Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, December 23, 2019, 1:17 p.m. Most bad things have good sides, and vice-versa. For a solid week, I have been sick. I’ve been getting better through the weekend. I’m close to well, though my throat is full of congestion and I don’t feel like yodeling. Last week, when I had to …
Category: Writing
They’re Only Words, and Words Are All I Have …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, June 1, 11:39 a.m. A half hour ago, I was trying to catch up on email, text messages, posts, tweets – the bare necessities of life – and I heard NASCAR driver Christopher Bell say his car was “migrating” in the turns. I’m guessing he meant it was “wandering up the …
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Pick My Fiction Up on Your Way Down
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 12:23 p.m. It would probably be easier to write a song. A song can be quick and clever. A blog requires a bit more wisdom. It has to be more than clever. It’s not as complicated, but there’s more heft in its thoughts. Not that I’m an expert …
Just Some Writer Staring at the Wall
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 13, 2019, 2:27 p.m. It has not been uncommon for me to express the belief that the biggest problem facing writers is simple. More and more people write, and less and less people read. It’s sort of a double-edged sword, particularly if one happens to write books. Getting them published …
Foundered on the Rocks of Paradise
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, March 25, 2019, 12:52 p.m. I’ve been reading three books at the same time. One is in hardcover. One is in my Kindle. One is in my phone. The last two could be read in either. For no apparent reason, I read one strictly in one and one strictly in the …
They’re Only Words, and Words Are All I Have …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, February 2, 2019, 1:49 p.m. I just checked the TV listings and see that PBR Bull Riding is on from Oklahoma City. Now, PBR stands for Professional Bull Riders, so what the message on TV indicates is that what is on is Professional Bull Riders Bull Riding. What a surprise that …
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Style and Sox and Storms, Etc.
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 1:57 p.m. One consequence of working for a news website while writing fiction at the same time is the constant clash of styles. I even have a style for this blog. If this was on GoLaurens.com, “South Carolina” would have been “S.C.” and “October” would have been “Oct.” …
Words and Lyrics and Titles and Tunes
Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, August 26, 2018, 2:42 p.m. I listened to a Johnny Cash song that had slipped my mind. “See Ruby Fall.” I feel I know exactly how Cash wrote it. He was in his tour bus, heading through the country, probably in the mountains of the Appalachian chain, and he saw an …
The Dutton Deal: My July Newsletter
This Week Only! Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell for free! I think this new novel, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, is my best. Some won’t like the politics. In one way, it’s about a group of people who get themselves in a serious bind. In another, it’s about America, right now, and it hasn’t gotten a bit …
If Only News Had a Scorebook and a Means of Keeping Score
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 11:03 a.m. My preferred form of journalism is sports. It’s the source of most of my experience. Recently I’ve been writing lots of news. It’s interesting. I derive some satisfaction. I’ve done it before from time to time. On Tuesday night, sitting in the home grandstand of Wilder …
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Nightrider's Lament 