Category: Writing

"Children's book author" is not something I aspired to put on my resume. It never crossed my mind. Not once. But then, one night, I wrote a poem. It was November 29, 2021. A Monday. We had just wrapped up a long holiday week. My wife's family visited us for several days, culminating in a… Continue reading How I wrote my children’s book →

I'll state the obvious first: it actually is as hard as you think. When I began this process around around this time last year, I told myself not to overthink it. I was going to write a novel, simple as that. I wasn't going to agonize over plot lines and details. I wasn't going to… Continue reading Three early observations about writing a novel →

Here's the result of another exercise. My protagonist's wife, Jo, will play a big role in the novel and I needed to figure out what she stands for. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was dusty and sweet, like a rotting peach. She yawned as the staff ushered her to the front… Continue reading Origin story of my protagonist’s wife →

In case you weren't aware, about a year ago I started writing a novel. It's bound to be a tragedy. In the end, my protagonist will die a lonely death. Readers will know this upfront; the opening scene is his terminal cancer diagnosis. There's a lot more to it, of course, and I've read Story… Continue reading My first protagonist’s origin story →