page contents Google

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

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, […]

WHAT READERS DO? READERS GONNA READ, READ, READ

Real readers handle books different than than rest of us. Who is that real reader? I watched a librarian friend pick up a book and go through the process. From contents to index, then everything in between, he handled the book like a pro. He was a pro, but what about the rest of us?

BOOK HISTORY: LIVE IT THEN WRITE IT

Book history could be about the printing press, except books existed before the printing press. Just not as many, and not all in Europe.

WRITE A BOOK, IT’LL BE FUN, UNTIL IT’S NOT

Fans, followers, and one-timers on boomerpdx have seen my book writing posts. It’s not exactly how-to-write stuff, but it helps show process. One nice piece of advice I’ve heard: You’d better love your book topic, because you’ll eventually hate it. Since my book is a guided tour of what to expect after a cancer diagnosis, […]

BOOK NOTES: AN UNCOMFORTABLE TASK BUT SOMEONE’S GOT TO DO IT

What struck me when I started writing book notes were the words from who knows where I found them, but here they are, “You’d better love the the book topic because at some point you’re going to hate it.” And it’s true, except I sort of hated it from the start since my book notes […]

WHY WRITING? WHY WRITE A CANCER BOOK?

This is gonna be short because I’m writing a cancer book. See what I did there? Didn’t say writing ‘my cancer’ book. Cancer book is more than enough. The whole ‘my cancer’ talk is a bad track. Who really wants to claim it like that. Instead, I’m giving it a good thrashing, plowing the cancer […]

THE BOOK OF YOU THIS TIME

Who can predict the future? There’s no book that tells the tale. If you know someone who says they can predict the future, feel free to ignore them. This blog doesn’t come from the future, it’s right now. Maybe a little history of days past mixed in, but it always circles back to today. Now. […]

BOOK OF DAVID, pt 1: How To Encourage Those Of Faith Without Losing Sight Of Your Own Beliefs

The real post title is Book of David and how I encourage those of faith without losing sight of MY own beliefs. I went second person plural in the title to create community, so it’s not all about me all the time. That’s my secret. Most writers don’t pull back the curtain back that. You’re […]

WRITE A BOOK, THEY SAID. IT’LL BE FUN, 2

    What is the goal of writing a book? To get readers to turn the page. Such a modest goal. Should there be any other? I call it a building block, that’s what I call goals. What happens when you achieve your goals, when you have readers turning to the next page. Write another […]

WRITE A BOOK, THEY SAID, IT’LL BE FUN

    Long form writing is like a walk in the woods with no map. In the dark. With animal noises. And cliffs on both sides of the trail. If that isn’t a picture of adventure, what is? And all you need to do is sit down and write. And stay down. For a long […]