Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, January 12, 2017, 11:50 a.m. I am in a state of paralysis. I haven’t ground completely to a halt. In half a day, I’ve written 305 words of fiction. They’re 305 decent words, so, like Bill Murray in Caddy Shack, I’ve got that going for me. I am depressed. Not clinically …
Tag: Monte Dutton
The Old Snow Days Just Ain’t What They Used to Be
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, January 7, 2017, 10:28 a.m. The snow hasn’t completely covered the grass I probably should have cut one more time before it stopped growing. It fell in hits and misses, and here it mainly swung and missed. It’s fallen in greater amounts most everywhere else, and TV tells me that one …
Continue reading The Old Snow Days Just Ain’t What They Used to Be
Comedy Remains Elusive
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, January 5, 2017, 9:32 a.m. Try as I might, I don’t seem to be able to write a comedy. Oh, a couple of years ago, I took a stab at it. My third novel, Crazy of Natural Causes, was funny at times. It was a fable of life’s absurdity, but I …
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 …
Not a Fond Farewell but a Farewell, Just the Same
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, December 31, 2016, 10:54 a.m. It’s the final day of 2016. The year will soon be tucked snugly in bed, and all the Trump partisans will have sugarplums dancing in their heads, that is, if they can get to sleep amid all the fireworks. That’s my metaphor for Year of Our …
Continue reading Not a Fond Farewell but a Farewell, Just the Same
The Lines Are Open
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, December 29, 2016, 12:02 p.m. I got nothing. This sentiment is all too familiar, as what few veteran readers there are of this space realize. It’s entirely possible that a few veteran readers have fallen by the wayside because of this troubling pattern of wandering blogs. As I have heard is …
It Happens Every Winter
As I don’t have a heap of money – and it’s been a while – a limited number has constituted the recipients of my Christmas gifts this year. Therefore, I feel obliged at this time to do something modest to express my appreciation for what you’ve done for me this year. No telling how many …
The Way I Write the Things I Write
I have demonstrated my allegiance to fiction. At present, I am about seventy-five percent done with what will become my sixth novel. Three – Crazy of Natural Causes (2015), Forgive Us Our Trespasses (2016), and Cowboys Come Home (2016) -- have been published in the past two years. It appears likely that Don’t Ask, …
Of Opinions Have I More Than My Fair Share
Here are a few things I believe. I'm sure I'll leave out many. I'm sure many people in the history of this old world have said the same things. I didn't read them, though. They may not be original, but they're original to me. Or from me. Whichever. The truth is seldom more evident than …
Writing the Ages I’ve Been
Not too long ago, I stumbled across a quotation: The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the ages you have been. – Madeleine L’Engle. All I know about Ms. L’Engle besides that sentence is that she was an American novelist who was born in 1918 and died in 2007. That’s …
Nightrider's Lament 