When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did…
The worst year of my life
December 31, 2013
This was the worst year of my life. For over a decade, Tim and I would say to each other, “This was the worst year yet,” but 2013 was the absolute bottom. I say than knowing full well that I’m daring the fates to make 2014 even worse, but it can’t be. The depths have…
Excised Snippet Number One
December 14, 2013
After years and years of attending seminars, taking classes, and trying over and over to write fiction, I finally had the novel that became Chasing the Last Whale professionally edited. Though very expensive, it was more valuable than everything that came before it. Editor Jason S. Sitzes went over the book line by line and…
Why I love the moon
December 11, 2013
Ever since childhood the moon has fascinated me. The full moon was amazing; I saw a rabbit playing a conga. The Japanese say the rabbit is pounding rice to make mochi. I’ve always loved crescent-moon faces, such as in this photo. It’s a perfect illustration of my feelings about the moon, because along with my…
Volume Two of the Ghosts Trilogy available
November 22, 2013
Chasing the Last Whale is now available in paperback. It’s Volume Two of the Ghosts Trilogy. An e-book will follow. Maybe several. The Ghosts Trilogy is—as far as I know—a unique literary attempt in that it consists of a memoir, a novel, and a diary that share the same themes and characters. It began with…
A great actor trapped in a bad movie
November 21, 2013
It’s so painful for me to see a great actor trapped in a bad movie. I love Jason Statham. He’s far more than an “action star.” His great gift is wordless acting, especially in response to something he sees or what someone is saying. He’s a master of expressing suppressed emotion. Stand in front of…
Nothing bores me more
November 19, 2013
Don’t try to engage me in a discussion on the battle of the sexes. Nothing bores me more. Men and women are different; men and women are both human. The end. Someone just made the most obtuse statement I’ve ever read about my writing. Though I won’t repeat it, here’s my reaction to it. I…
Is female beauty in fiction really a problem?
November 5, 2013
The novelist Adelle Waldman—author of The Love Affairs of Nathanial P.—recently wrote a piece for The New Yorker titled “‘A First-Rate Girl’: The Problem of Female Beauty.” In it, Waldman says the following: You’d think it would also be a rich subject for fiction writers—after all, our attitudes about beauty and attraction are tightly bound…