Author Archives: mcbruce56

As that great philosopher David Bowie once observed, time can change me, but I can’t change time. So. Some news about my life and writing career. The most important news for your correspondent is that I moved into a house this weekend. A house, as in a structure I share with no one but myContinue reading “Ch-ch-ch-changes…”

So another anthology tells you that your story was great, they all loved it, but they have to pass. Boo hoo. So another agent rejects your novel because you’re not part of a “underrepresented group.” Wah. So you get so down you can’t write for three whole days. *sob* So you read a new mysteryContinue reading “Quit Whining”

The cover above is from an upcoming anthology I snuck into. It concerns dragons. Wonder if you can tell. My story, “The Beggar Prince,” is the third in my Dragon Wife series. The first story, “My Dragon Wife,” was published on a website which has since gone through changes and my story disappeared. I guessContinue reading “Crunchy With Chocolate”

I have been thinking more about the last blog, in which I complained that a writing group of which I am a member is having a pitch day to a major publisher which is “only” for “underrepresented” writers. “Underrepresented” meaning persons who are not “traditionally” the targets of publishers. (Technically, according to their definition, IContinue reading “Pendulum, Part II”

I am a part of a writer’s group which will remain nameless for this blog. Today I looked at their site and was delighted to see that a major book publisher was going to have a day in which members of this group could submit their book for digital publishing without an agent. Hooray! Oh,Continue reading “The Pendulum Swings Again”

When I was in Law School at dear old Boalt, I made the mistake of complaining to my Contracts teacher about the hundreds of pages of homework he assigned after each class. “I can’t wait until I’m practicing and no longer a student,” I said. “And homework will be a thing of the past!” HeContinue reading “The Eternal Student”

Like the engineer in the train pictured above, I have often made some wrong turns in life, love, literature and the law. Hey! Alliteration! This blog, for instance, was to have been named “The Gospel According to Mark.” I thought it a cute idea, as my name actually is Mark. It was pointed out toContinue reading “Bad Ideas, Inc.”

So we’re in court on a Domestic Violence Restraining Order. My client has testified in detail to the abuse he’s suffered from the Petitioner. The opposing lawyer is now cross examining him on a childhood injury he suffered with caused him to lose memories of his childhood. My client is now in his thirties. TheContinue reading “Sorry, I Didn’t Hear You”

I am sitting in my Victorville Office getting ready to do some tasks. I plan to leave at noon. After all, I’m on vacation. Originally I hoped to spend a week somewhere else, reading, writing, eating, napping. When I was a Public Defender in Orange County I used to do just that–I’d rent a motelContinue reading “A Lawyer’s Vacation”

She sits on the couch watching her murder shows. Her favorite is “Snapped,” in which women who kill their mates are profiled lovingly. By the end of the show you’re usually rooting for the murderer to get away. Some do. I ask her why she watches these shows. “To get tips,” she says. My wife.Continue reading “The Dragon on the Couch”