How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Here's what I'm talking about: You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

I have admired Ray Bradbury's writing for several decades now, so it was natural that I would love Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity. Bradbury always writes from the heart, and this collection of writing advice is no exception.

In it, Bradbury encourages us to follow the unique path of our instincts and enthusiasms to the place where our inner genius dwells, and he shows that success as a writer depends on how well you know one subject: your own life.

Zen in the Art of Writing is more than just a how-to manual for the would-be writer: it is a celebration of the act of writing itself that will delight, impassion, and inspire the writer in you. Here are practical tips on the art of writing from a master of the craft-everything from finding original ideas to developing your own voice and style-as well as the inside story of Bradbury's own remarkable career as a prolific author of novels, stories, poems, films, and plays. In this exuberant book, the incomparable Ray Bradbury shares the wisdom, experience, and excitement of a lifetime of writing. These are the qualities every writer must have, as well as a spirit of adventure. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces back together. She is currently working on a book titled Black and White TV: Independence, Popular Culture and Globalization in the Anglophone Caribbean (1962-1982), which examines the role of national broadcasting corporations in the nation-building projects of newly independent West Indian democracies.'Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a land mine. For the past twelve years she has worked with various state-based affiliates of the NEH, and with the National Humanities Center. She is co-editor of a second book, a collection of essays on Barbadian singer Rihanna and has published in numerous journals on a wide array of subjects related to African American and Afro-Caribbean scholarly concerns.

Heather Russell is Professor of Literature and Senior Associate Dean in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education (CASE) at Florida International University, where she has taught since 2003. Her book, Legba’s Crossing: Narratology in The African Atlantic (2009) is part of a general body of scholarship on black modernity.

Zen and the art of writing