The Crotchety Old Man

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  • Forever Changed

    What happened to August? Normally, August and January vie for the longest months of the year. Yeah, I know other months have the same number of days. But temperature extremes associated with the first and eighth months make them drag for me. Not this year. Cooler, wetter weather helped. It’s still plenty hot, but not…

    September 4, 2012
  • Loyalty Oath

    Not too long ago, I knew everyone who read my blog personally. Maybe we went to school together, or worked for the same employer, or did the same kind of work. The connection, whatever it is, was face-to-face and in real time at some point in the last fifty years. The number of visitors to…

    August 30, 2012
  • My Life as a Romance Novelist: The Weekend

    Panic motivated me to take the day off from work last Friday. Being a romance novelist is a lot more work than I knew. I needed a three-day weekend to get my act together. I spent most of the weekend in my recliner with two chihuahuas between my legs and a Macbook on my lap.…

    August 26, 2012
  • What Have I Done Now?

    Since learning how to read, most the writers I know have dreamed about getting a book published. Not me. Until last year, the idea that I could write a novel had never even entered my mind. Writing fiction was on a rather long list of inabilities that I inherited from my mother. We can’t do…

    August 23, 2012
  • Living on Cloud Nine

    I’m still happily ensconced atop Cloud Nine. Life is good here–full of promise and possibilities. I like it a lot. All I think about is Dreamspinner Press’s upcoming release of Until Thanksgiving–my first novel. Since Wednesday I’ve called or emailed everyone I know who isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, chatted with all my pals at the…

    August 22, 2012
  • My New Normal

    Too much has changed in the past month for my life to ever return to normal. I lost my father. But the end to his suffering and his inability to do the things he wanted to do prevent me from being sad. Mostly, I feel a profound sense of relief–like a huge weight has been…

    August 20, 2012
  • My Wildest Dreams

    I wrote Glass Houses in 2010 and thought it was an absolutely brilliant memoir. My first choice agent rejected the manuscript. Then I tried a small gay publishing house that also turned it down. Solid in my conviction that the manuscript was perfect, the problem had to be with the blurb, synopsis, and query letter.…

    August 16, 2012
  • Campaign Promise

    The other day I read that a blog like mine should steer clear of politics and religion. Venturing into either arena is likely to offend people who might (one day) buy my books. Well, as you know, that ship has sailed. My carpool pal and I discussed this issue on the way to one of…

    August 16, 2012
  • Tales of a Slow Learner

    Sometimes I’m a little slow. It’s more a matter of application than intelligence. Drawing me a picture helps…usually, but it can take a while. I still remember the day in high school health class when I suddenly got every dirty joke I’d ever heard. I laughed until my cheeks ached. I blame my sun sign–Pisces.…

    August 14, 2012
  • The Reviews Are In!

    Several years ago I started renting audiobooks from Cracker Barrel for road trips longer than about three hours. Then I started downloading them on my iPod Nano to listen to when I run. Now I’m in the middle of a book just about all the time. The hours I once spent reading books I now…

    August 11, 2012
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The Crotchety Old Man

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