I know there are more pressing issues right now. But I’m excited to announce that the draft of my new novel Christina’s Portrait is complete and ready for beta readers. It’s a project I started in NaNoWriMo 2020, but it’s a story that has taken me 46 years to write…

Inflation hurts all of us, with the poor and working class hurting the most. One of the biggest hikes is the price of gasoline. At the least expensive Costco in our area, it’s $6 a gallon. When you commute to a job that hasn’t increased your salary to keep up…

Karen E. Osborne is an author I've known for a while. She interviewed me in June 2021 for her YouTube series, What Are You Reading? What Are You Writing? The roles are now reversed as I talk to Karen about writing, interviewing, and her latest novel Reckonings, which is coming…

I like to pride myself on being optimistic, but it has been hard lately. The warning signs have been popping up. My writing has gotten much darker. Christina’s Portrait, which already deals with dark subjects, has gotten grimmer in my edits. I’ve been tired, low on energy, and grouchy. I…

I try to stay hopeful, but it’s hard—especially after Uvalde. I wonder what my almost nine-year-old granddaughter really thinks about what is going on in the world today. On one hand, it’s important to discuss these things honestly. On the other, it’s difficult to know the right way to approach…

This is Pride Month, or as my brother Randy would put it, “the busiest month of the whole year.” He has his hands full with managing the Pride issue of Lavender Magazine, taking part in community events, and keeping up with his automotive work. And he’s moving this month. Wow! …

The news from Uvalde is too painful to bear. Instead, I want to talk about termites. We have a termite problem at our house because it has a wood frame and exposed beams. This is one of many genius decisions the builders of our house made 50 years ago. Normally…

My son and I are going to our first baseball game of the season next week when the Angels take on the Blue Jays. Baseball remains my favorite sport. It’s my favorite to watch. It’s my favorite to play, even though I wasn’t good at it. Most importantly, baseball offers…

It was an awful weekend of an awful year. In addition to the white supremacist terrorist attack in Buffalo, another mass shooting took place down the road from us in Laguna Woods. Another hate-fueled man drove hundreds of miles to kill innocent people because of who they are. It’s easy…