Asking anyone about their writing success is like asking if they won anything on their trip to Las Vegas. Everyone’s a winner when they get back home. “Best trip ever. Paid for itself.” Along with other various and assorted bulls!t. Writing success is easier to track, easier to explain, yet still a gamble.
LOVE LETTERS WRITTEN AND READ
January 13, 2023 by
Who saves love letters? Better yet, who writes love letters? I’ve done both, and if you’re older than thirteen, so have you. So, where are they? Try and remember.
READING OUT 2022: TOP POSTS ON BOOMERPDX
December 31, 2022 by
Reading out 82nd Ave in Portland Oregon leads the list. Instead of looking like a tired stretch of New Jersey road with Bruce Springsteen sitting on his daddy’s lap as he steered through town, 82nd was a magical fairly tale in 2022. Did I mention magical? I called it Dream Street. That’s what it was […]
FEARLESS LIVING, AND OTHER MYTHS
December 1, 2022 by
The key to Fearless Living? Don’t live past a certain age. But what’s that age? The most fearless person I know is two years old, but they don’t know how fearless they are. Who among is living fearlessly past two? Who is not?
ALONE AGAIN, NATURALLY OR UNNATURALLY
November 26, 2022 by
If you find yourself alone again, don’t despair. The young people will find others and wistfully remember their alone days. The elderly treasure their memories of an active, busy, life. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. What gets in the way? Social media?
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.
PUBLIC LITERACY: THE TALK ABOUT READING
August 8, 2022 by
Public literacy is nothing to ignore, but it happens all the time. Poor reading skills aren’t something to brag about. If you’re over fifty and read a third grade level, what do you do? Hide that fact from ever getting into the light. Or . . . ?
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:
WRITING HISTORY FOR FUTURE READERS
February 4, 2022 by
Writing history, engaging history, helps readers. What doesn’t help readers is writing bad history. But bad history has an appeal, a great appeal. Bad history writing plays to the audience who need their feelings and actions validated in a way they understand. What do they need to understand?
READING HISTORY BOOKS YIELDS MORE THAN BARGAINED FOR
February 3, 2022 by
Reading history books is about more than validating the opinion you already have. George Washington, first president and father of our country, chopped a cherry tree down and confessed because he would never lie? Honest Abe Lincoln never told a lie? No one questioned their honesty? Reading history books could answer those sort of questions, […]
