Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 12:49 p.m. One of the small attributes that has grown within me as I’ve aged is an attempt to minimize the effect of superstition in my life. This sort of began with research for my third novel, Crazy of Natural Causes (2015). The story of Chance Benford required …
Tag: Jesus
At the Risk of Being Taken the Wrong Way …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, January 5, 2018, 8:49 a.m. At some point, this feeding frenzy has to run its course. As with all feeding frenzies, some good has been achieved. Tides of frenzy sweep along with them some rampaging tyranny. To this very day, I am kind to women who wait on me at restaurants …
Little Things Mean … a Little
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, May 4, 2017, 9:49 a.m. The world has changed in significant ways across the span of my lifetime. Today I’ve decided to write about the insignificant ways. Significance is too intimidating for this day. No one whose cell has service needs “whatever happened to …?” stories anymore. Just yesterday I looked …
Even Though It Don’t Hurt Nothin’, I Reckon …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, January 2, 2017, 8:20 a.m. I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions. I believe in resolutions when the need arises. I judge my resolutions on an individual basis, without regard for race, creed, national origin, or whether or not the football team is owned by Jerry Jones. I am trying to …
Continue reading Even Though It Don’t Hurt Nothin’, I Reckon …
My Fiction and Welcome to It
Let’s see. What’s the most boring, clichéd way I can begin a blog? Oh, I got it. Good news and bad news. First, the bad. Sales of Crazy of Natural Causes have been sagging recently. Rather than ranging from 15,000 to 50,000 in the ever-changing rankings, the range has shifted to 50,000 to 200,000 over …
At Least See if It’s too Hot for You to Handle
Why should you read my novel, Crazy of Natural Causes? Maybe you follow me. Maybe you’ve read one or both of my other novels, The Audacity of Dope (2011) and The Intangibles (2013). Maybe you’ve read my non-fiction books. Maybe you’ve read my newspaper columns, blogs and stories over the past 35 years. Maybe you …
Continue reading At Least See if It’s too Hot for You to Handle
Whatever Will Be
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, …
Ruination
Sipping a cup of coffee, Haney McGee thought about Ebby Newlin, the old man who didn’t drive a car, worked his whole life at a gas station without ever running one, and looked out for the kids from the wrong side of the tracks. Haney had been in Denver, trying like hell to keep …
The Smart Kid
This is sort of a “Man Bites Dog” story, or, perhaps, “Girl Bites God.” Macy McMahon awakened before the alarm went off, as per the usual. She turned it off, got up, rubbed her eyes, gathered her wits, and strode down the hall, where she knocked on the door and yelled, “Rise and shine!” …
Completely Unawares
This is the seventh and final episode of a short story about Riley Mansfield, the hero of my first novel, The Audacity of Dope. This story is set in the present, nearly seven years after the events of the novel. The first six parts were, in order, “Seven Years If It’s a Day,” “Like Old …
Nightrider's Lament 