Life Changed in 1979 I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else. — Gary Gygax Chris Bichler opened the door for me in 1979, when I was in fifth grade. He told me his neighbor — […]
Archives for 2017
The Fifth Annual Writing Retreat
Last weekend, it was back into the woods of East Texas for the annual writing retreat. This year, a friend and I spent a few days in Daingerfield State Park. My wife and I went to the park for her birthday last October. (Photos for those who want to see the park in all its […]
Spartan Spaces
In two and a half weeks, I will be writing at a very spartan table on a very hard wooden chair. For a long weekend, I’ll be writing in silence in a cabin in East Texas, seated across from a best friend, while he does the same. This year marks the 5th year of the […]
The Writing Timeline
It’s been a month since I posted something, here… That usually means I’m swamped with day job work or…that I’m writing what I’d rather be writing. I’m pleased to say it’s the latter… The Timeline The current book is the first of three. As I wade through this rewrite, I needed a way to see […]
The Fight in My Mind
In junior high I was pulled out of several normal classes and put into L.D. L.D. stood for “learning disability.” (Seriously, that’s what they called it!) I was not a permanent resident like some students, but it was enough of an embarrassment to add to the already constant bullying I received during those years. Somewhere […]
This Fragile Time
I slept in this morning. I looked at the clock around 4:30 and thought, “Up now, or another hour of sleep?” I opted for another hour. I did the same thing at 5:30. (I like getting up between 5:00 and 5:30 to write on days I work from home.) When I got out of bed […]
Fragments
I’ve been thinking quite a bit, lately, about how I work; or, as the case may be, sometimes don’t work. Sure, I get plenty of things done. I always finish tasks at my day job, and I’ve done a weekly podcast for 4 years without missing an episode. I do a monthly fiction show, with […]
The Gift of Stories
The most recent story on Not about Lumberjacks was written as a gift for a friend. If you have 6 minutes and want to listen to how the story came to be, go here. If not, here’s the quick version: a good friend in a writing group I was once in rolled his truck in […]
What Is Enough?
Earlier, I read this review of the movie Paterson. (There are spoilers for the movie contained within, and I suppose I should mention that because of that, there are spoilers in this blog entry about the review. Hell, I spoil the end of the review in this entry. You have been warned.) If you have […]
Writing Lessons from a Favorite Art Blog
I’ve mentioned many times that artists inspire the way I look at writing as much as other writers. One of my favorite art blogs is Muddy Colors, where I’ll stop what I’m doing in the morning to read whatever Greg Ruth writes about and shares. Maybe there’s something in a name, because another favorite contributor […]