2012’s most looked up words
Capitalism and socialism.

Five new works

Edinburgh’s mysterious (and delightful) book sculptor is back.

10. Hear what everyone has to say but don’t listen to anyone (except him).
“Just as nobody can really teach you how you like your coffee, so nobody can really teach you how to write.” 10 rules for writing from Etgar Keret.

Learn by watching
“We can learn countless lessons about writing by paying attention to actors. Think of the way that, in Painted Veil, Edward Norton says ‘quick’ with special emphasis on the ‘k,’ showing his bitter anger with a single sound. The way Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) in the hit TV show Breaking Bad uses long periods of silence and tiny facial twitches to show anxiety. Or hell, even the way Pinkie Pie uses different intonations of the term ‘okey dokey lokey’ to express about a hundred different emotions in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” Why Netflix makes you a better writer.

The Word Festival

Celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, from Dec. 12 to Dec. 15. (Image: “Charles Dickens as he appears when reading.” Wood engraving from a sketch by Charles A. Barry (1830-1892). Illustration from Harper’s Weekly, v. 11, no. 571, Dec. 7, 1867, p. 777., via Wikipedia.)

Make some noise
Author and musician Misha Bower shares her debut short story collection,  Music for Uninvited Guests, and will perform with bandmate Matt Cully as EONS, this Friday, Dec. 14, at TPL’s Lillian H. Smith Library, 8 pm.