There is a brief time in North Texas when the world is crisp and green. If you ignore all the allergens, you can kid yourself you live in paradise. But as quickly as spring arrives, it gives way to Texas heat. The seasons affect my writing schedule. While most people I know are excited for […]
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 […]
Sixth Annual Writing Retreat
The sixth annual writing retreat is booked. Last year’s retreat was at Daingerfield State Park…and this year’s retreat will be there as well. After my day job getting the better of me last year, I look forward to keeping the momentum of 2018 going through the spring. And having the retreat lined up is a […]
Everything I Learned about Writing I Learned in Lankhmar
My life changed in 1985, with the publication of TSR Games’ LANKHMAR – CITY OF ADVENTURE release. Six years of playing Dungeons and Dragons led to that moment, an open adventure where friends and I could lay out the city map and do anything we wanted. As the Dungeon Master, it was my job to […]
Three Days Gone
There are just a few more hours left in this three-day weekend. Tomorrow, it’s back to work and dropped into the madness of a major software release. Earlier today, I wrote about how writing is work. Not the hardest work I’ll ever do, but it definitely takes an effort. It’s not something I have to […]
October (Is Made for Writing)
On his blog this morning, Paul Lamb mentioned that it’s October. October is my favorite month. (Well, when I lived in the Chicago area it was; in Texas, November is the closest we get to October up north.) It’s a great month to be outside. It’s a great month to throw open the windows and […]
12 Tips to Prepare for a Writing Weekend
If you’re like most people juggling work and writing, you spend a good part of your day at the job that pays the bills wishing you were home writing. When it comes time to take vacation, you probably use the time to write–not actually take a vacation. It doesn’t have to be that way if […]
Monday Motivation: The Dream
Outside Magazine has published some of my all-time favorite non-fiction. Years later, this piece about a guy building a hovercraft in his basement and this piece about a bunch of friends on a four-day road trip to climb the highest peaks in the Midwest (yep, you read that right), still hold up for me. In […]
The Influence of Movies
When I was a kid, my father took me to movies I shouldn’t have been seeing when I was 5 or 6. When The Enforcer came out, the theater ran the original Dirty Harry along with it. More than remembering the movie, I remember the theater — how it smelled like smoke, sweat, and the […]
In Praise of the Nerdist Podcast
I stumbled upon The Nerdist Podcast the week the second episode came out. Since then, it’s one of my favorite things to listen to while working out or going for a walk. The Nerdist Podcast is a weekly interview with creative famous people: musicians, comedians, actors and actresses, and even a writer. (I’d go as […]
The Power of Nothing
I’ve been accused of being a slacker. That’s okay, though, because I take it as a compliment. Sometimes the best days are days when we do nothing…at least that’s what we tell ourselves. We also tell ourselves (it seems more times than not) that if we’re not rushing around doing something, then we must be […]