A reader sent me a New York Times article about the pluses and minus of earning a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.). (Click) I put the article aside for a while as I admit, I’m ambivalent about the subject. Setting standards for creativity strikes me as an oxymoron. N
My friend and colleague, Susan Stoner, Sage Adair mystery series writer, sent me an article the other day with an “I told you so,” message. Stoner self publishes her work and uses a distributor to make her series available in bookstore. For some time, she’s encouraged me to
I came across a comment by the singer, Bette Midler, recently which caught my eye. The caption was “Ignore the Critics.” (“Voices,” More Magazine, April 2015, pg. 51.) Surprised that the glorious Bette gave any thought to critics, I stopped to read what she had to say.
Last Friday, I wrote about the importance of solitude in an artist’s life. Today, I’m following up with a similar theme based on a review of H. J. Jackson’s, Those Who Write for Immortality. (”Immortal Beloved,” by William Giraldi, The New Republic, March 2015, p
Today marks my 6th year as a blogger, writing 5 days a week (M-F) on the writing life and what other writers have to say about life. Social commentary is the way I guess you’d categorize what I do, for those who care about categories. I don’t. But I do care about my reader
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
“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
A writer, sitting alone with a computer, lives a courageous life. It begins with an internal struggle to manage thoughts, to edit fearlessly and then expose the work to the public where it will be praised, ridiculed or ignored. I think Harper Lee at 82 is remarkably brave to come