The Doubting Writer Blog
Today’s Recommended Reading
I came across this powerful piece in The Guardian last week. It is disturbing to say the least that we are staring down the same things–rampant nationalism, racism, authoritarianism–that we faced eighty-plus years ago. It disturbs me even more that
Breaking Bad Revisited
Back in early August, I found myself home alone for an extended weekend, due to a work requirement that coincided with a family event. Sunday afternoon found me too physically tired to mow the lawn or do much around the
RIP, John McCain
The late Senator John McCain was not a perfect man. No one is. He may not even have been quite the maverick we all believed him to be (McCain voted with Trump 83% of the time, which included greenlighting all
Just to clarify
In the wake of Rudy Giuliani’s statement this weekend that “truth isn’t truth”: * Fake news: Real news: Get the difference? *Link is to the entire interview. Fast forward to 9:00 for the “truth isn’t truth” section.
An End of One Thing
Just about three years ago, I was fortunate to begin an unpaid gig writing a monthly column for one of the weekly newspapers in the county. We’re fortunate here, to have no less (fewer? I can never remember the proper
Disaster strikes
A couple of days ago, my wife and I were coming home from…somewhere, I don’t remember where, exactly. As we came down the road in front of my house I looked up my graceful sweep of overgrown lawn and sat
Off the map
I did something yesterday I hadn’t done in two weeks. I wrote. And it felt good. I’ve been working on revisions to my latest Mighty Tome, trying in particular to shorten and tighten the narrative, especially in the front end,
Monday Musing: Is this necessary?
Hey, folks, as of my usual post time I am, as we used to say in the days of World of Warcraft, AFK–Away From Keyboard. I’ll be traveling home from a weekend away and will almost certainly not feel like
Monday Musing: Overburdened, self-inflicted
This morning when I go to work, one of my tasks will be to complete my timesheet for the pay period that just ended. It’s going to show a lot of extra time. This past week was a seven-day work
A question on change
Yesterday, while towing a trailer of canoes down the road to an invasive species removal event, I found myself listening to the program, Out of Bounds on NPR. On this particular show they were interviewing poet Michael Jennings, and talking
Reading List, 2018 (Part II)
Hard to believe we’re into July already, isn’t it? Seems like just yesterday I was sitting here at my computer, likely with a blanket draped over my shoulders and posting Part I of this series. This morning I’m wearing shorts
Oh, that jacket
First, let’s get something straight: I don’t follow fashion. I don’t care what the stars wear. And on the occasions when I happen to see snippets from the runways at Fashion Week, my reaction is usually along the lines of,
A Facebook challenge comes to the blog!
Some time in late April, I did something I don’t normally do: I accepted a challenge. Every day for ten days, I was supposed to list a record album that I still listen to. I had been seeing this happening
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
When I started this blog all the way back in…holy crap, 2011? Really? Anyway, when I started this blog back in 2011, it seemed like you couldn’t swing a dead cat around without running into a blogfest, a bloghop, or
The Bee and the Barr
Late last night, I gave in to an itch and rubbed my eye. I knew it was a mistake, but the eye had started itching madly right around the time Last Week Tonight started. Twice during the program I dribbled
Slow starts
True confession time: My wife and I haven’t been current with a TV show since about the time Seinfeld went off the air twenty years ago. Up until then, the Magpie (and then the Catbird) was small enough to go
Airing it Out
One of the things I was very fortunate to do whilst on my blogging break was take an actual vacation, not just a vacation from the blog. My wife and I went to Las Vegas for a week, and stayed
And back again.
Hello, all! It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since I decided to take my break. I hope things have been well for all of you. They’ve been pretty good for me on the overall, though April in
Time for…
Yesterday morning, I spent a couple of hours drafting a couple of ideas for a post to run today. They weren’t quite complete posts, though, because they never are. Even when I really, really work at pre-writing a post, when
Reading List, 2018 (Part I)
Howdy, folks. Can’t believe we’re already in the fourth month of 2018–time is flying! So, here’s the list of what I’ve read so far: The Education of Dixie Dupree (2016), Donna Everhart. I feel like I know Donna from around
Fire forged
In one of my manuscripts, an unlikely hero steps up in a critical moment and saves his small town from sliding into chaos. Initially, he shrugs it off, telling another character, “Someone had to do something.” Later, in a moment
Random Thoughts
It’s been a tough week, capped off by the long drive to get the Catbird back to school from spring break. Here are some random thoughts: *Defenestrate is a great word, but, boy is it hard to work into everyday
Another day…
…another winter weather advisory. Roughly a third of the snow that has fallen on my corner of the world has come down since March 1, according to the National Weather Service. It feels like this has been the case for
In search of judgment
The greatest gift for every writer is judgment–Obari Gumba Back in December, Agent Carrie and I had our annual strategy session, where we set the course for the upcoming year. One of the things Carrie wanted me to do, once
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