The writing process can be long and grueling, and often there are periods that last days or even weeks when you just can’t get yourself into the proper mindset to write. Many writers say that the best way out of such a funk is to type a stream of consciousness.
Read MoreOne of my favorite lines from Roxie is one I didn’t write myself. It is borrowed from the book of Proverbs and reads, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” While I use it in the context of overcoming disappointment, it also doubles as another lesson. It is one of the hundreds of lines scattered throughout the Bible that refer to one of our most challenging obstacles: the need for patience. Just when does a situation require patience? When does it call for urgency? This has been an internal battle for me my whole life. Patience vs. urgency. Urgency vs. patience. And why do I feel that urgency usually wins?
Read MoreWouldn’t it be nice to have a ten month vacation? Well, that’s exactly what I’ve just enjoyed. Except it didn’t involve any traveling. No airline miles, no long periods of time in the car, no expensive hotel stays. Yet it’s given me more joy than any of those things could’ve.
Read MoreI’ve been saying all along that the story of how Roxie got published is so good it could be a book itself. I’m going to leave out a lot of the details and minutia, but here is the compressed version:
Read MoreI must confess, I never thought this book would actually get written. When I was a kid, writing a novel was a dream, something I figured may someday happen, but probably would never be a reality. Not with all the other distractions of life. Not with my history of procrastination. Deep down, I guess I always assumed it’d be something I’d be ruing over on my death bed. But here we are.
Read MoreI didn’t include a dedication page in Roxie, primarily because there were too many people to thank and I didn’t want it to be longer than the book itself. I’ll do it here, and I’ll try to be brief, but I’m not very good at brevity. Here goes…
Read More