We’ve all heard the platitudes. “Life is too short.” “Live the dream.” “Carpe Diem, Sieze the Day.” But have you really thought about what that means? One of my co-workers at my day job … a woman I’ve worked with for fourteen years … died on Saturday from a sudden…
Do Stories need Puzzles?
Here’s the other thing about my Dad that confuses me. (Well, there’s more than two, but I’m trying to focus, here.) When he reads for pleasure, he likes mysteries, or those adventure kinds of stories where the hero saves the world because he uncovered the enemy’s secret plan just in…
Back to Basics
I decided that the best way to get back into the mind set of writing was to … well, write, of course … but not just any writing. So many things have been turned upside down these last few weeks. First, finding someplace to live, then packing a house full…
How to Get Back to Writing
I have a problem. We moved two weeks ago. That might not seem insurmountable to you, but this is the first time (not counting dorm rooms in college) that I’ve moved in 34 years, and I think my system is still in shock. I knew, of course, that the first…
Can a Game be a Story?
My father is a puzzle to me. He watches sports for entertainment, for example, and when I protest that I prefer watching something with a story, he tells me “It’s all about stories.” He believes (I’m guessing) the strategies and the occasional player biography means that watching the events of…