Mar 17Pretty Poison — My Battle with SugarPretty Poison — My Battle with Sugar This is the good stuff. Pure cane sugar. The stuff you drop into your espresso in some elegant café. Randomly shaped, so you can be confident that it didn’t come from some evil factory. In fact it comes from la Perruche, in Tereos…Sugar3 min read
Jan 14The End of Beverly HillsThe End of Beverly Hills Before Christmas I was walking my dog about 7 a.m. by the tennis courts at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills. I noticed this nice BMW stripped of its rims and tires. Never saw that before. But I never saw an armed attempted robbery at the…Crime3 min read
Aug 16, 2021Afghanistan. Why Are American Feminists Silent?Afghanistan falls. Again. Whatever modest women’s rights were slowly acquired or at least envisioned in the past twenty years will now disappear into the wind. Education, rape, forced marriage — any progress with respect to these issues is going to disappear. Why are American feminists so silent? You had no…Afghanistan2 min read
Mar 26, 2021The Most Important 10 Minutes You Can Invest in Your Novel.Yes, we all begin in a rush of adrenaline and dreams, or maybe face down in a puddle of whiskey, but either way, there is a little bit of housekeeping that could save you a great deal of heartache and even expense — and I don’t just mean “back up…Writing Novels3 min read
Dec 22, 2020Where Do I Start My Novel?This is the number one thing you need to stop worrying about if you want to write a novel. The opening scene you are angsting over doesn’t mean squat. Now when you have finished your first draft, it starts to become important. When you…How To Start Your Novel2 min read
Jul 14, 2020Why I Quit QuoraQuora has some truly smart people on it. Depths of knowledge on ancient Rome, science, weird math, WW2, lots of esoteric stuff you to enjoy while queuing up to pay for your groceries or while getting your car washed. I mostly answered posts on novel writing. I am beginning to…3 min read
Jun 22, 2020What it Takes to Finish Your NovelWe know you started one… It’s one thing to start a novel. All that takes is a bottle of Macallan and a little sheltering-in-place. It’s another thing to finish it. …Fiction2 min read
Mar 20, 2020Darkness Falls in CaliforniaAt midnight last night our leaders shut down California. I don’t blame Eric Garcetti or Gavin Newsom for wanting to be heroes. I can live with erring on the side of caution. (I wouldn’t vote either of them for dog-catcher, but I’m trying to leave that aside.) …Corona Virus2 min read
Mar 19, 2020How To Write Your NovelThe other thing you need to know. Aside from coffee and a story burning in your gut like wasabi, there are many things you need to know to write a good novel. I’m not going to post about any of them today. Today is about some arithmetic. Today’s number is…Growth2 min read
Mar 11, 2020When your Side Hustle goes so Wrong…A few weeks ago I went out to buy hand sanitizer and there wasn’t any. But I’m a genius, so I figure I’ll make our own, make a big batch and we can sell it. Hysteria = Opportunity, right? I have a bunch of empty jars left over from my…Entrepreneurship3 min read