Say No Way to NaNoWriMo
Now that it’s December, I can perhaps safely espouse on why I find National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, to be whackadoodle. This contest concept of drafting an entire novel in one month, albeit a mere 50,000 words, does a disservice to the craft of writing as it threatens to decimate the very last nerve […]
Eloquent Oration Versus Vile Vitriol
I always thought it would be an interesting challenge to be a speechwriter. These days, I live vicariously through Rowan Layne, post-middle-aged protagonist of my Other Worldly series. Rowan has not only written speeches for others, she’s had the opportunity to be a persuasive, passionate orator before members of Congress and Britain’s Parliament, as well […]
When a Judge Makes a Mockery of the Law
In Alienable Rights, first book of my Other Worldly series, protagonist Rowan Layne is preparing to take the test on legal ethics required of those practicing law or aspiring to practice law, including some who might one day become judges: There’s a big push to maintain the public’s […]
Venturing Into Nevada’s Valley of Fire
I recently had friends and family visit who were interested in exploring Las Vegas beyond the Strip, so I got to play tour guide at one of my favorite spots, Nevada’s Valley of Fire. This surreal, mystical place of red rock wonder is featured in my Other Worldly series, as it happens to be the […]
Resort Straight Out of My Other Worldly Series
It happened again. This time, a prediction of planetary proportions in fictionally creating the next big thing for the Las Vegas Strip, years before it will occur. And I’m tickled pink, or lunar gray, as it turns out. In this blog, I’ve previously written of the challenge of staying one step ahead of fiction becoming […]
Throw Out the Sexism from Throwback Articles
It can be fun to read a republished article on writing, gleaning advice and observations from a different era to see how literary rules and techniques stand the the test of time. But sometimes it can take you back into a warped time best left in the archives of history. I recently read a writer’s […]
The High Cost of Writing
I recently read an ugly post on Twitter. A guy gloating about how he sure screwed Amazon by searching far and wide so he wouldn’t have to pay full price. Instead, he found the book he so fervently sought on another site, secondhand and cut-rate. I don’t know if they charged him for shipping, but […]
Language of Literacy: Expectations and Lamentations
In Feeling Alienated, protagonist Rowan Layne laments on social media regarding tweets spewing from a vile and unfortunately influential figure: “Concerned citizen here. Anyone think we have a problem when our own president can’t spell Washington? Who voted for this?” No doubt many of us felt this way during the nightmare of a past presidential […]
Projected Alien Aggression and Reverse Engineering of UFOs
In Being Alien, recently launched fourth novel of the Other Worldly series, protagonist Rowan Layne notes, “I couldn’t help but wish our government would reverse engineer indestructible nontoxic materials instead of alien spacecraft, of which their prototypes were cluelessly burning fossil fuels.” If anyone doubts the US government is reverse engineering extraterrestrial technology at fortresses […]
Egoistic Entitlement: The Columbusing of America
Yesterday the Biden Administration was the first to officially commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. A laudable effort to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation and recognition of those actually native to lands now called the United States of America. It’s been a long time coming. Indigenous people versus an illogical obsession with […]