Like almost everything, there’s a caveat. The truth will set you free, but only if you can take it. I don’t begrudge anyone their desire to spare themselves terrible knowledge. We’re under no obligation to know the truth. That’s different from lying. Here’s how I look at it: The truth is behind a closed door….
The price of secrecy
May 18, 2014
For over a year, I looked for an artifact that I found yesterday. In the process I sorted through thousands of photos. One box came from my Great-aunt Clarinda, sister to my paternal grandmother Angelina. Every photo in the box is unmarked. I have no idea who these people are. The price of secrecy is…
Things I never considered, part 80 trillion
April 24, 2014
I just got an e-mail that prompts me to post about something I never considered. It was a long message full of instructions on how I should change the way I write and live. I’ll address just one point because in our current culture, the classes are pitted against each other, and I don’t want…
Today I made a decision
April 21, 2014
It hit me today: The Ghosts Trilogy is dead. I won’t be able to find another publicist. That’s why I made the decision to give away books in exchange for reviews. For those of you who aren’t writers, let me explain something: Writing is a life of groveling. You grovel to agents, you grovel to…
Hurricane House, the Tin Man, and free e-books.
April 19, 2014
During our time in Venezuela, we spent three summers on Sanibel Island, Florida, in a little resort called Hurricane House. As best as Tim and I can remember, the years were 1969, 1970, and 1971. Tim took these photos in 1970; our brother Paul shot the picture of Tim. It was on one of these…
Gibberish and massive bags. And free e-books
April 18, 2014
Thomas Piketty is a French economist who’s here in the US on a tour for his new book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. He’s a professor at the Paris School of Economics and a purveyor of gibberish and massive bags. When I saw his photo, I was reminded of an e-mail I got from a…
Cautionary tales always become manuals. And win free e-books!
April 17, 2014
I just read an article titled “Ten Things Idiocracy Predicted Would Happen, and Sadly Already Have.” Though I haven’t seen Idiocracy, I’m not surprised. Cautionary tales always become manuals. This phenomenon is not new. And win free e-books by answering a question! I’ll tell you how later. In 1941 Budd Schulberg published a novel titled…
The spiders demand it. And win free e-books!
April 17, 2014
I’ve been reading a lot about the dissatisfaction with the really dumb decisions Facebook is making. Let me tell you why we need Facebook. Or at least why some of us need Facebook: The spiders demand it. And win free e-books! You can benefit from my absolutely horrible experiences over the past year and half….
A new beginning and free e-books!
April 16, 2014
Today I sent out forty review copies of Chasing the Last Whale and Hallucinabulia: the Dream Diary of an Unintended Solitarian. It’s a new beginning! I’m also going to give away ten free Kindle versions of each book. I’ll tell you how you can win it in a second. If you like either or both…