[The short version: I’m done submitting novels to agents and publishers. The current novel seems to have run its course. Because it’s the first book of three and I want to finish the series, I will. (Many writers set a series aside at this point because you don’t get to sell a series on a […]

A month and a half ago, I wrote this entry, about how this time of the year usually means the annual writing retreat becomes quite a focus for me. At the time of that last entry, I wasn’t sure if a retreat would happen this year. But…the friend I go to East Texas with each […]

This time of year is usually when a friend and I plan our annual writing retreat. We didn’t go anywhere last spring because…well…a worldwide pandemic kinda got in the way. And while my friend (who quit corporate life to become a nurse) is vaccinated and I get the first round tomorrow, it’s still not likely […]

And so we come to the end of not just another year, but one of the years! It’s not a year I’d hope to repeat, but it was not without its moments. Obviously, the big thing was the pandemic and just…all that out there! (You know what I mean.) For me, it was a year […]

The other morning, I read this essay by Hilary Mantel about writers learning to trust themselves. It’s full of gems like this: You must recognize, though, that once you enter this life, you are at the disposal of your book around the clock. And there are no holidays. And this: Writing is a long game […]

[I wrote this 10 days ago and guess I didn’t set it to publish. Still holds up, so here it is…] * * * [The idea for this entry came from this Muddy Colors entry by Justin Gerard about his ideal art space. The gist: he has a fancy desk, but he usually does his […]

The two worst years of my life were junior high school. (More than the years in which close relatives died; more than the year I found out a brain tumor blew up in my head and was bleeding into itself and making me go blind in my right eye.) Those two years in junior high […]