Sunday Inspiration: John Steinbeck
Wherever I travel I like to visit places that honor and memorialize my fellow authors since I find the lives of most writers inspirational and motivational. While visiting the Monterey, California area for two weeks, Proman and I drove to nearby Salinas to explore the National Steinbeck Center which portrays the life and creativity of…
Read MoreNovelists On The Road
Good morning from Monterey County, California. Novelists on the road or on vacation are a different breed. For fun come join me on my two week stay at my son’s home where Proman and I are dog sitting. We decided that since this area is so rich in possibilities, we would take them one at…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: To make a difference
Thanks to Charter for Compassion for this week’s inspiration.
Read MoreWestward Ho!
One of the best parts of having four children—and there were many best parts—is visiting them as adults. So that’s what I’ll be doing for the new few weeks, first in California and then Hawaii. And no, none of them has yet had the good sense to relocate to our fiftieth state, but after California,…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
This was part of a prayer in a worship service this morning at Chautauqua Institution. I wanted to share it with you since, if you’re like me, you may find it easy to dismiss unpleasant people as simply unpleasant and therefore not worth our time or concern. In the words of American poet Stanley Miller…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Enormous Peril
This week I was fortunate to hear one of our nation’s leading environmental activists speak here at Chautauqua Institution, and he scared the wits out of me — but he also gave me hope. Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org, an international organization that encourages the use of renewable energy and divestment from the…
Read MoreWoodstock and Stone County: Fifty Years Ago Today
This morning Alexa informed me that today is the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock. As Newsweek puts it: “The three-day festival was host to performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Ravi Shankar, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead, and is considered the pinnacle of the “summer of love” culture of the late 1960s.” I find it…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Writing opened that door…”
“Writing opened that door…to the divine, to some connection to the universe, to things that be… Writing makes me think, and thinking makes me write; and there is a circularity to that, to dive deeper into questions, into yourself, into your soul, into your mind and heart.” -Richard Blanco I’m not a big poetry…
Read MoreNew Covers: Are We Having Fun Yet?
Two weeks ago I told you about the new/old series I will be re-releasing soon. My Homecoming series, Runaway, The Way Back Home, and Fugitive, was first published in 1990. Even if I had the rights to the cover art (I don’t) I wouldn’t use it. They need fresh, contemporary and new covers that better…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: The most influential person in your life
“Marie Kondo tells us to ask of an object, ‘Does it bring me joy?’ If yes, then keep it; if no, give it to Goodwill. We need to apply that to our hearts. Is that anger bringing you any joy? No? Then let it go. The most influential person in your life is the one…
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