Category Archives: Uncategorized

When I was young and green and thirsty to get published, I lapped up every writing advice book and magazine I could find. There was no piece of advice too weird, too outlandish that I didn’t take seriously and try out. Write with a potato on your head? Why not? Write with a plate ofContinue reading “Tired of Advice”

I am, as the title of this blog tells you, the creator of the Minerva James stories. Enough of them have been published that I can say this with some degree of pride. The next one to be published, by the way, is in May-June’s issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, “Minerva James and theContinue reading “My Secret Writing Life”

You can’t tell the players without a scorecard. And you can’t get your book considered by the top publishers without an agent. Facts of life. So those of us who have ambitions beyond self-publishing with Amazon spend our days, when not writing, trying to interest an agent in our work. Not easy. Especially these daysContinue reading “Agents, Agents”

I am loving the new job, folks. Which bothers me. Every time in my life that I found myself in a good situation, something unexpected and ugly sits down and fouls the nest. Okay, there’s one thing that is less than optimal. The drive. The long drive. The long tedious drive. I live in Barstow,Continue reading “The Long Drive”

When I walked into the Public Library for the first time at the age of six, I was stunned by the tonnage of books on the shelves. Everywhere I looked, books. Every nook and cranny filled with books. Books on everything. Football. Politics. History. Mysteries. Science Fiction. Basket-weaving. Fly fishing. Books about things I wasContinue reading “Too Many Books”

So the idea of getting a job is that you have a 9-to-5 existence and you come home at night not worried where the next dollar is coming from. You do your job during the day. You write at night. Not so, my friends. At least, not yet. I am enjoying working for the firm.Continue reading “Too Busy to Live”

That ol’ river keeps on rolling, no matter what you do to stop it. Uh, you wouldn’t really try to stop a river rolling, would you? Time is a river that also can’t seem to be stopped. Seems like you just finish a brilliant blog post and suddenly it’s a month later and those fewContinue reading “Falling Behind”

This is the time of year when writers and bloggers make fun of New Year’s resolutions. I know. I’ve done it myself in this very blog. It is human nature, of course, to think that an artificial border between one year and the next will provide us with a new start for our old habits.Continue reading “Irresolute”

There are two times in your life when you enjoy Christmas. The first is when you are a child. There’s something about the smell of the pine tree in the house, the decorations cluttering everything up, and most of all, the anticipation of what you will find on Christmas morning left for you by theContinue reading “Taking a Deep Breath”

I am one of those people who gets sad around Christmas. Can’t tell you why. The best times I’ve ever had during this season were when my son was a boy. I loved buying toys for him, mostly due to the vicarious thrill of watching him play with them. Okay, I would play with him.Continue reading “Another Year, Another Sadness”