John Adams (allegedly) said it first: “If a person is not a liberal when he is twenty, he has no heart; if he is not a conservative when he is forty, he has no head.” I know better than to disagree with the dead—there’s no way to win the argument—but John missed the boat with that one, at least as far as I’m concerned.
Read MoreIt’s time that I look back on the previous quarter and review my successes and failures—what actions should I repeat, and which should I avoid. This is a good thing for anyone to do and I probably should apply such a thing to my personal life.
Read MoreSeveral years ago, I started tracking my annual reading. I did this after learning how important the most successful individuals valued reading. I wrote several posts over on my personal finance blog, The Bumbling Millionaire. When I stepped back from that project to focus on my crime fiction writing, I didn’t want to lose track of the annual reading list. It felt too important.
Read MoreThe annual Army-Navy game occurred yesterday. I’ve never watched it with anyone but had shared it with my dad for many years. Before the games, we would call or text each other the traditional boasts.
Go Army—Beat Navy!
Go Navy—Beat Army!
There are so many delightful traditions at this time of year.
Decorations go up. Families get together. Colorful cookies are baked!
Read MoreI’m a movie star!
That might be hyperbole, but I am in a movie. Not a YouTube Short or an Instagram Reel that I filmed on my phone, but a real movie with a script, a director, and a film crew! It seems that I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe I should slow down and explain how this all came about.
It all started when I was a kid.
Read MoreI’ve written previously about my reading plan. I try to read one non-fiction book for every fiction book I devour. It doesn’t always happen, but that’s the goal. Most of the time, those non-fiction books have to do with self-improvement.
Read MoreWhen I was in junior high school (the early ’80s), an English teacher handed out a page of funny writing rules. It didn’t attribute any authorship, so I always thought it was hers. I loved these guidelines so much that I kept them for many years until the paper became severely worn.
Read MoreI hate serial killers.
You might consider that a ludicrous statement as 99.9% of all people who’ve ever lived hate serial killers, too. The only ones who don’t hate serial killers are the killers themselves and their mothers.
Read MoreAs an author, the most frequent question I’m asked is, “How do you write so much?”
I consider that a huge compliment. It wasn’t that many years ago that I didn’t write at all. I had lost my confidence and looked for excuses not to put words onto paper.
Read MoreAny list that says it’s the best of anything is subjective.
I just checked a top 10 list of dogs that like to play, and the Vizsla isn’t listed there. Hello? Rose the Office Dog would argue that its author has lost her mind. Rose is a frisbee maniac. A ball hog. The girl won’t stop playing. Spend a day with her, and you’ll put Rose at the top of a dogs-that-like-to-play list.
Read MoreA reader (Bryan) asked a question concerning the Cozy Up series. He wondered if the “Little Sister” nickname that U.S. Marshal Gayle Goodspeed call’s Beau was somehow related to True Grit. The question surprised me, and I asked why he believed it to have originated from there.
Read MoreWhen was the last time you had a performance review?
I have had more than a few in my life. There was one that I’d like to forget, but the others have passed mainly by without a hitch. I believe that the goal is to acknowledge the things that have gone well and find an item or two that can be improved.
Read MoreA friend asked why I joined the Army when my dad was a Navy veteran. It’s sort of a funny in a shallow, teenage way. I joined the Army for two reasons.
Read MoreRecently, I was on the highway and spotted the little blips of paint separating the lanes.
Read MoreI recently bought a photo scanner to start the process of importing my old photos into the digital world. There are several reasons to do this, but none are interesting enough to share.
Read MoreOver the years, I’ve dabbled with writing poetry. In full disclosure, I don’t pretend to be a poet, and I’m not too fond of 99.9% of the poetry out there. While in college, the only poetry that ever “spoke” to me were some of the war poems written by soldiers.
Read MoreMy flagship series, the 509 Crime Stories, recently had its covers upgraded. For some, that was a change to the title font. For others, that was a complete redo.
Read MoreThe Public Safety Writers Association held its annual conference in Las Vegas this past weekend (July 14-17, 2022). According to the PSWA website, the association was formed in 1997 as the Police Writers Club and “exists to support people involved in writing about public safety.”
Read MoreThe call came about 6 A.M. on the morning of Friday, July 16th, 1999. It was from my boss, Rick.
“Have you seen the news?” he asked. “There’s a fire at the Fairmont. Get down here as soon as you can.”
Read More
