Ben East Books

Grid of posts 2×3

  • baseball and birthdays

    Back in January my son asked me to write him a story for his birthday. Three months later I’ve put the finishing touches on a 32k-word novel, my first in the lit-for-kids line. Vikram turns 8 next week. Among the themes (friendship, family, dreams) is baseball. With MLB opening day upon us, I thought I’d share a chapter. Read more

  • Writing is physical

    …and sometimes writing’s purely physical, like when you’re in the middle of editing copy in Word from a comfortable, seated position and you find yourself needing to hand-write a note, but that’s got to be done in the specific place where you organize all the notes pertaining to the next draft you have planned, but you realize you’ve left Read more

  • Coming Very Soon

    The Second World War II had Catch 22. The Global War on Terror will have: Read more

  • Ice Cream in Harpers Ferry

      Yesterday In Harper’s Ferry Seated between my boys I ate an ice cream cone In the sun. In public. “This is good, dad.” “This is good.” #Americanah   Read more

  • You’re not anti-social

    Dear fellow writers and artists, The Washington Post on Friday helped explain your anti-social tendencies. Revelation: you’re not misanthropic; you’re smart. What you’re working on has been equated to finding the cure for cancer. Research published last month in the British Journal of Psychology by two evolutionary psychologists from the London School of Economics and Singapore Read more

  • NINE

    Mothers, fathers, Diamond’s calling: Little League begins. Sons and daughters, Grab your bats. Days are growing long. Pitcher, catcher, Batter, Ump: Eyes quick on the ball. Windup, pitch, Swing and hit, Field and throw and tag. Line to Center. Ground to short. Hit and run and slide. Bases loaded, Batter up, Knock it past the Read more