When We’re Not Who We Think We Are

As with many Americans, because my family came here as immigrants—as did everyone else in the world to their respective countries however long ago that was—I have an interest in my roots. Over time, roots get buried so deep that digging one up disrupts everything you thought you knew about yourself and who you thought […]

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Civility in the Age of Rage

When I first started writing This Can’t Be Love, my focus was exclusively on the relationship between Mike Argent and Jakki Hunter. Once the antagonist, Gavin Andrews, hit the stage, one of the ideas driving my characterization of the ‘bad guy’ was his arrogance and his presumption that he could do whatever he liked, with impunity, because […]

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Don’t Blame the Pilgrims – Repost

Since writing this article, I have had the opportunity to read more about the War Between the States.  I now caution anyone setting a work of fiction during this period to research both sides of this tragic conflict. This post was written a few days before it was scheduled to appear. The fourth blessing mentioned below made […]

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The Tyranny of Popularity

From the time we begin the socialization process of leaving the cosseted safety of our family home (sometimes as early as a few weeks old), we are encouraged – even coerced – into wanting to be popular. Popular means that we fit in, follow the crowd, don’t stand out; stay in line, do as you […]

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Border Patrol

We all have our personal borders: physical, temporal and emotional. Unless we protect them, we run the risk of becoming someone we never intended to be. We all know about our personal space, our comfort zones, our time management. We are not as aware of the effect of losing control of those borders or how […]

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Review: The Camp of the Saints

The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail My rating: 5 of 5 stars Prophetic, timely, a difficult book but compelling read. Fittingly finished reading this book today, 14 juillet, Bastille Day, but I wonder if the French revolutionaries of 1789 would be in The Village or on the beach. View all my reviews This […]

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War & Writing

I do not know why we allow it nor why so many men and women offer their lives in sacrifice to it but it seems that war is always with us. What are we fighting for? I am one of the Vietnam War generation. My parents and siblings were products of the two World and […]

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Cinco de Mayo 4th of July 4th Friday of September

This is one of those opportunities for all of us to celebrate freedom, heritage and independence, especially here in California. As you probably know, today commemorates the day that Mexico gained its freedom from Spain. The Spanish had conquered a huge portion of the western United States as well as Central America over a period […]

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Lilacs Trump Fear

Here in California, we think of lilacs as cultivated garden shrubbery, container plants for decks, flowering in Spring. In Maine, lilacs grow in the wild, spreading into groves so large a four-year-old can build an imaginary dream house fit for fairies and elfin princes. We start building our dreams as soon as we have the […]

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The Great State of Maine

Maine is one of those far off places we know with a mystical quality. We are close to Canada and far enough away from the big cities, bordered on the west by New Hampshire and on the east by the rockiest coast and the Atlantic. Our neighbors keep watch over us and keep to themselves. […]

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