Browsing all posts in June, 2012.

Why Writers Should Avoid F-Bomb Barfers

The near-ubiquity of curse words has been lamented as evidence of the general coarsening of American society. That may be true and worthy of debate. Two recent pieces in the New Yorker (Dropping The F-Bomb) and The Atlantic Wire (Have Curse Words Lost All Meaning?) wrestle with the issue. I agree with some of their […]

Worst Tent, Best Tent In The World

The tent on the left is the worst single-person tent in the world. The one on the right is the best one. WORST TENT, COURTESY OF REI The worst tent is from REI. Setting it up is like wrestling with a Mechano/Erector set on crystal meth. It is IMPOSSIBLE for one person to set up […]

Does God Edit Our Lives?

The author as God is a frequent meme among writers. We create characters, think them up and breathe life into them. If we do a good job, they please readers. I was writing on page 300-something of my new thriller yesterday (The Nassau Directives. Out this fall) and needed the main protagonist to take an […]

God, Philosophy, Physics & The NY Times

God, philosophy and physics are three of my favorite subjects. So much so that they run through many of my thrillers, especially: Perfect Killer (God and the quantum physics and philosophy of consciousness), and Die By Wire (God, the philosophy of evil, and the physics of a .50 caliber BMG slug launched by heroine Mira […]