2017

Sample Sunday: A simple assignment

From The Wife Line A Sydney Rye Kindle World mystery Provence, France, May 2010 Mulberry had promised Sydney a simple assignment. But now, with the sweet scent of lavender filling her nostrils, the deep darkness of Provence pressing in from all sides, it did not seem all that simple. There was another aroma beside, or […]

All people are equal: My manifesto

I have been unfriended on Facebook by Robert Bidinotto, a writer with a decidedly conservative bent, who commands quite a following. As far as I can tell, very few in his group disagree with him, and the overall tone of the discussions is like a tea-party, where everyone basically agrees. My sin was apparently disagreeing […]

Fire, fury and quiet

This has been an extreme week when it comes to North Korea—extreme political tension, extreme possible consequences and extreme differences in communications strategy, tone and messages. Furious rhetoric There’s no shortage of reaction to and analysis of the continuing verbal exchange between the Trump White House and the leadership in Pyongyang. I’ll let others debate […]

A story that twists like the Rio Grande

Review of Place of Skulls by Caleb Pirtle III One of the most satisfying literary discoveries is a truly unique story. This is particularly rare in the mystery-thriller genre. Many thrillers seem to be emulating another derivative book, trying to ride a bandwagon to market success. Far too many read as if the author were trying to write […]

Walking Out of War cover wins 1st place

I’m thrilled to announce that the cover of the third book in the Eastern Front trilogy, Walking Out of War, has won first place in the East Texas Writers Guild 2017 Blue Ribbon Book Cover Contest for Nonfiction/Memoir. The contest drew entries from across the U.S.A., as well as from the U.K, Australia and Canada. A […]

Dark clouds in Bohemia

Elmore Leonard said “never open with the weather.” But he never said anything about opening with his admonition against opening with the weather. Another writer’s rule is to avoid clichés like the plague. I guess I’m going to break that rule, too. Opening with the weather Last month, my wife and I travelled to the […]