The bank account balance, the bathroom scale, the facebook “friends” and twitter “followers,” this blog’s visitors, my daily word count, google+ connections. Pick a number. Any number between 35 and 1,650.  Chances are 1 in 231 you’ll guess one of the seven numbers which corresponds to the above list. Then you’ve got a 1 in […]

Read more "The Numbers (Head) Game"

Without the help of your favorite search engine, can you say who H. Jackson Brown Jr. is? Is that name even a slightly familiar? I’m going to guess that some of you thought of that guy who sang “Running on Empty” and “Doctor My Eyes;” others might have thought of some obscure Southern politician; and a few might […]

Read more "I’d bet money you know this guy: H. Jackson Brown Jr."

I should have gotten right to writing this morning. I was up soon after four o’clock — silent house, freshly-brewed coffee. Distraction took hold. Instead of spending those precious hours with familiar characters, and introducing a few more, to move Accidental Gravitas forward, I applied for a job. Well, sort of. I submitted an online […]

Read more "Fear And Loathing in Suburbia"

In addition to having many, many stories and plot lines occupying my brain — sometimes to the point of blissful distraction — there are thousands of words up there, too, bouncing around and trying to eascape. Some might posit this panoply is an invaluable tool for someone who gets up in the small hours to […]

Read more "Diarrhea of the Mouth"

“What’s that pithy phrase mean?” Mitch asked, readying himself for an education he knew she would eagerly provide. Lara said, “That’s something my therapist has been telling me for years. The idea is that in order to achieve a goal, you fake your confidence in its eventual achievement or you whole-cloth pretend you’ve already got […]

Read more "“Fake It ‘Til You Make It”"

Terms of art in the literary world have both entrenched meanings and a collected understanding among those who reside on the surface Terra Literari. For those who have put word after word on a page — either paper or electronic  — they are called “writers;” for those “writers” who have taken their words on a page […]

Read more "You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling"

I know very little about quantum physics or advanced applied mathematics; Einstein did. He was (and still seems to be) the “smartest guy” in the room when other geniuses chit-chat about those topics. But it is not his comparative intelligence or his revolutionary ideas which lead me to concede his proper place as captain for […]

Read more "Maybe Einstein was a Genius"

(Note: I believe the following applies primarily to fiction. I will humbly welcome a correction from a non-fiction writer if I’ve made too-narrow a generalization. Here goes:) There are two strong sentiments in the writing community about how to approach writing: the plot/plan/outline approach or the by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach. While some writers blend the two, I’m […]

Read more "By the seat of my pants (though I usually wear skirts)"

The other day I met up for coffee with one of my “beta readers” — a term which means little more than a generous soul willing to read a book of mine, answer a fairly long list of questions about the book, and then sit with me to have a further conversation about the book […]

Read more "What If . . . ?"

This morning when I woke up, the clock read 4:55. The sick feeling in my stomach — from overindulgence in all things sweet — had faded, though I the memory of excessive treats was clear. Clear in the same way my proclamation of a “sugar-free” November was in the minivan on the way home after […]

Read more "It’s 4:55 all over again"