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BOOK HOARDING ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS

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:

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

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.

TRAVEL OREGON STARTS WITH TWO BOOKS

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 […]

LEARNING CURVE? FIND TREASURES AND READ

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 […]

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 […]