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Time to hold my breath. For a really, really long time. I previously crowed about meeting a literary agent at a writer’s conference in August. The agent seemed to be very impressed with the first 20 pages of the book, Minerva James and the Trial of Mars, and asked me to come up with outlinesContinue reading “The Waiting Game”

In this life most of us are condemned to days of toil and worry. Me included. As most of you know, I am not only a great writer (okay, a pretty good writer) but also like to skim around the ponds of the law doing lawyer work, helping the downtrodden, making things right again forContinue reading “A Weary Man”

The breathless headline on my internet feed demanded attention: “New Book Reveals that Queen Disapproved of Megan White Wedding Dress.” Really? With all that’s going on in the world, I’m supposed to care about some royal’s opinion of a friggin’ dress? Not only that, but an opinion from years and years ago? I know weContinue reading “Really?”

Those clouds you see above resemble the state of my creative mind these days. Only a few wispy things to entertain me, not much of substance. Yes, friends, I am once again fallow. I am letting my creativity lie open to the elements, hoping that the nutrients the soil needs will arrive and the landContinue reading “Up and Down”

Some years ago I went through a rough financial period and had to compromise my debts. One place came to an agreement with me that I would pay $250 per month for a few years and get about $3000 forgiven from my debt. Over the years things have improved for me. But the payments toContinue reading “Sometimes It’s Good to Be a Lawyer”

If you are a diligent writer, you sit down every day (or night) at a particular time and write at least 1000 words. So says the great Ray Bradbury, who followed this practice to great success. Great advice. If you’re the great Ray Bradbury. Or Isaac Asimov, who wrote 500 books in his 72 yearsContinue reading “How It Works. Or Not.”

When I first came back to San Bernardino in 2018 after a disastrous job in Placer, I returned to the church where I had played for the 4 p.m. Saturday Mass. No, the singer said. I don’t need more guitar players. Check the 8 o’clock mass. They need musicians. I showed up at 8 theContinue reading “Moving On”

I went to the Greater L.A. Writer’s Conference this weekend. I went so that I could have a one-on-one conference with a real agent. The gig was that I would send the first 20 pages of my book, “Minerva James and the Trial of Mars.” He or she would look it over and tell meContinue reading “A Happy Moment”

There’s a song from the 90s whose lyric goes: And I miss you Like the Deserts miss the rain… Writers know what that means to the nth power. I have before talked about how the stretches between writing feels like an eternity, even if it’s only a few weeks. When one is a writer, oneContinue reading “Like the Deserts Miss the Rain”

I sometimes ask myself, am I a lawyer who wants to be a writer, or a writer who has to be a lawyer. It’s a bit like the Chinese philosopher who had a dream about butterflies, then woke wondering if he was a philosopher dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he wasContinue reading “The Day Gig”