Welcome to the MadCity Writer Blog…where I write about whatever catches my fancy.
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Henry S. Miller’s 2014 Happiness Calendar
The 2014 Happiness Calendar below came to my email in-box as a free blog post to promote the book The Serious Pursuit of Happiness by Henry S. Miller, a motivational speaker and consultant. I did not write it. But I like the concept of a monthly focus...
Mystery Writer Christine DeSmet Doesn’t Fudge When it Come to Research
Set in a combination live bait and fudge shop in Wisconsin’s vacation wonderland, Door County, filled with quirky, likeable, and energetic characters, and…oh, did I mention?...mouth-watering! That’s the new novel by Madison, Wisconsin author Christine DeSmet who...
The Glass Ocean by Lori Baker: a Review
Czech glass makers Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka were so taken by the ephemeral, translucent nature of marine invertebrates that they use the art of sculpted glass to capture the essence of these complex sea creatures. American author Lori Baker was so taken by the...
Pages for Peace: The Biggest Book in the World (Almost)
Imagine a book with pages 10 feet wide by 12 feet tall. Imagine that people from all over the world contribute content for that book on one subject: peace. Now imagine a group of kids who work for eight years to make it happen. Three years ago I wrote an article for...
Review of Chris Eischele’s Garden Truths From My Family’s Stories
I have to admit up front that I know nothing about gardening—I regularly cause silk flowers to die by over-watering them. So it doesn’t take much for me to admire those who have the knack. However, Christine Eirschele has more than a knack—she has achieved...
High Flight – a Memorial Day Tribute to My Father
My father, Walter Percy Joque, was an Air Force navigator/bombardier in WWII. He flew missions over North Africa and Italy, where he was shot down. He spent the last year of the war in a German Prisoner of War camp. Dad learned the High Flight poem and memorized...
Dalai Lama Teaches About Happiness in Madison, Wisconsin
I had the privilege this week to attend an event at which His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke. Change Your Mind Change The World was sponsored by the UW-Madison’s Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the Global Health Institute. The event was...
The Arsonists, a Play by Caleb Stone
The intimacy of a small theater tends to create the feeling of being one of the characters in a play, even if just a silent, observant one. That was the feeling I had as I watched the Mercury Players production of Caleb Stone’s play, The Arsonists this...
Fantasy Writer Dianne Gardner Kick Starts New Adventure
I recently became acquainted with the work of Dianne Lynn Gardner, author of a YA/middle-grade adventure fantasy saga titled Ian’s Realm. The three books in the series include: Deception Peak, TheDragon Shield, and the soon to be released Rubies and Robbers. The...