- Dec 10, 2019
My Brother and a Corvair
The year was 1969. The family had just moved north after dad was transferred by his employer from Hendersonville, North Carolina (where I...
- Aug 17, 2018
The Extreme Active Voice
We readers prefer a narrative that flows in “active voice” sentences. We might not realize it, we might not even know what active voice...
- Feb 21, 2018
Reading as a Writer
With becoming a writer, I’ve had to learn all sorts of new coping skills: How to be humble after a good review. How to keep my ego above...
- Jul 24, 2017
Watch Out For Shotguns
Let me guess. When you hear “Appalachia” you picture moonshine, clan feuds, illiterate hillbillies living up “hollers,” shotguns at every...
- Jun 16, 2017
Flow Good, Ebb Bad
Fictional writing should offer a rhythm, a pattern, and a sound. Together these elements create what’s needed for any decent narrative:...
- Mar 28, 2017
No Sense Worrying
On one of my earliest trips abroad, I happened to strike up a conversation with a fellow backpacker over expressos at some student café...