Another fine mess I've gotten myself in. I'm reading a series of delightful volumes on soul-searching travels by Roan Poulter in reverse order. Poulter's third novel in a series, The Long Road Home, was, like my third, Crazy of Natural Causes, a KindleScout selection. When I downloaded another, All Roads South, it didn't make …
Category: Books
A Lovely Malaise
All the Lasting Things. It's a wonderful title that could mean a lot in various contexts. To me, it means that the characters created by David Hopson are capable of progress, but not change. Ultimately, they are all imprisoned by their pasts. Broadening their horizons is possible, but freedom from them is not. Benji is …
The Pain of It Will Ease a Bit When You Find a Book with True Grit
I'm writing a western. I thought it might be useful to read one. My choice was darn near perfect. In 2010, when the Coen Brothers released a remake of True Grit, they insisted it wasn’t one. It was made independently from the original novel by Charles Portis. I found this odd when I watched the …
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I’d Try This Style if I Could Swing It
Sometimes reading a book leaves me green with envy. Such is the case with Matthew Norman's We're All Damaged. I believe we are. Two novels ago – three once I get Cowboys Come Home finished -- I started writing Crazy of Natural Causes as a farce. Then I immersed myself in the outrageous football coach, …
Nice Timing for The Year of Trump
Allen Kent, in The Wager, has fashioned a yarn based on a bet gone awry. Two giants of the mass media bet they are powerful enough to get a man of their choice elected president. Predictably, one is a liberal, the other conservative. The clash of egos lurks in the background as events unfold. A …
Such an Unlikely Venue for a Descent into Hell
Woe be unto those unfortunate souls who live on Honeysuckle Lane. It appears to be like any other middle-class neighborhood, this one located outside Dublin. The people there have secrets, most of which are just those that might appear familiar to you and me. A man is hiding a gambling addiction. A woman is bored with …
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No One Escapes Undamaged
I'm a fan of Joseph Souza. I enjoyed Unpaved Surfaces, a very different novel from his latest, Need to Find You. The former is a mystery. This one is crime. Is it ever. Undoubtedly, my enjoyment of Need to Find You is enhanced by my latest effort, Forgive Us Our Trespasses. My crime novel is …
The Unbearable Lightness of Royalties
In lieu of some burning issue that eludes me now, here are some random statements, opinions, wishes, wants, needs, etc., that, as this blog runs its course, will emerge into something coherent, or that's the plan. Forgive Us Our Trespasses is my fourth novel. Early sales have been encouraging. For more than a week, it …
The Drudgery and the Damage Done
Drudgery. I'm fighting it. I'm writing this blog to relieve drudgery. When I finish it, I shall return, like unto MacArthur to the Philippines. On Friday, I was at home all day and most of the time right here, sitting behind my rolling desk. At long last and overdue, I am producing a print version …
The Fallibility of Atticus Finch
I finished Go Set a Watchman on the first day I cut grass, and, on the first day, it's more than just riding around and around the yard. It's getting the battery charged, and a flat fixed, and trips to the Ace Hardware and the Family Dollar. Preoccupied is better than being distracted. I thought …
Nightrider's Lament 