February 13, 2025
A vibe can be a person’s emotional state. It can also be the atmosphere of a place. More generally, it is the way a location, situation, […]
January 23, 2025
ChatGPT has begun to influence how books and articles are written and will likely do so in greater volume in the future. Many have opinions about […]
January 9, 2025
The muses were the goddesses of inspiration or knowledge—not only in the literary and poetic arts but in the sciences as well. During the seventh century […]
December 24, 2024
In appreciation, here is a present for you that will be available for a limited time: a selection of excerpts from my letters to my newsletter […]
December 12, 2024
Members of a society or culture share certain beliefs. What these beliefs are and how they change is the subject of Cultural Anthropology. One of its […]
November 14, 2024
Technology, by definition, is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. It maximizes quantity while minimizing expense. Its allure is the convenience […]
October 31, 2024
I have heard it asked, “Why don’t people see what is going on in the world, and why don’t they do something about it?” In 1999, […]
October 17, 2024
What motivates people has always interested me because it answers the question, why? One can do something for noble reasons and with the best of intentions. […]
September 24, 2024
What has surprised me most about moving back to the United States, and to Florida in particular, is how alive the land is. Uruguay is certainly […]
September 19, 2024
I have been working sporadically on my “Challenges of Success” project as we settle back in the United States. Since I have had some moments to […]
August 15, 2024
Paperbacks of Eye of the Moon and Shadow of the Son are available for request across wider platforms, including libraries and bookstores. To separate from the […]
August 1, 2024
Smith-Obolensky Media is relaunching its catalog with a Special Edition geared towards independent channels including libraries, bookstores, and educators. Each member of the team shared their […]
July 20, 2024
Historians are usually given only passing notice as literary figures, but there are exceptions. The Roman author and magistrate, Pliny the Younger (AD 61-AD 113), recounts […]
June 27, 2024
Craig Houchin, who is an award-winning screenwriter and TV commercial producer as well as a close friend of our family, had some questions for me as […]
June 13, 2024
I first encountered the poems of George Herbert (1593-1633) in England as part of the A-level curriculum at Lancing College in 1971. His poetry had a […]
May 16, 2024
In Eye of the Moon, John Dodge tells Percy: “Money is such a paradox. To make great sums requires taking on tremendous risk. To keep it […]
April 18, 2024
One of the more well-known philosophers of Greek antiquity was Heracleitus. What is not so well known is his profound influence on Western thought through the […]
March 21, 2024
One of my favorite thought exercises is to take the information and knowledge from one area of study and see how it might apply to another. […]
March 7, 2024
A datum is a single fact. The word derives from the Latin dare, which means to give. In a sense, a datum is a given. When […]
February 22, 2024
Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) was one of the most celebrated violinists (and guitarists) of the 19th century and the first real violin virtuoso of international fame. How […]
February 8, 2024
If one reads almost any news feed these days, one can’t help but notice that contempt is much more prevalent than it was before, and that […]
January 25, 2024
In case you might think that growing old is merely an inevitable winding down, creaking of joints, and being awash with ailments, the following is a […]
January 12, 2024
I have just typed “THE END” to the third novel of my Eye of the Moon series, Dark of the Earth. Eventually, the series will contain […]
January 4, 2024
In what is now Switzerland, at some point in the year 1493, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim was born. Later, he was known simply as […]
December 28, 2023
In Western culture, the Tao Te Ching is thought to be more about the individual than the state, but that is not the case. Like The […]
December 24, 2023
Happy holidays! We have put together a gift for you: English Spanish
December 21, 2023
One of the themes that weaves its way through Dark of the Earth, my third novel of the Rhinebeck Quartet, is transcendence. Transcendence is “existence or […]
December 11, 2023
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. “Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those […]
December 7, 2023
There are writers I like to read, and writers I like to read about. There are writers I study to learn how they did what they […]
November 22, 2023
We just finished exhibiting at the Miami Book Fair. It was a three-day nonstop event, Friday through Sunday from ten in the morning to seven at […]
November 9, 2023
Someone once said that the past never changes. This isn’t wrong but neither is it entirely correct. For many, the past is a record of failed […]
