This Is Not a Real Blog Post (Ponderings and Plans)
My kids just got back from camp, and while they were gone, I enjoyed myself. (See, all last week, you didn’t even realize, because I hid it so well.) I watched a whole bunch of Netflix! Including episodes of Star Trek and The Dick Van Dyke Show and Get Smart and Roswell. On the evening […]
Delve Engage Seek Ask Hope
The kind of stories we read matters, because reading can affect who we are. Although scientific research in this area is still young, I believe reading constructive, life-expanding fiction is an important component in a healthy lifestyle. That why when I write a story, I try to integrate 5 characteristics of life-expanding stories, which I […]
Just When You Think You Might Not Be So Out of Touch…
… someone throws you a reminder. The AARP has tried this before, but now they’re getting desperate. They’ve sent me letters inviting me to join their organization. Some mailing-list marketer probably got the idea that since I’m no longer employed by an idiot in an office somewhere, I must have retired. I’m neither old enough […]
Baptism of Chaos and the Writer’s Soul
I’ve been going through a baptism of chaos. Been working on a summer software-development project–summer turning into autumn–a project with too many harrowing twists and a too-soon, hard deadline. I’ve been putting into this project as many hours as I can fit, plus some that I can’t. Because I need to earn enough money to […]
My Personal Writing Spaces (photos)
[UPDATE, October 2013: My daily routine has changed massively since this post, especially since we moved into the Merrimack Valley. These photos are also two cars ago, and one diet ago—and unfortunately Panera Bread no longer fits into my diet. But I do still visit some of the other places on this list, and I […]
Still Writing after All These Years
When I think about my plunge into the emotional smoothy-blender we call “writing fiction,” I usually credit an experience from late 2002 that inspired me to write a novel, tentatively entitled When the Sun Stood Still. (And aside from the fact that you can’t actually pronounce that title, I still like it.) I quickly discovered […]
Why Do You Write?
A number of people who follow this blog not only enjoy reading, but also write. In general, I’m finding that a good number of the people who participate in online reading groups are also writers. Some are published writers; some, freelance writers; some, indie writers; some, aspiring writers. Most of us are some combination of […]
The 5 Rules of Book Reviews
Authors and publishers, in my opinion, spend way too much time sucking up to literary critics, which is why I decided to become a book reviewer. Of course, no critic actually deserves the respect he gets (myself included), not for his opinion in any case. And I dare say, publishers wouldn’t give critics the time […]
Quip Hits
A number of short statements, commentaries, and useless insights collected over the last mumble-mumble months. On Technology Top Facebook group: “I’m not yelling…I’m Italian…thats how we talk.” Top Facebook group that someone ought to start: “Walking around naked makes me feel sexy.” Some weeks ago, I posted “Coconut” to my Facebook status, and no one […]
Writing the Opposite Sex
One of the axioms of writing is that you should write only what you know from experience. Writers extend that to say that you really only know how to write your own sex: men write only male characters well, and women write only female characters well. That’s why, they say, practically all romance novelists are […]