It’s been a slow beginning to summer. Graduation was last Sunday, and even though I have been looking forward to being free of classes for weeks (months?), the many duties and obligations that have shackled me have kept my mind strapped down more than I care to admit. I told myself that Monday–last Monday–would mark … More Rude Awakening
The only time I’ve ever gone in for counseling was when my father was dying for cancer. Half a dozen trips to the psychologist, and I realized that the best therapy was simply writing about it. I started writing short stories as therapy and starting getting them published as a side benefit. But what do … More Therapy
In a perfect world, someone who wanted to write (me) someone who had the aptitude to write (again, me), someone who had the ideas to put on on paper (once again, ME) would be able to find the time to do so. I have author written after my name here and there. I have book … More Reality Bites
Sometimes the words fall easily from the keyboard and you find yourself serving as some sort of transcriptionist for the angels. It would be nice if every book was written that way. Most of the time it is the other way. You get out the hammer, the chisel, the tongs. You break a nail. You … More And…We’re Rolling…With a Grunt and a Groan
They’re words that writers–and their audience–don’t like to hear. It’s when you can’t find the words to put on paper. Dry spell. And I’m facing that’s where I am. Last night I listened to NPR talking about the Giant Sequioas in California, many of them thousands of years old, that are in danger now because … More Dry Spell
It’s almost the end of September, which means November is just around the corner. And if you’re a writer you know what that means…. National Novel Writing Month. Yup. Don’t know if I have the courage yet to try it again this year, but I have done it five times before and succeeded four times, … More Ping Pong Writing
I just got to my office after spending the early morning (1) hacking out the first few words in my part of our new novel; and (2) struggling to understand how to make Scrivener work for two authors long distance. As I have mentioned here before, my next book is a co-authored project with Celeste … More From Vermont to Egypt: The Co-Authoring Adventure Continues
It’s interesting the relationship authors have with their books. I’ve heard it described this way: First a book is a lover, then a bride, then a wife, then a demanding wife, and finally a harpy that you wish would just die. A bit morbid, but that just about covers the gamut of the emotions one … More Torn Between Two Lovers
I’m currently teaching two classes that are unintentionally vexing my students to death. One is intended to make them into editors, the other one into reporters. What vexes them is the simple fact that they can’t seem to come up with stories to write. Well, that’s not exactly correct. We have planning sessions where I … More I Hear Voices….
Many people, including my students, don’t know that I was heavy into music for a large part of my life. In high school I was in the elite singing group for my school and did my first solo at the last program of my senior year. In college I began writing music and performing with … More Bring It On!
The Great Adventure 