Writing
Groundhog Day
It’s almost time for the annual Groundhog Day foolishness in which some unsuspecting woodchuck is yanked from his warm bed and forced to look for his shadow on frozen ground, thereby foretelling of six more weeks of winter… or not. For crying out loud. It’s early February. Of course there’s going to be six more…
Read MoreHope? Forgedaboutit
Just when I thought it was safe to start swinging my golf clubs again (it climbed over 60F here in Atlanta this week), just as soon as the birdbath outside my front window had thawed, and just as soon as the city street sweeper had finished brushing away the sand and gravel deployed to combat…
Read MoreBummed out at the holiday season
I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of bummed out this holiday season. There’s been some weird, scary stuff happening. I don’t remember other years being like this. Several evenings ago I was out for a walk and came across Santa Claus, face down, flattened out in someone’s yard. It looked like a road…
Read MoreDecember
The following blog was originally prepared on November 24th for The Weather Channel’s Website, weather.com. But it apparently got lost in the Thanksgiving holiday shuffle and was never published, perhaps meeting the same fate that many turkeys do at that time of year. Oops. Probably a poor choice of words. Still, in the interest of…
Read MoreRussian thrillers
I’d like to take a break from INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL briefly and write about three very good thrillers I’ve read recently. It’s rare I find three consecutive novels that keep me eagerly turning pages, but Moscow Rules, Child 44 and City of Thieves did it. Curiously, all three were set in Russia. I didn’t…
Read MoreAltering, not lowering, my sights
Having run the course on trying to find a literary agent to champion INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL to major publishing houses, I’ve turned to contacting smaller, independent publishers directly. In the judgement of most agents, many of whom liked the concept of INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL, the book fits into more of a niche than…
Read MoreSomething sacred
I’ve returned to Oregon for the 50th reunion of my senior class in high school. It’s six a.m. I’m standing on the deck of my brother’s house west of Portland, 800 feet above the Tualatin Valley, gazing out over its airbrushed khaki and green quilting. There is not a puff of wind, no thrum of…
Read MoreWilted Roses
THE FOLLOWING BLOG WAS WRITTEN ORIGINALLY FOR THE WEATHER CHANNEL AND WAS TO HAVE BEEN POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE THURSDAY, JULY 30. TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PREVENTED THAT FROM HAPPENING, SO I’VE POSTED THE BLOG HERE In a few days I’ll be heading out to the Rose City, Portland, Oregon, for a high school reunion. (Never mind…
Read MoreMy batting average
Time for an update on my efforts to find an agent for INSIDE THE WEATHER CHANNEL. The bottom line is that I haven’t found full representation for the book yet, although a NY agent did tell me she had one particular publisher in mind that might like it. The agent said she’d be glad to…
Read MoreWhat’s the one thing…?
I asked novelist Steve Berry the following question at the Southeastern Writers Association workshop a couple of weeks ago: “What’s the one thing you know now that you wished you’d known when you started writing?” He didn’t hesitate with his answer. “How tough it was going to be,” he said. It’s a topic I’ve touched…
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