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HOMETOWN WRITERS MISS THE BOAT?

June 22, 2023 by

Hometown writers miss the boat when they think everything’s been said about where they grew up. Then, to save their careers the turn their focus to their hometown. More like they use a sense of home to lure readers in. Like Thomas Wolfe.

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PEOPLE UNITED BY GIVING WRITERS

June 8, 2023 by

Needy people? You see them all over the place? So do I. I’m one of them. Oh, and so are you. We need things we don’t have. Writers give some of those things, or at least the feeling of giving. So what?

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‘THE PLOT’ THICKENS: A BOOK REVIEW

May 26, 2023 by

The Plot is the first book I’ve read that includes Facebook and twitter as important characters. No that’s not a spoiler. Neither is this: they’re cast in a dark light. Did I enjoy reading The Plot? A reviewer on Amazon said the first third drags along but that’s the part I most enjoyed.

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REINVENTING ARTISTS AND ART IN TIGARD

May 22, 2023 by

Reinventing artists is one way of saying, “Wow.” You read about photographers and writers, see their work, and buy something they made. It’s different when you meet them in a setting outside a museum, gallery, or library. They are real people, which is easy to forget when you hold their work.

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CURIOUS WRITERS SNIFF AROUND

April 1, 2023 by

Curious writers hook you and they know it. What’s their proof? You turning the page or scrolling down to read more is all the proof needed. What are writers curious about? A check in the mail? Sniff this:

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HAWAIIAN REVIEW WITH ONE MORE WAKE UP

March 24, 2023 by

This Hawaiian review includes Puff The Magic Dragon. Every baby boomer born, and those who self-identify as baby boomers, knows Puff. Puff the Magic Dragon slumbers at Hanalei Bay in the mountain profiles framing Hanalei Bay. It’s said to be only a coincidence that Peter, Paul and Mary mentioned a dragon in a land called […]

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WRITERS WRITE IT DOWN IN KOLOA TIME

March 22, 2023 by

Writers write no matter where they are. From Paris to London to Koloa, Kauai, I write it down. From North Bend to Portland to Tigard, I write it down. Is it a good idea? Or a waste of time?

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INSIDE HISTORY? FIND AN INSIDER

March 10, 2023 by

How does anyone get the real story inside history? Read books, watch documentaries, tour museums? That’s a good start, and for many an end to the story. But what if you want more because you know there’s more out there?

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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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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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