BC (before COVID), I found myself in Reno as a presenter at their annual Literary Crawl event. On the way back to my hotel room, I shared an elevator with an older gentleman who looked like Father Time if Father Time chewed tobacco. “Whatcha got there?” he growled as the door clanked shut. “This? A…

I almost never offer unsolicited advice — unless it’s of the “Don’t step off the curb, there’s a bus coming” variety. Solicited advice is another matter entirely and I’m honored when the occasional writer asks for my opinion. Here’s one that came to me recently from a fellow scribe: “I have a question that I…

We said our final goodbyes to Daisy the cat yesterday. Daisy was 19-years-old, an “antique” according to our vet and, until recently, in remarkably good health. In her prime, she could scale an eight-foot bookcase in a single bound or balance herself on top of an open door better than any Olympic gymnast. Daisy was…

It’s true, most people don’t know the difference between quality writing and meh writing. Or worse. Doesn’t matter. Write good anyway.

More brilliance from creative guru Seth Godin: “Art with no intent can entertain us, and it can also reinforce stereotypes and simply help what is in our world persist. Art with selfish intent exists to manipulate the viewer to serve the needs of the artist. It doesn’t often spread, but when it does, it can…

Excellent advice from marketing guru Seth Godin, who’s been writing a daily blog since they invented blogs. Take it to heart . . . Write something. Then improve it. Then write something else. Repeat this process until you have a post. Then post it. Then repeat this process. There’s no such thing as writer’s block.…

 I’m old enough to remember when radio was a big deal. As a kid growing up in L.A. in the 60s and 70s, our generation’s golden years, I listened to “Boss Radio” with legendary DJs Robert W. Morgan, the Real Don Steel, Charlie Tuna and Humble Harve (who went on to do a stretch in…

My friend, Renaissance man Doug Cox, has penned books, essays, poems, even a hit song or two during his remarkable life. In this essay, taken from his latest book, Sunlight and Shadows, he delivers a lifetime’s worth of practical writing advice. I reprint it here with permission. HIS DESK Through a beautiful wrought-ironwork window piece…

At my very first book festival in the early 2000s, I was sitting at a table in my tiny booth when a woman approached and asked about my novel, a question I was only too happy to answer in great detail. As I spoke, I noticed her digging around in her purse, presumably for money…

I’m fascinated by karma. It’s been a theme of all my novels and many of my short stories. Rather than some mysterious external cosmic force, I see it as self-inflicted payback for a lifetime of hubris, arrogance and worse. In other words, shooting yourself in the foot. Let’s take the case of a hypothetical President.…