The Art of Storytelling

My novels Someone once asked me 'why don't you write trilogies?' At first I thought they meant why didn't I write fantasy (read The Ogre Prince) but as we talked it turned out they wondered why I did not write multiple novels about the same characters. I don't remember exactly how I responded, but I think it was some variation of either 'I wish I could but my brain doesn't work that way' or "I would grow bored with telling similar stories over and over." Or, if I had been fee

Rooster, our one-eyed Boston Terrier. When I used to conjure up an image of a one-eyed dog, I always imagine a grizzled, powerful, bad ass dog that would stand up to any threat, no matter how dangerous. Kind of an Ol' Yeller dog, who would attack the rabid wolf to save his family even though it leads to his own demise. (Writer's Note: I know that you are thinking: who does that? As a storyteller, my job is to imagine things. All kinds of things - even one-eyed dogs. Imagine h

A military cemetery. My Dad revered Memorial Day. Born in 1935, he grew up during WWII. His uncles served in European and the Pacific theatres (and all seven of them came home.) So many of the families he knew were Blue Star families, meaning someone was serving, but he told us, most often, about the Gold Star families. These were the families that had lost a loved one in the war, and the community acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that was made. Memorial Day meant going to

An AI-generated image of flowers and candles. "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude... Love never ends." Thanks to the industrial-wedding complex, these words from 1st Corinthians may be the best-known words from the Christian bible in the secular world. But are they true? They are certainly aspirational but more likely belong in a rom-com script than in a wedding ceremony. It does not surprise me that so many marriages end in a c

An AI-generated image of a person made from pencils. Readers frequently ask me a version 'How do you come up with everything?' They often get hung up on how seemingly minor details or conversations turn out later to be very important to the outcome of the novel. I always say something like I just got lucky or its magic, not wanting to give away trade secrets, but since this is a blog about storytelling, I'm finally ready to come clean. It is magic. I know writers who meticulo

A moment of stillness as the moon rises. The other evening I took our two Boston Terriers outside for a short walk before settling down for the evening. The sun had set, but it wasn't quite dark; the moon was rising into an incredibly clear sky. Only two stars--or maybe planets--were visible in the darkening sky. what made the moment memorable, however, was the absolute stillness into which we stepped. It was as if we had stepped into an entirely different world, or at least

The author and his bride, June 1982. Note the shoes kicked off into the grass. Someone recently asked me about my marriage. "You've been married forever," he said, "and I know you believe in love. So why did you have Ed take up with a married woman in your novel?" It's a fair question. I responded that Jane's marriage was over long ago, destroyed by her husband's many infidelities, even if the emotional hold had not yet severed completely. I said that two years of soul numbin

Jefferson and Denise at a concert, October 2025. Forty-seven years ago, in April 1979, I met the love of my life on a Greyhound bus outside Quebec City, Canada. We went to rival high schools that shared a French teacher. Every three to four years Mr. Burt organized a French club trip to Canada. We lived twelve miles apart but met 925 miles from home. Do you believe in love at first sight? I noticed her immediately, before the bus even pulled away from where we boarded. She wa

AI-generated image of a 'rafter' of wild turkeys. Typically, if you write a blog post titled 'Wild Turkey' people assume you are writing about bourbon. I'm not writing about bourbon. Its Easter weekend folks, have a little decorum. Plus, I find wild turkeys to be fascinating. There is a flock--actually called a rafter--that lives about a mile from my house. The term rafter goes back to colonial times, when early European settlers would see turkeys roosting in trees at night.

