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Human Trafficking – It’s Not Only About Sex
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 […]
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 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 […]
From the Archives – Felony Stupid Criminals
I’m starting a new feature here on my little slice of the blogosphere. Life is too damn serious most of the time and the headlines are enough to make you want to weld your doors and windows shut. So, in this segment, we will feature the criminal equivalent of David Letterman’s Stupid Human Tricks. Let’s […]
James L'Etoile 