This was my dad’s favorite cake: German chocolate. If you haven’t ever tried it, I can vouch for how delicious it is. I made one today. I did this because had my dad not died seventeen years ago, he’d be celebrating his 70th birthday today. Probably with me. I bet my sister would have come […]

Read more "German Chocolate Longing"

When my children were younger, I would tell them bedtime stories of my own creation. The one which they liked the most, Tom and Amber, ended up a series about a middle-aged bachelor and his oh-so-smart dog. It had a “theme song,” which cued the children into listening, and all the stories ended with “And then […]

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Instead of writing — or even editing today — I got distracted online. You know what this is all about. You intend to “quick look something up” and end up clicking and linking. The next thing you know, an hour has passed. I admit it: I clicked and linked for far too long today. One […]

Read more "Take Our Quick Test: It’ll Tell You Nothing"

With every endeavor, there are highs and lows. I’m not saying anything which is not well known. However, what you might not know is how terribly “low” most writers get when it comes to editing. In that way, I am very much like all those other writers. Editing is tedious. I liken it to what […]

Read more "The Worst Part"

Today I was thinking about my recent post with the crude language. I was wondering if I had offended anyone — turned anyone off by my liberal use of vulgarity. In considering whether to offer up an apology, I began to think about the act of apologizing. Generally, I see apologies as necessary when I […]

Read more "Toothed Apologies"

I was reading to Rob this afternoon: not this blog, not the comments on Facebook, not the weird text from a former client, and not the ingredients in the ramen noodle spice pack I found in the back of a drawer. I was reading what I wrote today in my story — still titled Accidental Gravitas […]

Read more "Bandaging the Story"

My last blog post broke the record for “number of views” and “number of visitors” in a twenty-four hour period. In addition to the raw numbers reflected on the “stats” page, two people said, “I’m enjoying your blog.” These comments were made in person: #1 at my yoga studio and #2 at the grocer. (This […]

Read more "Proceed with Caution, There’s a bit of Vulgarity . . ."

To hear others expound on the merits of small town living, you’d be convinced of the perils of living in either bucolic isolation or city anonymity. If you and your family are off-the-grid, homesteading in Idaho you could be eaten by a pack of rabid wolves months before anyone might happen upon your compound. Choose […]

Read more "The Curse of Small Town Living"

A year ago at this time I was between books. I’d finished My Plus One on the 15th of November and started writing  Double Dirty on December 14th. While I did some editing of  Fleet Files and Ginned Up in those interim four weeks, it appears as though I did nothing related to writing from the 18th […]

Read more "The Holiday Slowdown"

If you thought I was going to list specifically which three skills, I apologize for the ambiguity in the title. How would I know which three basic skills you should have? I only assert everyone should have three. I’m going to share with you mine. (Bear in mind that were you to ask someone which three […]

Read more "Everyone Should have Three Basic Skills"