Words are magical. We use them to tell stories. Which is amazing, when you think about it. They are completely abstract—the letters “c-a-t” look nothing… Read More »wordplay

It took what feels like several centuries, but persistence has finally paid off. My new YA novel, THERE IS NO MAP FOR THIS, has been… Read More »THERE IS NO MAP FOR THIS

As a writer, I think of words as my medium. I take each and every one seriously—these bits of language that I laboriously craft into… Read More »Covered in dew . . . as opposed to don’t.

I love words, and am fascinated with their variety. (If you’re a writer, It comes with the territory.) We name things in order to identify… Read More »Nomenclature

2/2/22, and what better way to celebrate than 2×2 yokes for breakfast! (No yoke, they are not Photoshopped in.) Lots of two’s followed: I went… Read More »Et two, tom?

As you may have heard, things are prone, sooner or later, to fall apart. And when the thing that falls apart is the driver’s-side rearview… Read More »Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Last night Debbie and I celebrated the 48th anniversary of our first date. It was 1973, and we were both students at Western Kentucky University… Read More »Stories that last

By definition, doing something requires first getting started—no start, no do. Which sounds simple enough—just take the first step and then keep on walking; just… Read More »Writing Ritual

Halloween. Trick-or-treaters at the door. Not sure if we’d stocked up on enough candy, my wife and I offered a choice: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups… Read More »Kids these days

Apparently Socrates, the dude credited with the founding of Western philosophy, came up with this idea of a Super-Duper Magic Ring (Greek term from the… Read More »This is a test