The first week of school is always exciting. A fresh start for students and faculty alike, a realm of possibilities presents itself from the opening bell. This year was no different. I have a packed schedule, six classes instead of the usual five and my two freshmen honors classes took a little while to warm […]
It used to be that summer colds happened, and you didn’t think twice about. These days, even the sniffles are suspect. So, when I began feeling congested and coughed a bit last Saturday, I didn’t think much of it. On Sunday, though, I realized that after traveling, and with a week of sitting in close […]
The summer has dwindled to a close. As you read this, today is the first day of my academic year. We have this week for meetings, prep, and freshmen orientation, with the students arriving on the 25th. In some ways, we saved the best for last by taking a two-week cruise at the end of […]
I turned 67 on Thursday, and rather than relax and luxuriate in the hundreds of greetings arriving via social media, I made it my most productive day of the week. The number doesn’t bother me; it’s far from a milestone. I did make sure to knock off early enough to read some and then go […]
With each passing year, I struggle to find something new to say about losing Robbie. Yet, I can’t stop myself. Maybe when we get to the 20th, but I can’t let the 17th anniversary of his passing go unremarked. I watch as those named in his honor grow and thrive. At Shore Leave, the con […]
Over the course of any year, I find myself interviewed for various projects or just my career. Of late, thanks to a certain feature film, I have been busier than usual. I am happy to pormote projects, it’s part of the deal when you write something. And given how often peopel have made themsevles available […]
It’s been a very busy July and it’s hard to believe we’re already rushing towards it conclusion. The crush has been fun and educational and tiring. As regular readers know, I attended Shore Leave 45 mid-month. I had a wonderful time, as always. At Friday night’s Meet the Pros party, I actually sold more books […]
After all the time I have written prose and taught story structure and analysis, I would have thought that composing an outline for my first original novel would be pretty straightforward. Instead, I find myself working in fits and starts, trying to find the throughline for the story. I had the inciting incident as the […]
Once again, after slogging through related and unrelated matters, I was able to spend some of last week actually working on the novel outline. I reread the first six chapters, adding details and adjusting certain aspects, and then drafted two more chapters. I also paused to do some further worldbuilding, as I discovered things I […]
After missing Shore Leave, my favorite con, last year, I am eager to check out their new location in Lancaster, PA. As usual, I will be emceeing on the main stage, sitting at the Crazy 8 Press table, and appear on quite a few panels over the three days. One of the fun things about […]