October 26, 2023
BookTrib recently interviewed me: In Ivan Obolensky’s award-winning American Gothic novel, Eye of the Moon, two estranged friends are reunited only to discover a gruesome mystery. Set in […]
October 19, 2023
BookTrib posted a book review last week I wanted to share with you: Hidden Rooms & Ancient Curses Abound in Gothic Mystery Reminiscent of “Clue” Contributor: Sherri […]
October 5, 2023
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while […]
September 28, 2023
Do you like reading quotes? I like reading quotes. Occasionally I find myself reading through several. Those that stick in my mind have a certain insouciance, […]
September 21, 2023
A sink, to an engineer, is a body or process that acts to absorb or remove energy from a system. A water drain is an example. […]
September 14, 2023
One of the most profound revolutions in human history occurred well before agriculture. It was the period when humankind transitioned from nomadic to sedentary. More precisely, […]
September 7, 2023
I have two observations about growing old (older, if that’s easier to bear.). The first is that “exceptions to the rule” are far more numerous than […]
August 31, 2023
At the end of H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine, the protagonist returns to the current world, recounts his story, and leaves, taking three books with […]
August 24, 2023
There is a lot of talk that AI will surpass humans and then supplant us. This is possible given the calculating ability of a supercomputer, but […]
August 17, 2023
I had another excellent interview with Kathy Stickles from Feathered Quill, this time about Shadow of the Son. She really enjoyed both books, and her enthusiasm […]
August 10, 2023
I came across an interesting hack the other day. Granted the need for it may never be in your future, but I’m always one to look […]
August 3, 2023
Søren Kierkegaard was a nineteenth century Danish philosopher and theologian, who wanted to deepen our inward relationship with God by emphasizing individual existence. In so doing, […]
July 27, 2023
Why do things happen the way they do? Broadly, there are two prevailing schools of thought: One point of view is that what we see and […]
July 20, 2023
What’s to be done? I’m not stupid. Likely, I think I’m smarter than I really am, which would be typical. The question I have is: am […]
July 13, 2023
In my third novel, one of the characters says to Percy: “I don’t dislike you, Percy. I just don’t like you, and I’ll tell you why. […]
July 6, 2023
According to Bowker’s Books in Print, there were 2,714,409 new books printed in English in 2015. Given that this extraordinary number represents only one year’s publication […]
June 29, 2023
I once had a governess tell me a piece of profound wisdom couched as an admonition. I was looking at a giant slice of cake when […]
June 22, 2023
A life is like a book. Are we hardcovers, paperbacks, or eBooks? Speaking for myself, I’d rather be a hardcover. The dust jacket has a splash […]
June 15, 2023
I had a delightful interview with Feathered Quill, below: Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Kathy Stickles is talking with Ivan Obolensky, author of Eye of the Moon. […]
June 8, 2023
Boccaccio was not the only Renaissance writer to author a collection of stories using a “frame narrative”: an overarching story that allowed a group of individuals […]
June 1, 2023
Swimming is a skill I learned when I was little. I could swim after a fashion. Mostly it was taught to prevent drowning. Later as a […]
May 25, 2023
Many people dislike mathematics, sad but true. I can’t say I blame them. It has taken me an extraordinary amount of mental work and persistence to […]
May 11, 2023
Announcement: the unabridged audiobook version of Eye of the Moon is coming soon. Beginnings are sometimes difficult. The audiobook project began some years ago. Originally, I […]
May 4, 2023
There are many articles and news pieces about Artificial Intelligence (AI) these days. Some say that AI is the apocalypse in digital form. Others say that […]
April 27, 2023
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” There is personal writing and […]
April 20, 2023
When I was growing up, I often heard the saying: “Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought it back” *. Frankly, I found the satisfaction part rather […]
April 13, 2023
Luck is defined as success or failure brought about by chance rather than our actions. Some people appear to have all the luck. Others don’t. Certainly, […]
April 6, 2023
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu (c. 500 BCE) writes: “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then […]
March 30, 2023
Sometimes my mind gets complicated, and my thoughts grow overly complex. When that happens, I recall a portion of an article I wrote: “Imagine Nature coming […]
March 23, 2023
At this point of the year, the equinox (literally, equal night) occurs. The spring, or vernal, equinox takes place in March in the Northern Hemisphere and […]
