read for art lovers and anyone who wants to know what it was like to survive the terrible winter of the Nazi seige of … Continue reading →

Posted in Debra Dean, Fictional biography, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, Hermitage, historical fiction, methods for creativity, reading, Siege of Leningrad, The Madonnas of Leningrad, writing | Leave a comment

Grappling with Gaps in the Record

Posted on 1. December 2011 by Nancy Pinard

In keeping with my resolve not to change the historical record where it exists, I still wrestle with how to handle the gaps.   The writing of fictional biography gives me some license, of course, but I mostly interpret that to … Continue reading →

Posted in Auguste Forel, Bulgholzli Psychiatric Hospital, Eduard Einstein, Einstein's Daughter, Fictional biography, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Marija Maric, Michele Zackheim, Mileva Maric, Milos Maric, point of view, reading, schizophrenia, Serbia, writing, Zorka Maric, Zurich | 2 Comments

The Path of Creation

Posted on 15. October 2011 by Nancy Pinard

This morning I came across this letter from Martha Graham  to Agnes DeMille, both dancers that left a long trail of amazing choreography, works which are not only still being performed, but which arguably form the backbone of  some dance companies’ repertoire. A Letter … Continue reading →

Posted in Agnes DeMille, Darwin, Einstein, genius, innovation, making art, Martha Graham, reading, writing | 2 Comments

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