Untitled

General Fiction: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. A minor Russian nobleman is sentenced to life in his hotel. For a book about a guy who can’t go outside (on pain of death), this book’s got everything: romance, intrigue, suspense, comedy, tragedy, and most of all, hope. Can’t recommend this highly enough. I can’t imagine anyone who loves to read not loving this book. World’s End by Upton…

I’m not particularly great at taking pictures on the first try, either. I used to be a pretty manly man (and by that, I mean reasonably, not attractive). Even back when I was a scrawny little kid, I did a lot of hard physical labor on our tree farm. My brother David and I started out hoeing weeds and picking up rocks all day in the hot summer sun before we were 10. There’s a picture of the two…

The older I get, the lower the bar is set, and I’m okay with that! It’s been a pretty darned good day so far. Nothing spectacular, but that’s okay. I didn’t have to rush getting the lovely and talented Jess’ lunch and coffee ready this morning (I packed a lot of it last night). I didn’t have much of anything to do before I left for work, so I sat down and watched Headhunters on Amazon. A really…

Prologue None of this needs to be said – it’s just fun to say it! Proceed at your own risk, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. Me at my overconfident best! And now, on with the show! I’ve been noticing that there are a lot of folks out there who suffer from the delusion that what they have to say NEEDS to be said. I first noticed this in the title of John Pavlovitz’s blog, stuff that needs to…

Just like in Spaceballs when they skip lightspeed to go to plaid, we’ve surpassed the old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times” to live in a ridiculous time. Frankly, it’s kind of embarrassing. Take the Super Bowl (or Superb Owl, or Superbowel, depending on how you feel about it). I’ll admit that I was happy the Chiefs won: not that I care about the game, but I’ve honestly been…

Yesterday was rough. The weather sucked, my arthritis was really acting up, I’ve hit a wall in trying to get my book published, and I had to go to the grocery, a weekly task which is never pleasant, but managed to sink to new lows yesterday. It was all extremely frustrating, and those of you who know me know my natural response to frustration is complete, all-encompassing rage. It was a real…

During my brief and unlamented period as a graduate student teaching the basic college composition course, and in my current job as a “Writing Consultant”, one of the most important things that I’ve tried to impress on my students and consultees (not really sure what to call them: clients? victims?) is that WORDS HAVE MEANING!!!! That the order/organization of the words in a sentence conveys…

Another Review of My (So Far) Unpublished Novel, To Be Free: The Life and Times of Nate Luck.

Sometimes I’m glad I checked my email. This is one of those times. Enjoy this review from IndieReader! Potential Book Cover I’ve put together. TITLE: TO BE FREE (The Life and Times of Nate Luck) AUTHOR: Lloyd Mullins RATING: 4.8 stars (out of 5) Half-Russian, half-Mongolian Nate Luck immigrates to America in 1854 and spends the next forty years seeking a path to social justice—a path soaked…

Out of Time, Out of Place, Still Not Giving Up

There is so much bad and/or stupid stuff going on in the world, and I frequently find myself really, really wanting to write about it. Then I take a step back and realize there are enough angry voices out there, and that I just really, really, don’t want to be one of them – at least not right now. Instead, I’ve decided to write about something I love: Westerns. Specifically Western movies. Yes,…

A Few Quick Reviews of Books Not by Me

The Latest Review of My Novel!

Hey all! Just wanted to take a minute to post a copy of the latest review of my historical novel To Be Free: The Life and Times of Nate Luck. The review is from the Historical Fiction Company, and has given my novel 5 stars and the HFC “Highly Recommended” medal! Now, I don’t know if that’s going to impress anyone in the publishing industry, but I’ll take it! Feeling pretty stoked this morning.…

Today, My Inner Narcissist is a Happy Camper: Tomorrow, a Return to Despair

I’ve often thought that there is a certain degree of narcissism present in anyone’s decision to become any kind of artist. Just having the idea that I’ve got something to say, and I want as many people to hear it as possible, because it’s important to me and should be important to them too, strikes me as arrogant at the very least – of course in my case, it’s a charmingly self-deprecating sort of…

I’m Not Yet Abandoning All Hope – But It’s Getting Closer

The older I get, the less I understand the world or anything in it. I just spent about half an hour on the Facebook and Twitter trying to figure out how many “followers” I have – something that sounds just as stupid as it is. The idea that anyone is following me is, quite frankly, horrifying and – I’m pretty sure – one of the signs of the Apocalypse. I do take some small comfort in the knowledge…

Info on the Upcoming Nape Na Si mission trip in June 2021

Okay folks, exciting news! We will be going to Pine Ridge this summer! The dates are June 11-20. The cost will be $300 per adult ($350 if you travel with the group). The fee covers necessities from the time we get to the Rez until we leave (except for lunch on Sunday). That means camping fees, food, fuel, and water, as well as building supplies and other necessities for the work. You are on your…

A New Story! Possibly the Most Wholesome Thing I’ve Ever Written!

Missed me? It’s been a long, long semester (I’ll be writing more about it soon). Anyway, here’s one of the good things (I hope) that came out of it. It’s a story I wrote for my 18th Century British Literature course. I think it’s pretty good, as well as funny. It’s an attempt at writing in the style of one of my literary heroes, Henry Fielding, author of Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, etc.

It’s a…

Another Post YOU Shouldn’t Read: Independence Day Edition

Well, another July 4th has come and gone. I’m sorry to say that in the last few years I’ve looked forward to it less each year. It’s not that I don’t love my country – I do. I just think that we should be doing better. At this point, I’m gonna go out on a limb and reiterate that most of you should just stop reading now. If you don’t, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Part of my antipathy regarding…

Another Post You Shouldn’t Read: Unless You Already Don’t Like Me.

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe – Frederick Douglass

I’ve been struggling with whether to write something about the murder of George Floyd (and by extension, all the others like him), the…