March 16, 2023
A year ago, a friend gave Mary Jo and me a plant. It was called the Queen of the Night (epiphyllum oxypetalum), and she said it […]
March 9, 2023
Have you wondered why we’re living in a somewhat crazy world? I’d like to posit three reasons that make some sense to me. These are long-term […]
March 1, 2023
I sometimes wonder how much of what we think is truly our own thoughts—how much is actually instinct or genetic predisposition? How much is the result […]
February 23, 2023
The physicist Max Planck said, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part […]
February 16, 2023
While flipping through an anthology of military writings, I came across a selection by Marcel Proust. Yes, the novelist. In the passage, Proust has a question […]
February 9, 2023
Part of the novel-writing process, at least for me, is sporadic periods of angst, irritability, and rampant self-doubt that starts when I reach the middle. Often, […]
February 2, 2023
Frank Herbert wrote the novel, Dune, in 1965. Sales were dismal after its release, and critics didn’t take to it either. The publisher, Chilton Books, eventually […]
January 26, 2023
Most of our lives are not spent in life-and-death struggles, epic moments of triumph or defeat, but in talking to or with others. Because it’s so […]
January 12, 2023
One of the foundations of science has been the concept of Cause and Effect. Science isolates the precise causes of specific effects through observation. Out of […]
January 5, 2023
Joy has many nuances. There is the joy of standing and looking out on the land, seeing the greenery of nature, the blue of the sky, […]
December 29, 2022
The most unacknowledged virtue of living in the southern hemisphere, particularly in the South Cone*, is that the year begins and ends in summer. Who would […]
December 22, 2022
Since many people have commented on my recent albums of photographs, here are a few ideas that I’ve found to be helpful in taking them. My […]
December 15, 2022
The winter solstice is approaching and falls on the 21st of December in the Northern Hemisphere. It is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere where the 21st […]
December 8, 2022
The above fell into the garden the other day. It reminded me of a thyrsus. The thyrsus has a long history in Ancient Greece. It was […]
November 24, 2022
According to American Etiquette and Rules of Politeness, published in 1883 and written by Mr. Walter R. Houghton, when you receive a favor and wish to […]
November 17, 2022
Kakuzo Okakura wrote: “We have an old saying in Japan that a woman cannot love a man who is truly vain, for there is no crevice […]
November 10, 2022
In 2020 I had an interview with Lou Diamond, host of ThriveLOUD. In this quote, I reference “state space”. Most people have agendas… they focus on […]
October 27, 2022
To act or not act? To be, or not be? To have or not have? I’ve found myself often enough wondering what to do. To be […]
October 20, 2022
Dr. Trevor Campbell, a medical doctor who specializes in pain, asked that we record a discussion about death. We called it: The Anatomy of Death – […]
October 13, 2022
Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) is a relatively unknown author today which is odd considering he is one of only three writers to have won the Pulitzer Prize […]
October 6, 2022
Thoth was an Ancient Egyptian deity who served as the scribe of the gods and was said to have invented writing and hieroglyphics. He was the […]
September 28, 2022
One of the interesting things our brain does is process the world in color. Color is not something inherent in the world. We create the colors […]
September 22, 2022
Sometimes when we write, we have to cut out the bits that don’t forward the story. This is editing. David Mamet said that he had a […]
September 8, 2022
Few can say what is on their mind. If they could, they would say it, only the number of times we don’t is far more than […]
September 1, 2022
According to my grandfather, Serge Obolensky, and contrary to popular belief, aristocratic life in Russia under the Czar was not a life of luxury. One sees […]
August 25, 2022
If I am asked what champagne I would like to drink, I will answer, “Cristal”. Cristal is mentioned many times in my novels. Malcom Ault in […]
August 18, 2022
A paradox is defined as a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement, or a proposition, which when investigated may prove to be nonetheless well founded. It is […]
July 22, 2022
Bob Dylan said in an interview in March 1978 for Playboy Magazine: “People have one great blessing—obscurity—and not many people are thankful for it. Everybody is […]
July 1, 2022
I’ve done many interviews regarding conversations. I particularly liked this one. It was with the Reverend R. David Jones on WGRC. Here is an excerpt: “Whatever […]
June 16, 2022
Professionalism, acting to a high standard of conduct and proficiency, has inherent in its meaning the idea of quality. Its meaning comes from the word profess, […]
June 2, 2022
