Memorial Day is over, but, in my own small way, I want to continue a tribute to two individuals who’ve served in the military. The first is my brother, Jim, who fell in Europe in WWII. I was only one year old when he died in combat, so I never knew him. But I saw… Continue Reading
Took a break from blogging and writing murder mysteries to take a cruise from Montreal to Bermuda with various stops along the way. In Bermuda, we got to see the the U.S.’s entry into the America’s Cup race – the Oracle – practicing on the course near Hamilton. These high-tech boats are incredibly fast as… Continue Reading
Non-writers often ask me the question asked of all writers -” Where do you get your ideas? Do they just pop into your head or do you go out looking for them?” The answer, of course, is both. It’s nice when a story idea or image shows up in your head all of a sudden.… Continue Reading
If you write fiction, you know that inevitably you’ll run into a brick wall labeled, “Oh, wow, I don’t know where to go next with this story. I’m doomed, doomed, I tell you!” Of course, much wailing and gnashing of teeth will follow, and your spouse will get heartily sick of your cliched whining. All… Continue Reading
In my previous post, I choose Michael Ondaatje as a writer who makes me go “Wow!” because of the highly poetic nature of his writing. In this one, I’ll choose one of the greatest of the 19th Century writers – Charles Dickens. Dickens had nothing like the poetic flair of Ondaatje, but he has an… Continue Reading
Every superbly talented writer has the ability to make you go “Wow!” when you read their prose or poetry. They just do it in different ways; that is, superbly drawn characters, intricate plots, or indelible language, etc. In terms of language, one writer who definitely makes me go “Wow!” is Michael Ondjaatje in his 1992 novel… Continue Reading
After suffering for years from total writer’s block due to depression, my imagination was freed up when the then-new anti-depressants came on the market back in the Eighties. Prior to those years, I was able to write non-fiction easily, but couldn’t do fiction at all. Curiously, since those days, I’ve encountered a kind of reverse… Continue Reading
Cartooning and writing – what do they have to do with each other? Well, oddly enough, the two skills seemed to be linked in certain authors although no one really knows why. Examples are the humorist, James Thurber (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and the great novelist, John Updike (The Widows of Eastwick, etc.). In… Continue Reading
All of us are shaped by our physical characteristics. One characteristic, in particular, shaped me into a writer – myopia. As a child, I was extremely near-sighted and couldn’t engage in a lot of sports activities. Klutzes weren’t welcome at second base or beneath the basket. So, naturally, I took to reading books at an… Continue Reading
Like many writers (I assume), I listen to music while writing my novels. The type I listen to depends on the time of day. In the morning, I’ve already got caffeine in my coffee to fuel my efforts, so I listen to meditation/yoga/New Age music on Pandora to keep me soothed and focused on the… Continue Reading