Fiction, Writing, Articles, Essays, Reviews.
This is a photo of Mirror Lake in the Village of Lake Placid in upstate New York. One of those lights on the far shore is a catalyst to my imagination. I am inexorably drawn to Lake Placid and the Adirondack Mountains. For its natural beauty. For the 46 High Peaks of the Adirondacks (those summits over 4,000 feet). For the lovely village and one of my favorite bookstores—The Bookstore Plus—which...
I revere Quentin Tarantino. He is one of my favorite writer/directors, and “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” keeps him firmly on top that pedestal. Ostensibly about an aging washed-up actor, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his stunt double/personal assistant, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), the film recreates 1969 with detail, authenticity, and visual splendor. The cars, the movie marquees, the...
Chris is one of those guys who is a tennis friend. I like him. I like to play tennis with him. He is about my age, a steady player, a variety of shots, quick on his feet, willing to go for angles and winners. But . . . Chris is loud. He talks a lot. He screams the word “OUT” when my shot is long. And he just talks. During games, between games. Mostly about himself, sometimes about...
I tell myself to stop reading thrillers, because I find them all the same, but I keep hoping to come across one that I find brilliant. When I heard about The Chain, I thought this one might be different. Adrian McKinty, author of the Michael Forsythe trilogy and the Sean Duffy series of crime novels, goes for the throat with this thriller. The premise of The Chain, inspired by those old chain...
That’s Danielle Collins in the photo, competing at the US Open. I was inspired by my day at the Open, where I saw the world’s best players compete with intensity and ferocity. I couldn’t wait to play again, and this morning I did. I won the first set handily. I was hitting my shots, my opponent wasn’t. I tried to focus on moving my feet and getting in position to hit the...
Here’s the backstory on the first chapters of novels posted on this site: My literary agent sold STASH to Random House in a two-book contract, the second book turning out to be CLEAN BREAK. After years of writing and rejection, I had made it as a novelist with a major publishing house. Everyone was excited about STASH. The publisher at the novel’s imprint, Broadway Books, said it was...
Today I beat a better player than me. Also younger by a dozen or more years. It doesn’t happen often. It might not happen again, because David is a strong player who hasn’t had the court time I have had this summer. He was inconsistent, firing some spectacular winners, but missing, too. I was also inconsistent, but I played well enough to win today. Tennis is my sport now. As...
Incredible how I had all these ideas to write about and when I go to write my first post my mind goes blank with fear. I didn’t expect it. As I writer, I usually dive in, and only later test the temperature of the water. Or even its depth. You can imagine some of the results I’ve gotten. I’m using this website as a personal experiment. Does it work for me as a writer? I think...