Trust is defined as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. One in which confidence is placed. It is […]
May 6, 2022
Most people think that stress is the result of crisis, but that is not always the case. Waiting and boredom are key stressors that are often […]
May 4, 2022
In Shadow of the Son, Mary makes a last-minute visit to Rhinebeck. An excerpt from Percy’s initial impressions: She was dressed in a dark business suit […]
April 28, 2022
The universe tends toward complexity, not simplicity. This is counterintuitive but nonetheless true. The reason can be found in how energy behaves. Energy prefers to be […]
April 21, 2022
I was reading Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery. This is a book I’ve read more than once, and one I highly recommend for […]
April 6, 2022
Knowledge is the most democratic of substances. Birth, prior learning, experience, reputation, wealth, or circumstance count for nothing. Its acquisition must always be deliberately and consciously […]
March 9, 2022
How many times a day do we look up? Chances are we’re looking down at our phones, and it is there that our attention remains. What […]
March 3, 2022
I’ve heard that musicians tend to be good mathematicians, and mathematicians tend to be good musicians. Likely this is true. Stephen Sondheim said that he was […]
February 1, 2022
According to the latest research, books are still selling, more authors are publishing, and more books are available than ever before, but fewer books are being […]
January 13, 2022
Selected parts of the interview are available to read in English and Spanish. You can check out all of my interviews to date on my Interviews […]
January 6, 2022
Many are familiar with the phrase: “Truth is stranger than fiction…” but are unfamiliar with what follows, or who wrote it. The full quote is: “Truth […]
December 31, 2021
The New Year usually brings about in all of us reflections on the past and contemplations of the future. In Shadow of the Son, Percy states […]
December 23, 2021
I’ve been featured on Book Reader Magazine and I have a new profile on All Author, where you can see questions and answers under the Ask […]
December 16, 2021
When all is said and done, a good story engages. It will seep effortlessly into the mind and speak to us directly. To do that successfully, […]
December 9, 2021
The more I write the more I am convinced that stories are the essential building blocks from which our lives are constructed. Our lives are made […]
December 2, 2021
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I spent time watching Stephen Sondheim interviews. I must admit that I was not overly familiar with his work. I am more […]
November 24, 2021
Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful; or the readiness to show appreciation for, and to return kindness. To show appreciation for something, one […]
November 15, 2021
I took six years of Latin in Grammar and High School. Even in the 1970s, Latin was considered a useless subject, but for a subject that […]
August 19, 2021
I thought I would give you an update on my world. I’ve been off doing things other than writing for the last month and a half. […]
April 2, 2021
I am reposting an interview I did with Christina Hamlett three years ago, shortly after launching Eye of the Moon. In that interview, I was asked […]
March 18, 2021
What is the one physical quantity that can be measured more accurately and precisely than any other and yet can’t be defined in a way that […]
February 25, 2021
The night sky before or just after a storm is one of my favorite moments. The clouds whip across the sky as the moon peeks out […]
December 30, 2020
Endings are hard because an ending, even that of a book, a work, or a year, doesn’t mean that everything stops. An ending is usually the […]
October 31, 2020
I am honored to be a return guest on The Stuph File Program, hosted by Peter Anthony Holder. The entire episode can be found on his […]
September 24, 2020
In the South Cone, Spring begins in September rather than in March. Having lived in the North so long, it takes some getting used to. North […]
September 10, 2020
Colonia, as it is known in Uruguay, is a city on the Rio de la Plata that runs between Uruguay and Argentina. The city, like Uruguay, […]
August 27, 2020
We rarely recognize golden days when we are living them. Good can only be evaluated by what we consider bad, and bad by what we consider […]
August 20, 2020
Len Deighton is my favorite living writer. I have read and reread the nine novels beginning with Berlin Game and ending with Charity of his triple […]
August 12, 2020
I consider David Hockney one of the world’s finest artists. Born in Britain, he moved to Los Angeles. He currently lives in France. The subject of […]
July 15, 2020
My interview with Bill Ballenger on The Political Insider #110 is posted, from the 10 minute to 29 minute mark. It was delightful to talk with […]
July 7, 2020
I had the great pleasure of speaking with Lou Diamond for his podcast series in collaboration with Bedside Reading®, Authors that Thrive.
