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PERSONAL MEMOIR, NOT THE OTHER KIND

December 9, 2022 by

Personal memoir says, “Too few people take the time to explore themselves thoroughly.” Unless you’re married. Then it’s too little exploring, too much exploring, what’s with all this exploring, what are you, a narcissist? Funny you’d ask.

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AMATEUR CRIME LIFE WITH PEER PRESSURE

November 22, 2022 by

My life in amateur crime began in 5th grade. If you were going to hang with the cool kids, you had to show you belonged. One test was shoplifting at the local Payless. It was an anchor store at Pony Village, the biggest shopping mall on the west coast between Seattle and San Francisco right […]

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LIVING LIFE TO DIE? THANKS RILKE

November 20, 2022 by

This is the guy living life past my bathroom window in Cannon Beach, Oregon. A man playing slide guitar in a slick suit felt like a Coen brothers break from reality. Since I like listening to slide guitar, I also saw him as an omen for good things in the future. That’s how that works. […]

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HOBBY BLOGGER EXPLAINS: WHY BOTHER WRITING?

November 6, 2022 by

Hobby blogger here, busy counting vanity metrics. Google analytics reports traffic from Seattle, not so much from Portland. West Coast readers show up more than any other region in the country. Call me a West Coast hobby blogger? I’ll take it, but . . .

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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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INSPIRE CHANGE WITH DEEDS AND WORDS

October 28, 2022 by

“Inspire change” are not just pretty words to say. You can say it, write it, but there’s more: Show it. Remember the writer’s trope of, ‘Show, don’t tell?’ Do both to inspire change.

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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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WRITING REMINDERS: FIRST, BE STRONG

September 28, 2022 by

Writing reminders are like the list for the grocery store. Or the infamous ‘Honey Do’ list. Check off the important things after you get them done. These are the important things:

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BANNED BOOKS ON BANNED BOOK WEEK?

September 19, 2022 by

Banned books sounds like a term from the Middle Ages, or the Spanish Inquisition where you might pay with your life if the wrong book was found on your property. Book bans are nothing new, and don’t last, but in our hyper-alert social medial world that makes it feel like the world is collapsing every […]

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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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