Category James L’Etoile
Natural Selection – Felony Stupid Criminals
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 […]
The Thousand Word Stare
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. […]
Procrastination as Art
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 […]
Teaching an Old Dog New Social Media Tricks
“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 […]
Behind the Cover of Little River
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 […]
My Little River Publishing Journey
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 […]
The Chase
A few days ago, I read a post by Kirsten Lamb, the guiding force behind MyWana, a supporting and encouraging community for writers. Her post, The Cone of Shame Not Just for Pets Anymore, reminded me of my very own cone of shame moment. A few years back, I joined a van-pool to make the […]
The Place Where Death Lives
Outside of mythology and fiction, only a handful of locations in the world capture the imagination and send a twinge running up your spine. You get that disconcerting feeling when you visit a Civil War memorial, or the deep sorrow that soaks into your core when see the Viet Nam Veteran’s Memorial Wall for the […]
It Ain’t What it Looks Like
During a recent drive from Northern California to Phoenix, I witnessed thirteen hours of desert, farmland and urban sprawl, most of which you’d never find as a feature in any self-respecting travel guide. When people think of California, fanciful visions of surfers, bikini-clad beaches, palm trees and Disneyland fill the imagination. Living in the Northern […]
Murder, He Wrote
Criminals come in different flavors. Violent offenders, rapists, extortionists and drug addicts, each commit their crimes for reasons that germinate in their minds. In the dark ages of criminology, the ridges and bumps on a man’s head predicted his criminal future. I’m not a big believer in conspiring clouds of fate, or forces of biology […]
James L'Etoile 