It’s been a while since we presented a felony stupid criminal story and when this one came my way, I knew I had to share it with you. This story features Linda, a thirty-something woman with a bit of an alcohol problem. Linda is not her real name, but I doubt that she could remember […]
July looks like it will roll out as a good time to be a writer. There must have been a planetary alignment sending geospasmic energy into the creative portion of my grey matter. I have no other explanation for the coming together of words and word things. During the month, I managed to complete a […]
I’m in the early stages of drafting a new novel. My recently released thriller, Little River, (cheap shameless plug) confirmed the importance of research on the subject matter. The details make all the difference between a meh story, and a good story. The overarching theme in Little River is human trafficking and the new work […]
The topic of human trafficking brings a certain set of preconceived ideas and images to mind. Popular media expresses trafficking as something they can market – and sex sells. Here in California, a recent voter initiative on the ballot passed after a frenzied campaign of television commercials promising tough anti-trafficking laws. All the new statutes […]
Once in a blue moon, you stumble over a true crime story that gives you faith in the theory of Natural Selection. The human gene pool is also suffering from the ravages of global warming and the contents are evaporating at a rapid clip. The meth-riddled, video game shortened attention, deficit disordered strands of DNA […]
So, I got nuthin. This last week, I noticed several bloggers and Twitter authors talking about writer’s block of one sort or another. Fears that the Muse abandoned them in their time of need, or the “Thousand Word Stare,” where you forget every word in your vocabulary, mesmerized by the screensaver floating on your monitor. […]
Okay, here’s the deal, I have an addiction. My name’s James and I’m a procrastinator. “Hello, James,” says a choir of similarly afflicted souls. If only there were a 12 step group for my addiction. I procrastinate when I write, when I edit and especially when I’m planning a new project. When it comes to […]
“What do you mean, I need to use social media? I’m publishing a book, and I don’t care what Ashton Kutcher had for breakfast!” Well, the conversation with my publisher didn’t exactly go like that, but it was pretty close. I am a dinosaur. I admit it. A year ago, what I knew about social […]
You can’t judge a book by its cover? Yeah, maybe. I admit when I browse the aisles in a bookstore, or scroll through the e-book offerings in Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, I look for something more than a flashy, photoshopped image. I think I’m like most readers when I expect something more – something […]
Every writer’s road to getting a novel published is unique. No one takes the same turns, makes the same decisions and agrees to compromise in the same manner. Yes, I said compromise and before the cries of artistic freedom and censorship fall down from the heavens, let me explain how Little River came alive. The […]
