Category Archives: Uncategorized

Back in 2007 I worked as the head of the Alternate Conflicts Counsel in Humboldt County. I worked long hours and dealt with all kinds of crazy problems. One day in May I was called in to my supervisor’s office unexpectedly. I thought I was doing a pretty good job as Alt Counsel. Evidently, IContinue reading “Write It Anyway”

When the book is written, before the first revision, comes the most tedious, most irritating, yet in many ways the most important task for the writer: The synopsis. In a synopsis you encapsulate the book into a few short paragraphs. It’s supposed to be a brief telling of the plot so that an agent–and aContinue reading “In Synopsis Hell”

Turns out, it was a good thing I put the new blog website on the Facebook page. My ever curious relative, who does not like to be identified in this blog, went to the website page and found a blank “this ain’t here” message. Fortunately, the message also had a link to the blog, soContinue reading “A Revoltin’ Development”

Like jellyfish, 2020 is galumphing to a close and none too soon for any of us. Some years are sunny and beautiful, like 1967, the year of the Summer of Love. Some years are dark and crazed, like 1968, the year of assassinations and Nixon. Some years are 2020, when no one enjoyed any luck.Continue reading “The Rogue Year”

This is the Dead Week. I don’t mean the Annual Zombie Fest (something I wrote in jest but, turns out, there actually is one in Long Beach every year). This is the week nothing gets done. Nothing. No contracts are signed, no new business gets transacted, no jury trials commence. Nothing. I am a lawyerContinue reading “The Dead Week”

Okay. Christmas. Merry. Jolly. Fa la la la la la la la la la…… It’s Christmas week in San Bernardino, which means that I am in court a lot. For a family law lawyer, Christmas means lots of angst with the clients. That, and an ex-girlfriend who drove to San Diego in a rental car,Continue reading “Dazed and Merry”

My friend and somewhat mentor Jane Cleland (well, she chose my story for the Black Orchid Novella Award in 2018 and I attend her webinars on writing, so I’m calling her a mentor) recently gave a little web talk on writer’s block. She had a number of suggestions for getting out of writer’s block, whichContinue reading “Screw Writer’s Block”

Well, it happened again. In my email this afternoon was the following response to a short story submission: “Hi Mark, well you made it right down to the wire. We enjoyed Love Potion #10 for UNMASKED. It was clever and amusing, and several members of our editorial team (eight grad students and me) picked itContinue reading “Mr. Not Quite”

So it’s the time of year when everyone, and I mean everyone, does a little blog on what they’re thankful for. I call bull. The human heart is never thankful. It always thinks that it deserves more. If you disagree I can only say you are lying to yourself. For instance: I see a pictureContinue reading “Not Thankful At All”

Christmas is a’comin’ and if that doesn’t terrify you, you’ve never raised a child. My beautiful son is now grown and living in Michigan while he pursues his Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering. Yes, my son is a rocket scientist. (Some years ago, when he was getting his Masters at Purdue, I went to a dinnerContinue reading “My Madness”