You've seen my non-fiction reviews, now it's time for some fic-fic-fiction! Reading waaaaay too much this year: check out these heinous reading glasses! Probably from reading on screens. Anyway... High points Two books are in the running for my "Book of the Year So...
Five brief book reviews from among some non-fiction I’ve read in 2019. In honor of my dad’s great book reviews and of the bliss of reading yourself into new worlds.
This is a short blog post on the shortest period of expectant exuberance I've ever experienced. Y'all know I'm looking for a wider audience for my novel, Spy Act. I've sent it to various agents and contests and had some response but the Big Break, no, not yet. I've...
#MeToo indeed. Stuck with seeing this everywhere. A flower shop in Amman, Jordan? Nothing to do, Ramon would say: this flower shop indeed has nothing to do with the #MeToo movement, or Aziz Ansari, or sexual harassment among the rich and powerful celebrities. But...
Zero moment: that minuscule space in time before you do something that changes you forever. I’m a writer, and I think of myself as always having been one. But it’s not true. I have first, foremost and absolutely been a dedicated reader. I’ve got one, two, three or...
Featured pic from Mitchell Lawler on Unsplash Goalposts - goals - get it? The start of a year is an appropriate, if imperfect, time for looking at your goals and urging yourself forward. I think goals should be realistic but ambitious - after all, you only get one...
Nathalie is ready for her close-up. Spy Act has a cover design, created by the A-MAY-ZING Rima Salloum, who was able to take my words and create a gorgeous visual. I swear I only bothered her a little bit with fussing around with things and colors and fonts and images...
...slightly to the side or underneath the Hero's Journey... [is] the misfit's myth: Even at the moment of your epic failures, you are beautiful. Because you have risen from mud or trauma or despair or jail or grief or abuse or alcohol or drugs, you have the ability...
The story: a crazy invention from my beloved niece, about family. Not our family, but a family. Each person has their weaknesses and strengths, or "struggles" and "abilities". As debilitating as their struggles are, their strengths are little superhero powers. It's a...
Calling all creative minds… Let's novel! National Novel Writing Month is about to begin. This annual event pits you against your inner editor (troublesome fellow: more on him below) to write 50,000 words – the equivalent of a novella – in one month. Millions around...