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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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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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SCRIPT WRITING: KNOW WHEN TO END, Part 3

June 17, 2022 by

A script writing master class produced an original piece of work that’s still in progress. I took the class after buying and reading books about script writing and beating the odds in Hollywood. Part 3 follows Part 2.

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TRAGIC BOY FOR TRAGIC TIMES: VANKA

May 25, 2022 by

One tragic boy cannot stand in for all tragic children, but Anton Chekhov makes it happen. News of some kid with bad intentions gunning a classroom creates tragedy beyond believe. Again. Chekhov cuts to the quick with Vanka.

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ANTICIPATION ANXIETY, OR “HOW BAD CAN THIS BE?”

April 2, 2022 by

New beginnings around here start with anticipation anxiety, sleepless nights, and carefully moving forward. Does that sound like your standard operating procedure, your SOP? It’s one thing when it’s on the job, another when it’s just you and you’re got an idea you want to figure out. Instead of the trusted steps of 1, 2, […]

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MOVING ON WHEN YOU’RE THE LAST TO KNOW

March 30, 2022 by

Plans for moving on depend on timing: Don’t go too soon, or wait too long. If you’ve picked up and changed locations by yourself, you know the drill. Sometimes it works out better than expected. Then there’s this:

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WHY LEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE NEEDS SOME SCHOOLING

February 5, 2022 by

Since I’m an expert on political discourse I’ll tell you how I became such an expert After reading this, see if the same criteria applies to others who claim expertise in legitimate political discourse. For me, it all started in second grade. Experts, believable experts, need early references.

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