A friend sent me an announcement, recently, about a lecture on self-publishing offered by two women purported to be experts. One of the speakers wrote “epic” medieval fantasies and the other had authored tips for selling used books on Amazon. The latter claimed to have ear
My first novel, Heart Land is about to be republished with a new editor and in a new edition. The story is about the hyjinx of a boy, Oliver Larson, growing up in rural American in 1940, prior to World War 11. One of Oliver’s favorite hangouts is a bakery known as Ye Old Bak
March 24th will mark the 6th year of my daily blogging. I was giving myself a pat on the back the other day, when a reader sent me a blog by Tonni Bennett which specializes on subjects of interest to folks 60 and over ( http://www.timegoesby.net/) . The article noted that Andr
There’s a classic joke in legal circles about a doctor on trial for malpractice. The prosecuting attorney reads down a list of 12 men, pausing to ask if each was the doctor’s patient. Each time, the man admits that each was. Then the prosecutor asks, “And are these men
“Somewhere between plagiarism and homage,” writes Michael Kinsely, “there is a line.” (The Imitation Game,” by Michael Kinsley, Vanity Fair, March 2015, pg. 197) He raises an important point, and as a blogger who works from source material, I regularly question whether wha
23andMe was founded by Anne Wojcick and named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes that comprise the human DNA. She created the company because she believes people should have access to their biological data. The FDA disagrees and now her company is in a tussle with the governmen
Being a vegetarian is something I don’t talk about much. The decision was mine and I made it when I was 11, to the chagrin of my mother. Back then, mealtimes became so cantankerous, she hauled me off to the doctor for a lecture on nutrition. Her strategy backfired. She
A cry of rebellion has permeated the emails flashing back and forth among the newer residents of the retirement center where I live. As might be expected, the complaints are about the food. It’s too salty, the meat’s too stringy, the variety too meager and worst of all, the pr
A former student wrote to say that having married in her junior year of college, she’d left to raise a family, As she nears retirement, however, she’s decided to return to school to finish her degree. Naturally, I applauded her decision just as I did when my mother earned he
Feeling out of control in your life? Join the club. Not only is there a growing gap between rich and poor around the world, but the gap between society’s leaders and the man in the street is enough to leave anyone queasy. Take, for example, the gap between the way scientists v