Letters

I find this quote interesting: Theatre is life. Cinema is art. Television is furniture. —Anonymous I can only say that I fully agree with the first part. Once the stage bug enters your bloodstream, it’s fatal. I’d been introduced to theatre and Shakespeare at a young age; my earliest memory of understanding an adult play […]

For my honeymoon, I spent 10 days in the Dominican Republic. Aside from being a beautiful (although largely impoverished) country, I lacked many of the conveniences of home. I had no phone, no Internet, no computer. In the weeks prior to my departure, I was already committed to decluttering my life. I go through this […]

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it more difficult to focus on what matters in our crazy world. Connection has crossed into hyper-connection; my attention span is shrinking; and life has become unnecessarily complex. That’s why I’ve decided to take a step back and reconnect with the simple stuff that leads to greater […]

In a world where information expands at an exponential rate, and more books than a person can ever hope to read have been written, it is a futile errand to try to learn everything. I agree that we must expose ourselves to a broad body of knowledge, but this strategy should be used to find […]

I have one Halloween tradition that I’ve engaged in every year since college, which is to listen to Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds,” about a Martian invasion of New Jersey. The show is a wonderful bit of entertainment and a stellar example of classic fiction adapted for the auditory […]

Last month I started Fiction Fridays, a series in which I post a new short story on the blog each week. Who knew that writing a story every seven days, in addition to a novel and other posts, took so much time? But in all seriousness, I’ve enjoyed the challenge—I’m up to #6 so far—and […]

As 2012 comes to a close, I’d like to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. I hope it’s filled with warmth, good conversation, and good books. This has been an exciting year for me since it saw the publication of my novel, The Last Night, as well as a collection of previously […]

I officiated my first wedding ceremony. “I didn’t know that was in your wheelhouse,” a co-worker said to me. “It’s not. So, we’ll see how it goes.” A couple friends asked me to do the honors since I was one of the few people in California who knew them well. Also, our state laws permit […]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you have a warm and full holiday this year spent with good family and friends. Back in the first year of the blog (2008), the following was #5 on the list of things I was thankful for: After multiple revisions, my novel is ready to hand over to my select […]