Category Archives: On Writing

Step by Step

I felt overwhelmed today.  There are work issues, family issues, and urgent business that needs to be taken care of.  Our finances, as of those of most people in Greece, are in a tailspin.  To top it all off, it’s … Continue reading

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The Tortoise Manifesto

Recently I have been reading a lot of resolutions from other exuberant writers with amazingly optimistic daily word counts for 2012:  two thousand, five thousand, even ten thousand words a day.  Quantity is the only way to go, it would … Continue reading

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Resolutions

I hate resolutions, not just New Year’s resolutions but resolutions in general.  They are often made with the best of intentions, but collapse in the face of reality, which is often random and relentless and abrupt and all-encompassing.  Reality doesn’t … Continue reading

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Book Review: Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison, Part Two: More Ellison Reminiscences, and The Stories Themselves

So then, after having reread “Deathbird Stories” I realize that at least part of the motivation was to pay homage to one of the great literary influences of my life.  Harlan Ellison’s stories are vivid and emotional, and I have … Continue reading

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Book Review: Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison; Part One: Clarion West 1973 Revisited

I honestly don’t know exactly what made me read “Deathbird Stories” again after all this time.  I usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction books in my reading program.  I was just finishing a nonfiction book and considering that I wouldn’t … Continue reading

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Paper Dragons

Sometimes the systems of this world just kind of fall into place.  They are the results of a lot of decisions by a lot of people and gradually evolve over the years, usually as the result of reactions to crises.  … Continue reading

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Standing Up to Intimidation

I’m a pushover.  I have been all my life.  I don’t easily get feisty and quarrelsome, and I don’t easily question what others tell me.  I want to believe that they are sincere; I want to believe that people naturally … Continue reading

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My Emancipation Proclamation

I ruminate how to start.  I want to say it succinctly but I want to say it all.  The only way is to dive in. I am a writer.  I have been a writer since I was about seventeen years … Continue reading

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Endings

First the disclaimer:  this is not an essay on writing, though I may use various aspects of writing as an example.  If you want to write, write.  Go ahead, just get started.  Do it any way you want and write … Continue reading

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I Don’t Care

A lot of things happen in life.  Many good things, yes, but also nasty things, discouraging things.  Recently, and by this I mean in the last three months or so, things have been going awry for me personally; I have … Continue reading

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