I rarely read bestsellers for many reasons. Mainly, I’m a slow adopter of new anything: technology, popular culture, political issues, new cars, new drugs, etc. But since Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is in my current writing genre, mystery/thriller/suspense, and had gotten raves, I figured what the heck, and read it. I’m glad I did, because …
I just returned from the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute conference in Madison, WI over the past weekend. This was my second year attending. I went back for three reasons: First, I got great value for what I spent in time and money. Second, I vowed to pitch my novel to agents. I felt wasn’t …
My wife and I recently returned from a vacation in Voyageurs National Park (VNP) in northern Minnesota. We rented a houseboat for a week and motored up and down the southern shore of Rainy Lake, one of four large lakes contained in VNP. If you’ve never houseboated, I can assure you it’s one of the …
“The Help” by Kathyrn Stockett—A writer’s review Read More »
A good friend of mine died last week. The funny thing is I never met the man. But I feel like I knew him for almost 50 years. We never talked on the phone, never exchanged letters or emails, never communicated in any way, other than I would see him on TV fairly often in …
Little did I know what I was getting into when I started writing my novel. All the stuff you have to do besides actually write: study the craft, get critiqued, critique others, read blogs, learn about the publishing business, agents, editors, writing conferences, pitch slams (huh?), etc., etc., etc. Then there’s querying. Ugh! Hours and …
My wife and I recently returned from a two-week vacation from our home in Minnesota to Washington, Oregon, and other points west. For us, half the fun is getting there, so we love to drive on these long journeys. Leaving in mid-September, vacation traffic drops considerably from the “family-summer-vacation-with-school-age-kids” level, so traffic stress is drastically …
I am an avid golfer by any definition of the word. My wife would say I am addicted. Many days I feel like an addict. I play anywhere from 70 to 140 rounds a year-in Minnesota. Mind you, the season rarely lasts more than seven months. That’s ten to twenty rounds per month. One every …
