I’ve been asked a number of times if I listen to music when I write. Yes…but only when I’m actually typing the story. I have a process. It’s called all or nothing. I build a story concept in my head, then pull out a trusty yellow pad to sketch an outline. Nothing more than a…
“KISS MY ASS!” And other strings of profanity spilled from my mouth after Windows 10 finally broke past my meager defenses and installed its most recent update. It wasn’t the Update that bothered me as much as it was that only one of my two monitors showed up afterward, and the one that did show…
I once served under an Ops Sergeant named Smitty—SFC D. Smith—who I always looked up to as the type of soldier I wanted be. Smitty fearlessly grabbed satchels full of explosives and tossed them over his shoulder. He walked toward the sound of gunfire, no matter the context. We could be in the middle of…
When your mind is filled with information, worry, and emotion, it’s easy to get to the end of the day and feel the time just evaporated behind you. As you get older you begin to feel the same way about weeks, months and years. I remember as if it were yesterday, the time I stood…
Around the age of 31, I started a new ritual; waking up and announcing my gratitude aloud. It seemed silly and I didn’t even say it aloud at first, worried my bedroom furniture would judge me as some new-age, hippy-dippy, crystal worshiping doofus. The improvement was immediate though not significant. I in fact, didn’t realize…
Just as I did with the Crime Novel “Hedged”, I’m making the first raw chapter of Splinter Self available to Mail List subscribers. Don’t worry, If you’re already a subscriber, a message will arrive shortly with the Subscriber page link if you’ve misplaced it. If you haven’t signed up for my mail list yet, just…
So, it’s been a year since my dad died and I wrote my own sharp edged memorial to him. I can’t say I’ve done a whole lot of work in resolving anything with him. It’s been a little quiet from his side, and I’ve been fairly busy myself since my beautiful wife (who was ill…
The year 2016, if it’s not my last, will hopefully be remembered as the worst year of my life. Believe me, I know things can get much worse, but despite the repeated kicks to the crotch this year, I hold out hope that it was a fluke–a confluence of events like a perfect storm that…
He looks like me. He wears my clothes and sounds like me when he speaks, rarely as that might be. The troll at my writing desk is my distorted doppelganger. He comes into existence slowly over a period of days. Sometimes just a shadow, at first. But as my manuscript or editing become more involved,…
I’ve seen the phenomena before without realizing what it was. It never occurred to me that I could dig past the obvious and find a hidden well of emotion–or, perhaps it did and I just avoided doing it. A lone tear sliding down someone’s cheek can be written off as so many things, particularly when…
I can only imagine how impossible it must feel for someone who has to face clients when in this situation. The reality of dealing with the daily agony of a sick, possibly terminal loved one, then having to go to work, facing clients, buyers, even workmates with a smile on your face has to…
Yeah…there’s no silver lining. Anyone who’s ever flown through a cloud bank knows it’s just water vapor. Hope has shown up, weaker each day as reality kicks its ass and my silver linings have proven to be just that–vapor, shadow, smoke and mirrors. The Dalai Lama says “I find hope in the darkest of days,…
Life is funny sometimes. In fact, most events in life are hilarious given enough time, distance and perspective. Sex? Imagine the faces you make and the awkward noises. If we weren’t so predisposed to being turned on by it, we’d laugh our asses off every time we watch a porno (not that I’ve ever, EVER…
I have a headache. Not your run of the mill stress headache, or springtime sinus pressure. This is an ice pick to the base of the skull that radiates up and around, caressing the ear and jaw, producing guitar feedback grade tinnitus, then burrows under the eye, making me feel like leaning forward might make…
The grass grew fast after the last few days of rain, rising above the bottom step of the terrace. I stood on the porch and breathed the hot, pollen filled air before coughing…then sneezing. Just being out there made me tired. The only things growing faster than the grass were the weeds and my exhaustion.…
Okay, okay, I’ve put it off as long as I could. I’ve apparently run afoul of some thriller author code by not having a mailing list. The fines were steep, I’ll tell you, and I don’t think I’m invited to Stephen King’s house this year for the annual “Secret Society of Thriller Authors’ Christmas Bash”.…
UPDATE: The contest is over and I have to say I didn’t give away as many as I thought I would. I’ll do another in a few days and tweak the parameters a bit. It’s a good program but takes some getting used to. (Original Post.) I found out yesterday that Amazon does giveaways. I…
I stood on my porch last night staring into the dark winter sky. I do that fairly frequently as a smoker, having long ago given up engaging in the dirty habit indoors. As bad as smoking is for me, I appreciate the quiet moments. They help me focus the perpetual chaos of my extremely attention-deficit…
