Category Archives: On Writing

The Pursuit of Elusive Literary Fame and Fortune

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

The quality of a literary work often has nothing to do with how often it is rejected by editors or how many copies it sells.  This thought consoles me in my own pursuit of fame and fortune, especially fortune in … Continue reading →

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The New Hack Writers

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

In bygone days pulp writers would churn out stories and articles by the bundle for magazines that would pay a fraction of a cent per word.  The only alternative to starvation was to write fast and furiously and pay more … Continue reading →

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Getting Old: A Journal; Part Two: Good Stuff

Posted on April 13, 2013 by

I hadn’t intended to write more about getting old, at least not soon, after I had finished the first part of this journal.  Down the road a bit, yes, but not soon.  However, while contemplating it during a walk under … Continue reading →

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Getting Old: A Journal; Part One: Scary Stuff

Posted on April 7, 2013 by

When I was young I took a girl to a party.  I can’t precisely remember my age at the time; my guess is that I was a little over twenty-one.  There was a lot of drinking going on at the … Continue reading →

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On Attending ConDor 2013, San Diego’s Yearly Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention: Part Three: Saturday at the Con

Posted on March 24, 2013 by

Having made the decision to go back to ConDor on Saturday I prepared better.  Knowing that I would go straight through the day and that there were no decent affordable places nearby to have a sandwich for lunch, I fortified … Continue reading →

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On Attending ConDor 2013, San Diego’s Yearly Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention: Part Two: Friday at the Con

Posted on March 17, 2013 by

Having never attended anything similar before, I approached ConDor with trepidation.  Though the website explained all the activities to be found therein, at the same time I was going in blind, without knowing anyone, and realizing that many of the … Continue reading →

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On Attending ConDor 2013, San Diego’s Yearly Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention: Part One: Background

Posted on March 10, 2013 by

I did not come to science fiction as a fan first.  I read some science fiction before I realized I was a writer, but once I received the revelation that writing was my destiny, science fiction as a form of … Continue reading →

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On Abandoning the Reading of United States: Essays 1952-1992 by Gore Vidal

Posted on March 3, 2013 by

I always like to be reading a book.  I usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction, and I usually plan my reading at least one or two books ahead so I always have something on hand.  But having finished a novel, … Continue reading →

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Reflections on The Who’s Performance of Quadrophenia in San Diego, February 5th, 2013

Posted on February 10, 2013 by

If truth be told, I didn’t even know that The Who were coming to San Diego, and even if I had known I would not have considered going, the primary reason being that tickets to rock concerts, starting as they … Continue reading →

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California Writers: Jack London and Glen Ellen

Posted on February 3, 2013 by

This is an excerpt from my recently-published memoir “America Redux: Impressions of the United States After Thirty-Five Years Abroad”. To reach our next destination we have to head north through the Bay Area and San Francisco itself, across the Golden … Continue reading →

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