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BOOTLICKER: A TASTEFUL EXAMPLE OF STYLE

A bootlicker comes in all shapes and sizes. Baby boomers are bootlickers with years of experience. If you want some expert advice on how to lick a boot, find an old person, but not too old, and ask questions.

WRITERS WORK TO EXPLAIN WITHOUT BEING A JERK

Writers work, readers read, and somewhere between the two an agreement happens. Sometimes the agreement includes a reader who stops reading while the writer keeps writing. That’s what writers do. Readers look for the next story, something more worthy of their time. Then this happened:

WALKING THE WALK LIKE YOU MEAN IT, THEN TALK THE TALK

Walking the walk? I’ve heard it, so have you, but what’s it really mean? Really? It seems so obvious, but not when you hear people talk the talk without walking the walk. How can we tell the difference?

HISTORY SPEAKS IN A LOUD VOICE FROM A ROOF TOP

History speaks in a loud voice, sometimes too loud. And if it tells something uncomfortable, the only thing louder is denial. A boompdx reader checked in to ask about the Fox Theater posts. Why all the Broadway posts. “All two of them?” I said.

THE HISTORY WRITER YOU NEED, THE STORY YOU GET

Every history writer has a To Be Read stack of books. I like to think most people have the same stack. The difference for a writer is most of their books To Be Read explain how to write. I’m finally able to say they helped me. How? Thank you for asking.

EMPATHY ADDICTION: IT HURTS WHEN I FEEL

Is empathy addiction a call to action every time you feel something so intensely you have to do something? “That could’ve been me; I’ll make sure it never happens again.”

WRESTLING WITH THE DEVIL, A SUN DEVIL, AND WINNING

Great wrestling stories are journeys, internally and externally. From The Odyssey, to Tom Sawyer, to Saving Private Ryan, a journey works to transport readers into the lives and times of those written about. Tonya Russo Hamilton joins the ranks of those who capture time and place and deliver a story flowing with streams of emotion.

ESSENTIAL READING TO IGNORE . . . AT YOUR OWN RISK

One blogger’s essential reading is another’s fire-starter; that’s just how it is. Except the book in Ken Kesey’s hand won’t start any fires today, not the way it started fires in his younger days.

DECADE ENDS IN SOFT TALK, HARD TRUTHS

    Me: This decade ends the best of times and worst of times. Them: Did you just make that up, or are you finally going to admit to stealing from Charles Dickens? Me: Writers don’t steal, they borrow. Them: Like the time you borrowed a notebook from Payless in Pony Village?

NEW BLOG QUESTION ON TWITTER, SO I ANSWERED

During a cruise through the twitterverse, one interesting question appeared, the question of starting a new blog. The query seemed sincere, so I responded with this: use WordPress, genesis framework, and a mobile-ready Studiopress theme, along with yoast seo. Now you’re ready to launch. It turned into a useful conversation with a writer in what […]