This Year in Reading: 2023
In 2022, I posted a "This Year in Reading" blog post and it stimulated some fun conversation about books, so I thought it would be a good...
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- Nov 27, 2023
- 4 min
Short Story: Everything is Awful
Congratulations. You have nineteen people at your party and all of them are having a good time. It’s not every day or for that matter...
- Nov 25, 2023
- 1 min
Book Review: Charlotte Dune's Acid Christmas
Charlotte Dune’s Acid Christmas is the terrifying story of a major tragedy set in the modern world. The book begins as strangers on...
- Nov 5, 2023
- 1 min
Fiction Diagnostic Checklist
Remember: Talent leads, intellect polishes. If your first draft is ready to go, review the lists below and consider how their points may...
- Nov 2, 2023
- 2 min
My Books So Far
My published books are listed below from newest to oldest: I.P.A. (2021): Genre: Literary Fiction/Gonzo Fiction/Southern Gothic Plot:...
- Nov 2, 2023
- 3 min
On Cause and Effect
Plot may be the bones of the story, but cause and effect are the muscles and sinews. Very often new writers fundamentally misunderstand,...
- Oct 29, 2023
- 3 min
The Anatomy of a Fiction Character
The first time I wrote a realistic character I thought: Where did that come from? So I set about trying to understand my characters. As...
- Oct 12, 2023
- 1 min
Today I Turn Twenty Eight
This serves no purpose but documentation. I turn twenty-eight years old today. I have written three books. I am currently very in love. I...
- Oct 4, 2023
- 1 min
What Type of Editor You Need
Editors are the practitioners that look over the health of your book. Like a medical practitioner, the editor will need to evaluate your...
- Oct 3, 2023
- 1 min
Writing When You Don't Believe
You must proceed if you have a story to tell. Today I hit 100,000 words for the first time on a novel manuscript, and I have to say, it...
- Sep 24, 2023
- 1 min
Kingdom of Heaven
To write, I need to be in a quiet, empty room, preferably at my own desk at home. It is two motorcycle-sized rectangles connected by...
- Sep 2, 2023
- 1 min
A Quick Moment for Jimmy Buffett
When my grandmother, Clarice Davis, passed earlier this year I took a moment to remember a specific time when she purchased me Jimmy...
- Aug 27, 2023
- 3 min
Writing for Empirical Thinkers
I am returning to the classroom after a few years away, and I’m beginning to gather my thoughts on how to approach my role. As a teacher...
- May 26, 2023
- 3 min
Presidential Election Principles
If you can recall your first significant hangover, and the next morning when you swore off alcohol, and how foolish you felt the next...
- Apr 23, 2023
- 1 min
Amazon KDP: Getting Started
Prepare your book: Before you start the publishing process, make sure your book is properly formatted and edited. You can hire a...
- Mar 9, 2023
- 2 min
What a Letter to My Senator Taught Me About Politics
On Wednesday, Senator Lindsey Graham announced that he intends to introduce legislation allowing the United States to authorize the use...
- Feb 26, 2023
- 4 min
Dreamworld: The Consequence of Aesthetic Over Analysis
All successful aesthetics in the modern United States stem from the tenants of monotheistic religions. Corporations, popular art, and...
- Jan 31, 2023
- 5 min
Short Story: Lobsterhead Sees the Devil
It’s ironic that they call him that obviously, cause like, it’s radio, and how do they know what he even looks like? But they know the...
- Dec 11, 2022
- 4 min
This Year in Reading: 2022
As 2022 winds to a close, I consider the reading I’ve done this year, the reading I missed out on, and the books I hope to read in the...
- Oct 24, 2022
- 4 min
Content, Religion, and the End of Days
Yesterday, during a two-hour drive from Asheville to Charlotte, my car radio’s touchscreen display froze, leaving me trapped on a country...
- Oct 20, 2022
- 1 min
Helpful Books for Writers
In the beginning, I would suggest writing without any sort of knowledge of what you’re doing. This will allow you to enjoy what you’re...
- Oct 11, 2022
- 2 min
Amazon KDP: Hindsight Luxuries
Simply by remaining alive you gain luxury. Experience is like the dollars and cents of knowledge, it isn’t exciting to gain, but it adds...
- Oct 9, 2022
- 2 min
Expanding Your Place in History
Why do you think that some voices outlast others in time? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and it seems to me that the answer...
- Oct 9, 2022
- 2 min
Ten Pages Per Day
The most challenging part of reading is feeling as though everyone already doing it has something that you don’t. “Readers,” as they...
- Sep 20, 2022
- 2 min
Ten Books for People Who Don't "Get" Fiction
The consensus among the people I talk to on the topic of fiction is that they choose not to read it because it, “isn’t real,” and...
- Mar 8, 2022
- 5 min
Short Story: One Cold Night
After they shot off all their bombs and turned the sky to thick ash, things went surprisingly smoothly for the better half of the year....
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