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DON’T CARE, OR CARE, THERE IS NO TRY

January 28, 2023 by

If you don’t care about something, stay off the soapbox. Save your big talk for something you care about, we’ll figure out the rest. Once you’ve been around the block a few times it gets easier to care than not care. Why, you ask?

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WRITERS SOCIALIZING WITH WRITERS

January 10, 2023 by

My aunt warned me about writers socializing. I’d taken the train from Philadelphia to Princeton, New Jersey for a visit. She was studying at the Princeton Theological Seminary to be a preacher; I was in the Army learning to be a writer. Since she had a degree in literary criticism she had a lot to […]

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UNGROUNDED LIFE IN TIGARD

December 6, 2022 by

An ungrounded life is for people who wish they were somewhere besides where they are, where they live, where they spend their time. I met one of them in the local Walgreens. I could tell he was ungrounded by how he looked. He was wearing a suit, which from my experience, was his work clothes.

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RECOMMENDED READING: T.C. BOYLE’S ‘GOING DOWN’

October 29, 2022 by

Recommended reading for writers? Common advice is to read everything, whatever that means. Do I read everything? Everything in a bookstore, or library? No, I read for inspiration, I read for cause, and my cause is writing.

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TENDER BAR, A PLACE EVERYONE NEEDS

October 27, 2022 by

The Tender Bar is a book, a memoir, and a movie. A book and a movie, for the deuce. But it’s more than a book or a movie, it’s a destination I stopped in for a drink yesterday, but it was the wrong bar.

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BOOK HOARDING ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS

July 12, 2022 by

Book hoarding is not a disease. If that makes you feel better, you might be a librarian. Not a librarian, but still have loads of books? Still not a disease, and here’s why:

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WRITER LIFE CHRISTMAS WHEN IT’S NOT ABOUT WRITING OR LIFE

December 24, 2021 by

Does ‘writer life’ mean writing about life, or the experience of someone who writes? Answer silently while you write about a life of writing. Writer’s Life? Mine began as a small child at my Grandma’s house. She handed me a book.

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TRAVEL OREGON STARTS WITH TWO BOOKS

October 26, 2021 by

Travel Oregon the right way? If you live here you know the drill: Fill up the gas tank, or unplug the battery, and head for the big north to south roads. Take in the coast on Hwy 101. Head out on I-5 for the Willamette Valley sights. Or aim your ride over the the mountains […]

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LEARNING CURVE? FIND TREASURES AND READ

June 12, 2021 by

A learning curve is not an excuse. I’ll repeat it, a learning curve doesn’t mean you’re stupid. There’s room in class for another learner. If it’s something new, you may feel a little stupid working it out, but that’s just navigating the curve. Give it a few minutes and you’ll be an expert. How? Read […]

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HISTORICAL ADVICE: THIS IS WORTH SOMETHING, ISN’T IT

March 3, 2021 by

Historical advice usually comes from a book, or a class where some gray bearded funky old man in a musty suit jacket rambles on and on in a cloud of dandruff. Doing history is different than studying history. History museums Do History for everyone else. Museum visitors walk from exhibit to exhibit, floor to floor, […]

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