In a prior life, one of my jobs was to draft academic policy. This was always fraught with peril, not over the policy but over…
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In a prior life, one of my jobs was to draft academic policy. This was always fraught with peril, not over the policy but over…
When I retired, I decided to try my hand at writing fiction. I remember thinking, “How hard can this be?” I’d already written a couple…
Snark. I love it when it’s aimed at someone else. Not so much when it’s aimed at me. Just what is snark, anyway? I mean,…
Trope. Other than an obscure word, what is it? The dictionary says it’s a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression. If that’s all…
I confess. I love mysteries and I love science fiction. So, it’s natural that I’d love novels that blend the two. In particular, I’ve enjoyed…
I’ve spent some time this week working on doodles for a cover to my current work-in-progress. This novel started out as a locked-room mystery set…
When I first arrived from Iowa to my new home state, Oklahoma, I wondered if we even spoke the same language. At the filling station,…
We use words all the time. But which words, and how we use them, matters. Not all words are created equal. There are no shortcuts…
Phlebotinum is any substance that can be sprinkled, inhaled, injected, or otherwise deployed to create an effect needed by the plot. Examples include dilithium crystals,…
What is a scene? In The Art of Fiction, John Gardner writes that a scene is …an unbroken flow of action from one incident in time…