An AI-generated image of a writer with Imposter Syndrome. College campuses serve many students who might not actually believe they belong on campus. They might be the first in their family to go to college or lack role models with whom they share an identity or just feel like they are different than the other students around them. This is known as Imposter Syndrome. It doesn't stop with college and can follow professionals into their careers. I see it frequently among striver

AI-generated image of a woman drawing a winning ticket. Your opportunity to win a free digital edition of Love: a novel of grief and desire ends tomorrow, March 20 at 11:59 pm, so be sure to enter. While over 500 readers have entered the drawing, we are giving away 100 copies, so the odds remain in your favor! (Writer's note: especially because signing up is free; you literally cannot lose.) What reviewers have said about the novel: " A masterpiece... Love is an emotional ro

Love: a novel of grief & desire Only one week remains to enter the drawing to win a digital copy of Love: a novel of grief & desire with our friends at Goodreads. One hundred digital copies will be given away and registration closes at 11:59 pm on Friday, March 20, 2026. After the death of his wife, Ed Gideon survived the bone-numbing loss and loneliness by narrowing his focus to work and his two college-age daughters, who are also struggling with their mother's loss as they

A nesting barn swallow. On Thursday, March 5th, the swallows returned. You may wonder how I can be so exact in my claim. Swallows are very distinctive, in call and behavior, so their return was very easily noted. I can say with confidence, they were not in our yard on Wednesday, or even Thursday morning when I left for work, but that evening they were swooping around the yard, calling out their return. They were so excited to be back that at 4am Friday, under heavy clouds and

Love: a novel of grief and desire Only two weeks remain to enter in the Goodreads drawing giving away 100 digital editions of Love: a novel of grief and desire. Over 400 readers have already entered to win a copy. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself in a hospital room, face-to-face with the fifteen-year-old daughter of the drunk driver who killed your wife, while her mom lies in a coma a few feet away? This provocative novel takes the reader on an emotional journ

AI-generated image of an almost spring day. After a few days of rather pleasant weather--and people prematurely running around in shorts and t-shirts--winter has returned yet again. The devious pattern seems to be nicer weather during the work week and plunging cold on the weekends. As we lurch towards spring, ricocheting between bitter cold and days in the mid-fifties, between snow showers, heavy fog and beautiful sunny days, it reminds me that the conditions we live under a

Love: a novel of grief and desire After the death of his wife, Ed Gideon survived the bone-numbing loss and loneliness by narrowing his focus to work and his two college-aged daughters, Becca and Sandy, who are also struggling with their mother's loss as they seek to claim their adult identities, lives and loves. When Ed meets Bobbi Love--the fifteen-year-old daughter of the drunk driver who killed his wife--the night Andie Love intentionally overdoses, he has no idea how thi

Cover of Love: a novel of grief and desire. There comes a time in the life of every storyteller when they should give away 100 copies of their novel--for free!--to get your attention. That time is now (well, technically its later this week.) My publisher, Black Rose Writing, is working with the folks over at Goodreads to give away one hundred Kindle editions of Love: a novel of grief and desire. For those of you who don't know Goodreads is a website devoted to books. Readers

AI generated image of taking away someone's car keys. If you are as old as me, you have been forced (probably more than once) with the challenge of staging an intervention. Interventions happen because we reach a point where we can no longer deny that someone is going to hurt themselves or someone else if their behavior continues. It might be convincing a parent that they can no longer keep driving or having a conversation with a friend or relative that their comments about w

AI generated image of an expiration date. LAST CHANCE! to get your copy of Love: a novel of grief and desire at a discount! A perfect Valentine's Day gift for your favorite reader! Save 20% on your purchase when you buy directly from the publisher. Just use the promo code SEASON20 at the link below. The discount is good through January 31, 2026. (Writer's Note: Headline writers are liars; we all click on things that don't turn out to be what the damn headline implied. Here y

AI generated image of a winter nightmare. I had a dream last night. I was going to say weird dream, but most of my dreams are weird, so I dispensed with the qualifier. In this dream, I was hosting a dinner party. Once all my guests arrived, Knowing I had no food for the party, I told them I needed to go to the store to pick up something for dinner, so I left them. Then, rather than going to the grocery store close to my house, I drove to one 40 miles away in an old mall. Ther