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A View of Costa Rica, Part I
We spent Thanksgiving week in Costa Rica, visiting my older daughter who is an exchange student at a high school in Monteverde — the Cloud Forest School, it’s called. Today, and in days to follow, I...
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A View of Costa Rica, part II
People and the Culture: Before I continue my descriptions of our time in Costa Rica, I have a few confessions to make. I’ll start with a big one: I don’t speak Spanish. When I was in middle school I...
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A View of Costa Rica, part III
Monteverde and the Costa Rican Cloud Forest: Two hours and fifteen minutes out from San Jose by car, as the road turns from asphalt to dirt and rock, and begins its at times harrowing ascent into the...
View ArticleAn Apology for a Lame Post
Yeah, I should probably do another writing tips post today. And I certainly will do my best to post some later in the week. But today is my birthday and I’m on the road visiting with friends, and I...
View ArticleA More Perfect Union
I’ll get back to Flash Fiction Tips soon — over the weekend or early next week. But I’ve also posted about history on this site; with Thieftaker, my first historical fantasy, coming out later this...
View ArticleI Want To Go Back To College
Really, I do. It’s not that I miss being in my late teens and early 20s. I don’t want to go back to that part of my life at all. But I would love to be a college student again. I posted about this...
View ArticleExploring During My Down Time
One of my favorite things to do at any convention is take advantage of my down time by exploring the area in which the con is held. While in San Jose for a World Fantasy Convention several years ago I...
View ArticleJiggity Jig
Yes, that’s right: Jiggity jig. As in “Home again, home again/Jiggity jig.” I am back home, after a ten-day road trip that included a couple of successful book signing events, a Guest of Honor...
View ArticleThe Virtual Tour Goes to the Library
I discovered worlds there. As a kid, I was fascinated by nature and the Apollo moon missions, and so I took out every book I could find on birds and mammals, rockets and space. Thanks to the librarian...
View ArticleA Quick-Tip Tuesday Post on Travel and Narrative
We never know when we’re going to draw upon experiences in our lives, be it for setting or character, plot or emotional content, dialog or action or romance or any of the myriad other narrative...
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The South Australia Coast — Photo Friday
Good morning and welcome to the first installment of Photography Fridays, my new 2020 blogging feature. The point of this is to share with you my passion for photography, which is nearly as strong as...
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Photo Friday: Fifteen Years Ago Today
Today’s Photo Friday images were captured exactly fifteen years ago — August 7, 2005. We had moved to Australia for the year only days before, leaving the States on August 1 and arriving at Sydney...
View ArticleMonday Musings: How Are You Doing? How Am I Doing?
How are you holding up? No, really. I’m asking. I’m asking you, and I’ve been asking myself over the past week or so. This is a remarkable time we’re living through. Obviously, I don’t mean remarkable...
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Creative Friday: From the Archives
Back in January of 2019, Nancy and I spent a weekend in Washington, taking advantage of the fact that she had a conference there, and had traveled from another professional event that placed her in the...
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Monday Musings: The Wisdom and Love of Friends and Family
Many years ago — decades, in fact — in a rare moment of precocious insight, I wrote the following in my journal: “There is nothing like the wisdom and love of friends to remind us of who we are.” Even...
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Monday Musings: Holiday Wishes
This will be brief. We have had our girls in for the holiday, though Winter Storm Elliott very nearly kept our younger daughter in Denver for the weekend. We have managed the cold and kept the house...
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Monday Musings: The Story of the Storyteller On My Desk
In May of 1994, Nancy and I took our first trip to New Mexico. (We have been back several times since, and we’re always looking forward to our next visit; it is one of our favorite places in the...
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Monday Musings: Places I Want To Visit
As spring begins and summer looms, I find myself thinking more and more about travel. I already have a couple of trips planned for a bit later in the year — a trip to Denver, Colorado and Laramie,...
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Monday Musings: What’s Next?
Today is Juneteenth, of course — a (now) federally recognized holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves in 1865. And I wish all of you a wonderful day of celebration and reflection. As proud as...
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Monday Musings (On Tuesday): Our Family Trip
As I write this, we are winging our way back home after a week and a half in the mountains of Colorado, west of Colorado Springs. Nancy and I rented a house in a little town called Florissant, just a...
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