July 1, 2020
The Rufous Hornero (furnarius rufus) is Argentina’s national bird. They build oven-shaped nests of clay and vegetation. Its English name is the “Red Ovenbird”. They are […]
June 24, 2020
When times are uncertain the best one can do is be optimistic and have a sense of humor. One must also take the long view. Such […]
June 17, 2020
I read The Good Shepherd and gave it five stars. Here is my review on Goodreads: There are a few books by C. S. Forester that […]
June 3, 2020
One of the ways we learn is to observe. Infants do that a lot. They look around. What are they doing in their cute little heads? […]
May 27, 2020
How we think changes the world we see. Let us take two diametrically opposite views of the world. The first is the causal view. For example, […]
May 13, 2020
I read A Gentleman in Moscow and gave it five stars. Here is my review on Goodreads: A Gentleman in Moscow begins in 1922 with the […]
May 6, 2020
If one finds oneself in trouble, beset by problems from every side, and filled with doubts and uncertainties, it is nonetheless possible to do something about […]
April 22, 2020
Stephen King and I have an uneasy relationship, even though I’ve never met him. Would he be the same person I imagine him to be, if […]
April 16, 2020
Those who live in the Northern Hemisphere see the moon right side up. In the Southern Hemisphere, the moon looks upside down. It is a matter […]
April 8, 2020
Giovanni Boccaccio was born in 1313, grew up in Florence, and died in 1375. He survived the Great Plague that struck Florence in 1348 and began […]
April 2, 2020
The subject of viruses has been on many people’s minds of late and with good reason. Because some viruses can be deadly, one might wish to […]
March 25, 2020
Do you feel like a seal? I do. I’m not sure which one I am in the picture. I haven’t decided, but I’m in there somewhere. […]
March 18, 2020
Things are rarely simple. Raymond Chandler is one of my favorite authors. About every five years, I will re-read all that he wrote, starting with a […]
March 12, 2020
I used to ride horses. One thing I learned was that you had to train “both sides” of a horse. Their brains are bicameral (two hemispheres) […]
March 5, 2020
One of the definitions of judgement is the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions. Judgment is formed from experience. Mistakes are regrettable, […]
February 27, 2020
Allow me to introduce you to Megalopyge Urens. It is common in Montevideo during the months of January, February, and March. A 1936 edition of Revista […]
February 20, 2020
Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for The Guns of August, her account of the start of WWI. Described by the press in […]
February 13, 2020
Is the world ending anytime soon? Judging from the news, all does not look well going forward. Do you know the feeling? To get a sense […]
February 6, 2020
Not in any particular order. Clarity is more important than substance. To a reader, substance is paramount, but not to a writer. A writer takes what […]
January 31, 2020
I had the honor of returning to the radio program, “Middle Age Can Be Your Best Age” with Roy Richards. (My first interview was in October […]
January 30, 2020
This road/pedestrian walkway runs along the edge of Montevideo. It stretches for 13.7 miles along the water’s edge. It is the longest continuous sidewalk in the world. […]
January 23, 2020
This is the beginning of a new series of blog posts. I have learned much from many people and from numerous personal experiences over the years […]
January 16, 2020
There is a lot of water in Uruguay and with it comes water lilies. Their technical name is nymphaeaceae. Monet created a series of paintings called […]
January 9, 2020
Last year, I did an interview with Hamza Davis of Intrinsic Motivation: A Homies Perspective. It was titled: Who Are The One Percenters – Myths About […]
January 2, 2020
These are the two defining elements of Uruguay. It is no wonder that the Uruguayan flag is light blue and white with a sun.
December 30, 2019
Another year closes, and another begins. What will the future bring? Good things, we hope. Should your burdens be great, don’t remain downhearted. “Will it help?” […]
December 30, 2019
I was honored to be a guest on the radio talk show “Midnight in the Desert with Dave Schrader” and talked about my novel and some […]
December 26, 2019
Cabo Polonio is one of Uruguay’s wildest areas. The seas can turn chaotic and treacherous. How many ships have wrecked off this coast? More than a […]
December 19, 2019
Insects and spiders are different in every part of the world. In Uruguay there are many that I haven’t seen before, like a white and red […]
December 12, 2019
Akrasia is “the state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will.” –Oxford. Some might call it ‘having a moment’. […]
November 27, 2019
One of my favorite writers is David Mamet. He is a fascinating source of inspiration. (See his Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and […]
November 14, 2019
Learning to compromise is one of the hardest lessons. Often compromise is viewed as weakness. The outbreak of the Civil War in the Unites States (1861) […]
October 30, 2019
Behind seemingly innocuous celebrations are profound concepts, peculiar histories, and perhaps disturbing ideas that seem to have a life of their own. In many cases, they […]
October 24, 2019
This month I had the pleasure of speaking with Roy Richards on his radio show, “Middle Age Can Be Your Best Age”, about the Conversation Crisis. http://webtalkradio.net/Shows/MiddleAgeCanBeYourBestAge/mac102119.mp3 […]
October 10, 2019
The start of a new day in Uruguay. Dawn is a hopeful time. Yesterday is done, and the future beckons. The photograph was taken with a […]
October 3, 2019
Cormorants sit on a single rock surrounded by ocean. The play of light on the gray of the sea gives the photo its magic.
