Tell Me a Story October Novella with Dina S. Rabadi: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dear Readers,

I have been adjusting to my new job as a teacher and marketing Mary's Wings and finally ready to get back to my blog, Tell Me a Story.

In celebration of my own novella, Mary's Wings, for the next few months I will be discussing the novella as an art form and introducing you to some of my favorites.

In light of it being Halloween soon, our October novella will be Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Feel free to order from your local bookstore, Amazon, Abebooks or reserve with your local library.

My next blog will provide you with an intro to the author.

Keep reading!

All My Best,

Dina

Comments

Honoring Zora Neale Hurston: African-American Writer and Anthropologist

One of my favorite books of all time is, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Zora's novel follows the quest of her heroine, Janie Crawford, and is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Junior who was clearly a strong and heroic leader. But I also want to celebrate authors and artists such as a Zora Neale Hurston who also contributed to a better understanding of what being African-American is like. What being human and struggling is like. More can be found here: https://www.biography.com/writer/zora-neale-hurston Photograph: Courtesy of Photographer Van Vechten, Carl (1880-1964)

Read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with author Dina S. Rabadi

Dear Readers, There are lots of holidays being celebrated around the world. In America, one of the classic movies is, A Christmas Carol. Photo by Phil Robson on Unsplash The movie and its various versions are based on the book of the same title by Charles Dickens. Please go ahead and pick up the book from your local public library or order it in time for us to read and discuss this month. Abebooks.com is a great source for inexpensive books. I do not receive a commission from the stores I recommend. It is important to also support our local bookstores. Here is a link to some independent bookstores in Indianapolis. Independent Bookstores Indianapolis Each Sunday, I will publish a post. Next week's post will be information about the author, the following week a dive into theme and characters, the next week will be historical context and then an intro to our January read. As always, please post questions or comments here about this month's read. H...

The Writing Process: How much of your story is true?

October 12, 2025 Dear Readers, I wanted to share about my writing process in these next few posts before I return to sharing books I am interested in and think you will be interested in. A lot of times, I am asked, "How much of this is true..." I think many beginning writers do write about experiences they have literally had-- that actually existed and is more thinly cloaked as fiction. As a professional writer , this question is more complicated to answer since more of my writing now (fiction that is) is not so much about me but perhaps a person I met at one point who inspired a character, or some theme that I myself have been grappling with or a subject such as Arab immigration that I experienced but retold in a way that was different than what I actually experienced. So if you are an emerging writer as well as reader, feel free to write about literal experiences. Just be careful not to write about someone in explicit detail without their permission....

Reading with Dina

Search This Blog