AT LEAST I DIDN’T WAKE UP IN CHINA

I had a strange dream a few nights ago. A really strange dream—unlike any I’d ever had before. Up until that particular night, the dreams I had always involved people I knew or had known. And they usually took place in locations with which I was familiar. But on the night of my bizarre fantasy,…

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WORLD WAR II AND THE ROCK GROUP “KISS”

It’s surprising, amazing even, the links to today that can snake unexpectedly out of the past. One such connection revealed itself to me as I worked on my new novel DOWN A DARK ROAD. The focus of the novel is based on true events—the discovery of a Nazi death camp, Gunskirchen Lager, in Austria near…

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BIRTHDAYS, DYSLEXIA, GUARDIAN ANGELS, AND FAIRY TALES

You’d think after eight decades I would have figured it out. But here I am, on my 28th birthday and I realize I’m dyslexic. Which, of course, works to my advantage when it comes to birthdays. Maybe I really am 28. At least my mind thinks so even if my body doesn’t. In truth, when…

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THE “BALLOON BLOWERS” OF WWII

For those of you familiar with my background, it shouldn’t surprise you that there’s an element of weather history in my newest novel, WHEN HEROES FLEW: THE ROOF OF THE WORLD. In addition to telling the WWII tale of the men who flew the India-China flight path over the Himalaya Mountains in the worst weather…

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A REAL-LIFE FAIRY TALE: THE EPILOGUE

I don’t know if fairy tales are supposed to have epilogues. But since it’s my fairy tale, I get to make the rules. Epilogues allowed. Exactly one year ago today, as I stumbled into my ninth decade of drawing breaths on this planet, I wrote a blog with my views on growing old. I allowed…

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THE FAIRY TALE CONTINUES–BARBARA AND BUZZ

The fairy tale continues. The rise of what I like to think of as Schloss Bernard, my new writer’s studio—my castle—signals the beginning of a new phase of my life. I have a few weeks remaining in Georgia before I, and my Shih-Tzu buddy, Stormy, wing our way west to where the freshly-minted Mrs. Bernard,…

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THE SHANGRI-LA RAIDERS, APRIL 2, 1942

Today, April 2, 2021, marks the 79th anniversary of the beginning of one of the most remarkable adventures in U.S. military history: the bombing raid on Tokyo, Japan, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. The attack, battling horrendous odds against its success, became legendary in the annals of WWII history. Bombs were not actually dropped…

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GRINDING OUT OREGON GRINDER

Last October, I wrote a blog about why, as an author, I was switching genres, summing up the reason with the statement “because I want to.” That’s true.  But there’s also a hidden story behind the reason.  It deals with weather, the framework for three of my five previous novels.  (As many of you may recall,…

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