Whenever I am finishing and OTHERS will now shortly have to read it, once again I start to have pre-publication terrors. I can’t help but think: What if I’m too close to its writing trees and I have failed to see the reading forest?
Five Years On
Weekend In Olhão
Olhão, on Portugal’s Algarve coast, is more than worth a visit if one ever gets a chance. We have stayed here these last few days…
“Eyewitness” To Lives
“You seem to know lots about what Frenchwomen think,” my [English] wife has teased me more than once. Actually, no, I don’t believe I do…
Not Far From Faro
We are in Portugal. We arrived on Sunday in the Algarve, on its southern coast. Our first stop was four days near Tavira, which is not far from Faro.
Visions Of The Future
What this program is to me is yet another reminder as to why I groan at dystopic visions of the future; I consider them dangerous particularly to kids’ and teenagers’ life outlooks.
“If no one would want to shoot you…”
Would anyone out there want to shoot me? Of course, I’d rather not actually be shot.
You’ve Got “1998”
Suddenly, I was back in the 1990s again. It was almost eerie. Immediately I remembered another Meg Ryan film I’d seen in 1995… and someone else’s then reaction to it…
Now This Fifth
I fully understand now why some authors do go loopy or worse – and especially when embarking on a several years’ long writing effort.
Oh, Daenerys
I have never been gripped by tales set in murky purportedly kinda ancient Celtic or Scandinavian locales, where magic pops up, that are populated by people wearing furs who look like they haven’t ever cut or even combed their hair, or washed in the last decade…
How To Win Friends And Influence People?
That is an example of why I feel political and social belligerence on my blog or other social media is inappropriate. (I came THAT CLOSE to unfollowing that person on Instagram, but decided I would not.)
Away From This Mad World
How many of us deep down desire to get away from all of the “noise” of this century in which we must live? How many of us wish to saunter on a secluded country lane by the side of our well-dressed handsome gentleman or bonnet-wearing lovely lady?
The New Destination
Because once the last word is on the page, well, that’s it. Done. You have become just someone who has written a book. That was then. What are you doing now?
A Healthy Experience
My wife had to have a minor (we hope) procedure and *chose* to have it yesterday rather than a weekday. She was offered the option of the Sunday appointment and we had supposed the hospital would be quieter and so it might all be a bit less stressful. “Quieter” turned out to be, well, an understatement.
With The End In Sight
I sense I am approaching *that* time for a soon to be new book where I sit back and take stock of the draft as a whole. Soon tweaking with “this and that” begins. I’ve learned that in some ways this is also the toughest time.
“Our” Current Culture
I considered my perspective and my tiny contributions in four (and, hopefully, soon to be five) novels. I hope within them I have offered “creativity” – travel, learning, history, friendship, love, and even some lessons – that entertains, but also gets readers involved and thinking. But no single book can be everything and it is asking too much of any writer to produce that.
