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 …
Tag: novels
‘The Storms of Life Are Washing Me Awaaaayyy’
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, April 19, 2019, 12:19 p.m. When I was a boy, one of my grandmothers was prone to say “it’s about to come up a cloud.” Another line of those storms is about to roll through, flinging out lightning. It sure seems like this happens more often than it used to. Mama …
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Making Sense of Pat Conroy
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, March 28, 2019, 11:56 a.m. It took a long time to read My Exaggerated Life, the oral biography by Pat Conroy as told to Katherine Clark. It’s based on hundreds of conversations between the two. Conroy approved of it, though it wasn’t published until after he died of cancer on March …
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 …
Serenity in Name Only
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, June 14, 2008, 10:59 a.m. Shelby Alexander barely lets the reader take a breath in this opening salvo of Craig A. Hart’s series of thrillers. Serenity is not to be confused with the noun. It’s the name of the town in northern Michigan that, based on the hero’s experience, is hardly …
It’s the World Gone Crazy …
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, May 17, 2018, 3:02 p.m. I don’t care whether I hear Laurel or Yanny. I don’t know where I go to hear it, or, for that matter, them. Whoever or whichever they are. As I get older, I get less inquisitive about such matters. I am not without curiosity. I just …
The Right Stuff of the Vanities
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 3:38 p.m. For many years, I thought The Right Stuff was the best non-fiction book I ever read. Now I consider it neck and neck with William Prochnau’s Once Upon a Distant War. When I wrote a novel about a pot-smoking songwriter fleeing the feds, I used The …
The Eighth Novel Is Out!
Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, April 1, 2018, 12:24 p.m. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will make some readers angry. What doesn’t? This novel is either my best or my best mess. I did my best. I put lots of effort into it. No one is objective about oneself. The readers decide for themselves, and their verdict …
Johnny Comes Lately
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, March 30, 2018, 1:32 p.m. Hindsight is supposedly 20/20, though I’ve often found memories to be considerably photoshopped. For instance, it just occurred to me that I have something in common with John Steinbeck. Hint: It’s not talent. I’m not particularly modest. In fact, I’m not remotely modest. I think it’s …
Nightrider's Lament 