Black Cross (A World War II Thriller) by Greg Iles. Berkley Books. 656 pages. I have a tendency to pick up books and put them on my Kindle reader with the intention of reading them–someday. This is one of those books. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I came across it just a … More Review: “Black Cross” by Greg Iles
Well, I’ve been here before, but it still feels good. I’ve written twenty chapters on my current writing project, “The Serpent and the Dove,” and I have just one more chapter to write. That will signal the end of the first draft of this book. Yay. There’s always mixed feelings at this point in writing. … More Just One More
We Are Bellingcat: Global Crime, Online Sleuths and the Bold Future of News by Eliot Higgins. Bloomsbury Publishing. 272 pages. This was a book that my daughter purchased and thought I would be interested in. She was right. I spent the past 23 years teaching journalism in various forms while watching the face of reporting … More Review: “We Are Bellingcat” by Eliot Higgins
The Ghost Brigades (Old Man’s War Book 2) by John Scalzi. Tor Books. 384 pages. In all honesty, I started reading The Ghost Brigades because I picked up The Last Colony and was going to read it, only to realize that it was the third book in a series, and that I needed to read … More Review: “The Ghost Brigades” by John Scalzi
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. Crown Books. 304 pages. Part of the reason I asked for this book was because I really like many of the movies that Matthew McConaughey is known for. Part of the reason is because he is born and bred here in Texas, and me having lived here for 23 years, it’s … More Review: “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey
To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara. Ballantine Books. 636 pages. Several years ago, as a writing exercise, I proposed a story universe where World War I never happened and an Imperial Europe was united to dominate the globe with only the United States to stand against them. … More Review: “To the Last Man” by Jeff Shaara
The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989. Frederick Taylor. Harper Perennial. 486 pages. This is one of those books that I finished and then hesitated, wondering exactly how I was going to review it. One one side, it did do what it said it was going to do: that is, talk about the history of … More Review: “The Berlin Wall” by Frederick Taylor
Today’s the first day of classes. Whew. It’s been a busy month since Christmas. Dec. 23 my wife got total knee replacement surgery, and since then I have bounced around from taking care of her to taking care of the house to taking care of classes for my final semester of teaching at Southwestern Adventist … More The Value of Learning by Not Thinking
I’ve never been the kind of writer who can sit down for a half hour every morning, rain or shine, seven days a week, and crank out my writing regardless of what else is going on in my life. I know there are many writers who swear you have to write every single day to … More Torn Between Three Lovers
It’s two days before Christmas, my son’s birthday, and I am sitting in the waiting room of Harris Methodist Southwest in Fort Worth, Texas. My wife, Shelly, just left me to go to the surgical wing for a total knee replacement surgery that she’s been needing and anticipating for a long time. If all goes … More There are no atheists in foxholes…or hospital waiting rooms
The Great Adventure 