The old man knew something was amiss. He'd had a nice run. He didn't feel that badly. He was seventy-six. He didn't ever really feel well anymore. Life was a process of diminishing expectations. He could still make it out to the mailbox and back. He could cut grass if it wasn't too hot. Sure, …
Grab My Novel. Don’t Cost Much.
On Tuesday, July 21, my third novel, Crazy of Natural Causes, will be released by Kindle Publishing and available for immediate download at amazon.com. Those who have ordered it in advance, or do so between now and then, will received an immediate email containing a download shortly after the clock strikes midnight. Those of you …
I’m Crazy for Tryin’ …
The day before yesterday, I drove over to Presbyterian College and shot some video footage of high school kids going through football drills. Why? Well, I do like watching football practice from a distance of, oh, forty years when I was out there sweating in the sun. I went to a football camp before my …
The Morning Habit
For some reason, I just thought of the words to an old Roy Clark song. I never picked cotton / But my mama did / And my brother did / And my sister did / And my daddy died young / Working in a coal mine. I relate a little because, before my grandfather stopped …
It Takes a Village to Sell a Book
The reason promoting a book is so hard is that what one can do is might-nigh infinite, and time is maddeningly finite. Crazy of Natural Causes, my third novel and first published (at least for now) strictly for Kindle, is available for advance purchase on Monday (July 6). It becomes immediately available for download on …
An Open and Shut Case
As husbands went, Layla could have done worse than Preston Cranstern. The sex was good. He was, by most accounts, competent at his job. He had some annoying facets to his personality. For instance, Preston had an absurd habit of insisting he was right when he obviously wasn't. Once he had asked her to proofread …
Submitted Once More for Your Consideration
Ahhhh. Next week my third novel, Crazy of Natural Causes, is scheduled to go on sale for advance orders. It will be available, uh, "on demand," about two weeks later. The release of a book is exciting. It's the culmination of lots of work: drafts, outlines, rewriting, tinkering with the order, et al. Now I …
Only the Best I Can Do
I'm waiting for the race to start -- I write a column on NASCAR every week for Bleacher Report -- and pondering the promotion of my upcoming novel. I'm also watching the Boston Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays. I've been reading the reviews. Not the reviews of my books. The responses to …
What’s Done Is Just Getting Started
Home is a refuge. I'm holed up, contemplating the day ahead, and trying to be creative. This is the way most days begin. Precisely this. I get myself ready to write by trying to cultivate coherence, cohesion, and, quite possibly, several other words that begin with "C." Soon, and tentatively, July 14, my third …
The Way We Do the Things We Do
Get a grip. Have a clue. Or have a grip. Get a clue. Either way, right now, you are both gripless and clueless. Know what I'm saying? Never have we interacted more. Never has it mattered less. The world is empty. We like it that way. Let's make it emptier. Order up another dozen Justin …
Nightrider's Lament 