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My Family Tree
Several years ago I joined Ancestry.com, and for months clicked on leaves like they were going out of style. My mistake was accepting as gospel every tidbit of information I found. The resulting family tree dates back a thousand years, but is too riddled with errors, duplicates, and other problems to be believed. I learned…
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Teaching without Fear
When I taught class in grad school, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I outlined the text, read the outline to my students, and lived in fear they’d discover how little I knew. Somehow, I pulled it off. Thirty-plus years of experience has made me a better teacher. The kind of…
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Dinner Time
After the ex and I split up, we still got together for dinner at least three or four nights a week — almost every night the last two years of his life. He did nearly all the cooking. His menu selections weren’t always the healthiest and he had a (delightful) bad habit of baking sweets after…
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Novel Experience
Lots of people tell me they hope to write a book. Many say they’ve written the first few chapters — often for several stories. Starting a book is easy. Finishing is the hard part. Writing a novel is a HUGE challenge — especially the first time around. Getting to “the end” takes hours and hours…
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Shorter Summers
Students in one Georgia county returned to school this past Friday. The last day of class for them was June 25th. Hope they enjoyed their summer — all five weeks of it. Why bother starting on a Friday? Returning to school on a Monday or Tuesday makes for too long of a first week back.…
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My Next Project
A lot of thought goes into selecting my next project. Writing a novel is a HUGE commitment. Unless I’m head over heels in love with the idea, I’ll never make it to “the end” of the story. No amount of love can save a flawed idea. I’ve wasted hours and hours trying. All I got…
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Reviews: Case of the Missing Drag Queen
Several reviews have come out in the weeks since DSP Publications released The Case of the Missing Drag Queen. Some authors ignore reviews of their stories or only read the good ones. Not me. I read all I can find. A number of web sites provide reviews for gay fiction. Romance is often the focus…
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My Staycation
Today I return to work after my longest vacation in more than a decade. Usually, I use a day or two of vacation time around weekends and holidays to keep my work from piling up overmuch while I’m away. This year, that just wasn’t possible. For sixteen glorious days, I didn’t think about work. I…
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RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season 10
I love drag shows almost as much as I love Broadway musicals. Except for the number of cocktails involved, they’re not that different. Costumed performers dance, sing (or lip-sync), and otherwise entertain a live audience. From the first season, RuPaul’s Drag Race has been must-see TV for me. Like live drag shows, it’s cheesy, a…
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My Three Gym Memberships
I belong to three gyms. I joined the first in 2011 because membership was cheaper than paying by the class for Zumba. Aside from all the beef on display, the weight room didn’t interest me. I opted for a pricey membership that included regular sessions with a personal trainer. The guy who worked with me…