September 26, 2019
This photograph is so typical of the wonders found in Colombia. Not only are the colors bright and different, but the campesino on the small horse […]
September 19, 2019
The coastline of Uruguay faces toward the Southern Ocean and the continent of Antarctica. The wind from the sea is relentless.
September 12, 2019
This was shot with a 500 mm catadioptric or mirror lens. It was a bright, windy day. The slightly out-of-focus sparkles of water and grasses in […]
September 5, 2019
This photograph is of a clear Uruguayan morning. I can feel the time of day just from the colors. There are so many shades of blue, […]
August 29, 2019
Although I like eye-catching photographs, the ones that go up on my screen saver tend to be calmer and more subdued. This is one that I […]
August 21, 2019
Several years ago, Mary Jo and I visited this shrine in Colombia on the spur of the moment. A few days later I found out that my […]
August 15, 2019
This photograph was taken in Cambria after a storm. The grays and muted silvers have washed out the colors. The texture is like rippled metal, and […]
May 2, 2019
I read for two reasons. I love stories, and second, I am curious about most everything. Many people have asked me how I manage to read […]
April 18, 2019
Sometimes people enter our lives, and we note there is something extraordinary about them. When that happens when we are very young, we rarely realize the […]
April 4, 2019
“Suffering raises up those souls that are truly great; it is only small souls that are made mean-spirited by it.” –Alexandra David-Néel. There are many footnote […]
March 28, 2019
This is an odd question, but trying to answer it leads to interesting ideas and concepts. To begin, a system could be defined as any group […]
March 21, 2019
…in England, and a Possible Prescription for Insomnia Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. In Victorian England of 1820, the general literacy […]
March 14, 2019
We all want to be satisfied with our lives, but achieving that state can be difficult because life never allows us to reach a high point […]
March 5, 2019
Time is something of which we are all aware. Over the years, time seems to accelerate. Whether this is a perceptual illusion, the result of living […]
February 24, 2019
We live in an “age of anxiety”. The term is not new. It was coined by the English writer and poet, W. H. Auden, and was […]
February 18, 2019
Peter Anthony Holder was kind enough to invite me on his show, The Stuph File Program. He had some pointed questions about the One Percent, always […]
February 15, 2019
Whoever controls the story controls the action. As a writer, it’s what I do, but I got to thinking and realized this concept can be applied […]
January 29, 2019
Here are six books that changed my view of the world. These are not in any particular order of influence. Each one worked its magic in […]
January 24, 2019
When I look out to sea, where the horizon meets the sky, I’ve wondered what would happen if I sailed in that direction. What would I […]
January 16, 2019
I used to compete in triathlons and the occasional marathon and half marathon. I loved the training more than the actual competitions. I would feel confident […]
December 27, 2018
Suppose you were asked to handle 300 emails a day as part of a job. If there are twelve work-hours available, then you would have to spend […]
December 19, 2018
I thought I would post a passage from the Tao Te Ching. This quote is from Stephen Mitchell’s excellent translation. “29 Do you want to improve […]
December 13, 2018
A mantra is an utterance that is considered to have spiritual power. The word comes from Sanskrit, and literally means “instrument of thought”. A mantra is […]
December 6, 2018
Author Melanie Ansley invited me to her blog where I share “5 Things Writing Taught Me About Living and Living Taught Me About Writing”. I hope […]
November 28, 2018
Hermès, the French high fashion supplier of luxury goods, was originally established in 1837 by Thierry Hermès as a bridle and harness shop in Paris. What set […]
November 14, 2018
In an article called “So, You Want to Change the World?“, I discussed homeostasis, and the fact that change moves in jerky, rather than smooth, increments. […]
November 8, 2018
We all have heard the Chinese story of the farmer: “Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many […]
October 31, 2018
There are several explanations as to where the celebration known as Halloween came from, such as the Celtic festival, Samhain, that marked the beginning of the […]
August 30, 2018
I have been doing radio interviews lately, and I really enjoy doing them. It is hard for an author to simply announce that he has written […]
August 14, 2018
Contrary to what many people think, genius isn’t necessarily about being born intelligent, although that is a factor. Real genius requires more. According to Professor Michael […]
