Joan L. Cannon
Joan L. Cannon likes to use her middle initial because so few of her maiden namesakes are left anywhere (Huguenot LaPrades). She's a retired teacher, retail manager, and author of two novels in paperback, Settling and Maiden Run.
From childhood there have been toss-ups for her avocations among reading, riding horses, painting, writing and homemaking. Now's she's happy to be mostly retired even from those activities since moving to a life care community. Retired turns out to be a relative term since there's always labor need for good causes.
Her latest book is a collection of short stories called Peripheral Vision published by March Street Press: http://www.marchstreetpress.com and Amazon
Email Joan: jlcannon (at)compascable.net
CultureWatch, July 2010
It's enjoyable to find a story told in a layered way. This one reads so convincingly like a memoir that the reader is tempted to forget that it really is artful fiction. It could also be a non-academic dissertation of food with implications of the intimate connections between who we are and what we are accustomed to eating. more »
Read or Listen?
I have a subconscious distrust of the spoken word — or maybe that might be explained by too many decades of listening to political speeches. I'm convinced that I can read aloud. I can't find anyone who wants to listen to what I'd like to read, and second, I'm beginning to think I'll never find the perfect vehicle for my dream talent so that I can hold an audience rapt. more »
Lifelong Pursuits: Musing on the Triple Crown
Racing exploits the most fragile of domestic animals, already prone to ravages of physical abuse even by the well-intentioned. They bear pain without the sounds we notice from dogs and cats, or even cage birds. Injuries are common and some easily overlooked until they become laming or worse. An injured racehorse may not be worth the correct and optimal healing if the owner deems it too costly. A racehorse is bred and conditioned to win races. If it doesn't, it stops receiving the expenditure of money and attention it would otherwise enjoy. more »
CultureWatch Begins Summer Reads
Unless you already know all the biographical details of Renoir's life, however, you read on if only to discover which woman, if any of them, will be next in his life and how the money will be found to complete the work within the deadline. You have to know whether Augustine will enable him to keep up his spirits, whether he will make the models all appear on time and frequently enough to finish each section at all, if the weather will hold, if he will be able to persuade his supplier to trust him for more paint…and other problems that arise like plot points in a thriller. more »
