Beyond the fact that it was a work of fiction, which I seldom read (but have been trying to open myself to more often), it had a...

Perhaps you recall the famous lines about “the best laid plans of mice and men.” Often, the flow of “normal” life events tends to...

The lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s song include the repeated phrase “I’ve looked at life from both sides now.” In his poem “The Road Less...

For fifteen years, we had sped past the place just off I-95 in Pooler, Georgia. Every time we had driven to visit my in-laws in Florida...

When my wife and I moved to our current residence, one of the first things that went on our “we-want-to-do-this-to-the-property-some-day”...

“We want to live in the present,” he said, “and the only history that is worth [anything] is the history we make today.” Sadly, that...

I was impressed the minute the man got out of his truck. My appreciation for him grew by the minute. When the installer arrived, two...

#reading #teaching #writers #books #publishing

The children of those early settlers either established farms (often quite large ones), towns, and cities or pressed further west to do...

Time for serendipity during journeys is always good. Sometimes one experiences some of the best things during serendipitous,...

My article on the South Carolina peach industry is featured in the June-July 2019 issue of Smoky Mountain Living for anyone who is...

A writer’s work is never done, even during vacations. If a writer is not looking for ideas, then he or she is doing research, people...

But that painting, “Snap the Whip,” was more than a sanity-maintainer for me. It reminded me of three special people: my grandfather, my...

Sometimes great writers have some interesting advice and insights about the craft of writing (and many other topics). Here are a few...

A number of years ago, my wife and I were returning from a trip up north and were cruising along somewhere down I-75 in Ohio. We had a...

I recently completed an eight-part series answering the question “How does one go about getting a book published?” Some of my writer...

(Eighth and final in a series) Having gotten a workable idea, done the necessary research, outlined the manuscript, written the first...

(Seventh in a series) Once you’ve found several potential publishers for your book, it’s time to “pitch” it to them. By “pitch,” I mean...

(Sixth in a series) In the preceding five installments of this series, I’ve been answering the question of how one goes about getting a...

[The fifth in a series.] Congratulations! You’ve finished writing your rough draft. Now what? Ship (or e-mail) it to a publisher? Whoa!...