Tomorrow I return to the noise of social media. Every time I take a break, I miss much less than I loathe, but what I miss — I really miss: chatting with friends in other cities, states, and countries; seeing friends share big news; seeing friends sharing little things. (I am not one who comes […]
Archives for September 2018
Greener Fields
James Rebanks’s book, The Shepherd’s Life, chronicles the life of a modern Scottish shepherd. I’ve seen it described as a book about doing very hard work to avoid simply working hard (i.e. working the land vs. having a busy day job in an office). There’s a bit in the introduction about this, and how some […]
The End (But Not the End)
I could have finished the novel yesterday, but I opted to hang out with my wife in the afternoon, instead. People who live with writers are often better than the writers they support (and I do have a strong self-image…it’s just that my wife is rather badass!). In the last month or so, my wife […]
So Much Can Happen in Seven Years
Seven years ago today, I shared an entry here in which I mentioned a new book was knocking around my mind. I figured that book might take three or four years to get to a readable state — with day job demands and a life to live. Seven years later, it’s almost there. Seven Years […]
On Simple Joys
Happiness by Carl Sandburg I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men. They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them And then […]
The Sounds of Writing
It’s not uncommon for me to chat with other writers and have the conversation steer toward this question: What do you listen to when you write? Even some writers I didn’t expect to lose themselves in the question have a playlist on hand — sometimes with a link to Spotify. (Leaving me to wonder if […]
Year Nine
Today, this little blog turns nine years old. In that time, I’ve been laid off from a long-term job that shut down most of a department. I freelanced with an airline in Guam and edited maintenance work cards for a major airline. I worked at a massive bank during the mortgage crisis, and have had […]
In the Middle of the Night
I usually get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night. But sometimes, usually near the end of a big writing project, my normal schedule falls away and I find myself filling gaps of time by writing. This means sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and write. A [Not So] Good […]
A Later Start
I listened to a great interview with Robert Goolrick yesterday. His road to publication was, like many, a bit rocky. A Well Worn Path Earlier in his life, he had a close call — something he was so sure of, he packed up his life and moved to Greece to wait for his contract and […]
August Progress
I’ve never been one to track my progress when it comes to writing. Generally, I try writing more days than not (4 days a week), but I don’t even track that. If I really don’t feel like writing on a particular day, I don’t. But because I can see the end of a readable draft […]