I haven't had time to write short stories recently. With a seventh novel on the way to publication, and an eighth in an ongoing state of repair, I've been excising episodes from the latter manuscript. It's hard to remove items that are amusing but unnecessary. It occurred to me that I could turn them into short …
A Sheer Microcosm
I haven't had time to write short stories recently. With a seventh novel on the way to publication, and an eighth in an ongoing state of repair, I've been excising episodes from the latter manuscript. It's hard to remove items that are amusing but unnecessary. It occurred to me that I could turn them into …
Mass Communications, or Lack Thereof …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, August 4, 2017, 9:45 a.m. Let’s say I want to get in touch with you. The options are endless. It doesn’t mean any of them work. I could send you an email. You would likely do what I often do: um, delete, delete, delete, save, delete, delete, delete … Then I …
Cowboys Cheap as French Fries
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 12:36 p.m. Hey, there. Hi, there. Ho, there. I wrote a western last fall. It’s not just any western. It’s a modern western, set at the end of World War II, when a couple Marines return home to Texas, looking for peace, love, and understanding even though they’d …
Different Except for the Same
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, July 28, 2017, 11:01 a.m. As I have recently realized, my novels have some recurring incidences, and several incidents. Over the course of writing six novels and dozens of short stories, my protagonists have characteristics I applied to more than one. I didn’t really realize the extent until I started hyping …
Keep the Line Moving
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, 11:15 a.m. Yesterday I finished a manuscript. It’s just a first draft, but I doubt it will require much revision. Lightning in a Bottle just required two drafts. I think its sequel will, too. The other project nestled snugly in this laptop … ah, that’s a different matter. …
On Truth in Relation to Fiction
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, July 13, 2017, 10:27 a.m. When I was a boy, my grandmother used to say, when a thunderstorm approached, that it was about to “come up a cloud.” My lawn needs mowing. I’m going to do so if it doesn’t come up a cloud. I’m also going to write fiction today …
Columbo Knows
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, July 10, 2017, 4:25 p.m. Most of the time, I do my writing in the morning. It’s when I work the best. I get up, fix some coffee, take the daily meds, sip the coffee, wish everybody happy birthday on Facebook, fix breakfast, and settle down to work, most mornings at …
Paradise? Yeah, Right …
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, July 6, 2017, 11:15 a.m. It is no discredit to The Last Paradise that it took me too long to read it. It was circumstance. I’ve been buried in my own writing, and there’s no end in sight. I’ve gotten myself overloaded with writing, and my reading has suffered, which is …
Relative Originality
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, 12:15 p.m. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ / Though the streams are swollen / Keep them dogies rollin’ / Rawhide! / Through rain, wind and weather / Hellbent for leather / Wishin’ my gal was by my side / All the things I’m missin’ / Good vittles, love and kissin’ …
Nightrider's Lament 