August 7, 2018
Patience is defined as the capacity to accept (or tolerate) delay, trouble, or suffering, without upset. Suffering and annoyance are very old concepts, and both have […]
August 1, 2018
One of the questions I struggled to answer as a writer is what happens if I become really successful? How do I handle being well-known, and […]
July 17, 2018
Crows and ravens are members of the Corvidae family, which includes crows, ravens, rooks, jays, and magpies to name a few. The common raven, Corvus corvax, […]
July 10, 2018
Melanie Ansley‘s book, Theo and the Forbidden Language, recently won Best “Young Adult” at the IndieReader Discovery Awards. Melanie is an award- winning Film/TV producer, has written […]
July 5, 2018
I was recently interviewed by VoyageLA. The site includes many stories of inspiring locals, influencers, and fun things to do in LA. Today we’d like […]
June 28, 2018
Fear and courage are emotions that have shaped my life in many ways. I am less fearful now, and that is a blessing. Whether that shift […]
May 22, 2018
When one thinks of Michael Crichton one thinks of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, or maybe Sphere. He created them all and many other […]
May 10, 2018
Part of the story of Eye of the Moon must contain something about my grandfather. When I was a teenager, I would go out on […]
May 3, 2018
One of the more difficult books to understand, and yet one of the most enlightening on the theater is David Mamet’s small volume, Three Uses of […]
April 26, 2018
As an IndieReader Approved book, Eye of the Moon (and its author) were selected to be included in the IndieReader blog as part of the All […]
April 19, 2018
Some years ago, I went to a commencement at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. By some miracle, the speaker was none other than Joe Satriani, […]
April 12, 2018
Have you ever made a decision that was not only completely out of character but completely brain-dead? Like the time you were offered a genuine Rothko […]
March 29, 2018
Nadene is an avid reader who shares her passion on both her blog and her Totally Addicted to Reading website. She was kind enough to host […]
March 22, 2018
Libby Fischer Hellmann has written fifteen mystery novels, won numerous awards, and been nominated for many more. She and I met in Tucson at the Southern California […]
February 28, 2018
I was recently interviewed by Christina Hamlett for You Read It Here First. The interview in full: For readers who enjoy strong female characters, supernatural elements, […]
February 23, 2018
Magdalena Ball runs compulsivereader.com, a website based in Australia. She is a literary force in her own right and anyone who hosts a website devoted to […]
February 15, 2018
I became familiar with Matt Coyle when I found out that he and I would be sharing a Southern California Mystery Writers of America booth at […]
February 9, 2018
In a guest post I wrote for Elizabeth A. White last week, I was reminded of one of my favorite passages in history. It reads: “Our earth is […]
January 25, 2018
It has been said that to become a cultured person one should study the Japanese tea ceremony. Nothing is allowed to be rushed, and there are […]
January 18, 2018
I thought I would write something on a lighter note, given the last post. When I was growing up, I met many notable people. Unfortunately for […]
January 4, 2018
Usage of the word “character” in the English language has been steadily declining since the turn of the 20th century. (See Google analytics of “character” mentions.) […]
December 28, 2017
If I don’t know what to do, I often grab my well-worn copy of the Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell translation) and open it at random. […]
December 22, 2017
Here is a short (fiction) story I wrote for you for the holidays. It is not related to Eye of the Moon whatsoever, though it is […]
November 16, 2017
The first part of this interview covers Ivan’s favorite authors and their influence on his work. Ivan started in nonfiction, writing articles for Dynamic Doingness, Inc. […]
November 9, 2017
Continued from Part 1 Who is your favorite author/writer and why? No favorites. There are a lot of authors I like or have liked or admired […]
November 2, 2017
Tom Hyman was my first writing mentor and my main editor for Eye of the Moon. He guided me through many aspects of the journey from […]
October 19, 2017
I like plays. I enjoy them because they are the closest thing I know to live storytelling. A play creates an intimacy between playwright, actor, and […]
October 12, 2017
I interviewed professional author, Nick Thacker, who delivers nonfiction and fiction with equal aplomb. Being a full-time writer in today’s world is not easy, but Nick […]
October 5, 2017
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors? How have they influenced your work? A: I have many because I read all the time. Modern authors […]