The Best Advice So Far: lights - glowing lights across ocean water at night

lights

The night was unusually dark and the water unusually warm as I walked along the beach. Very few houses within view were lit, and even the moon and stars were obscured by storm clouds. Even so, I was content to make my way by the intermittent flashes of heat lightning dancing overhead — and a…


coffee klatch

My new friend Colleen was kind enough to have me over to her blog today for a virtual coffee and book chat—as well as her awesome review of "Alternate Reality". It will help me... and Colleen (and YOU, I think!) if you'll pop over for a few minutes and check it out.  


poke

If you’re a reader of my blog or books, or if you’ve ever met me in real life, then you know very well by now the central theme of my writing, mentoring, relationships and… well, pretty much everything else. Let’s all say it together, shall we?   “You always have a choice.”   That seemingly…


Five-Star Review on a Paper

(re)view

My mom joined me for the first two weeks or so of my extended vacation to Naples, Florida. One of the many outings we enjoyed together was a three-hour tour (just like Gilligan’s Island!) by boat through the Ten Thousand Islands of the Everglades mangrove forests to a remote island where we could…


a young black male with bright clothing and a quizzical/skeptical look

hope z

For as long as I can remember, my usual workout time has been between midnight and 3:00 AM. A couple of weeks back, two young guys—Josh and DaeDae—started working the overnight shift at my gym. I’ve been chatting with them here and there—when I arrive, when I leave or whenever they happen to be…


scam

Most people who read my blog know me first and foremost as an author. So they are surprised when they learn that I do other things as well. (And conversely, those whose first dealings with me center on one of those other areas are always surprised to find that I’m also an author.) Well, one of…


Flat rustic wooden head shape on rustic boards. A living vine with heart-shaped leaves runs underneath, and a magnifying glass highlights gears in the brain area.

less lonely

We’ve heard it a million times: “Bad news sells.” And we’ve certainly had more than our fair share of it lately, haven’t we? As someone who takes my own advice perhaps more than anyone, and ever keeping in mind that central theme of mine — “You always have a choice" — I went beyond simply turning…


The Best Advice So Far - it's a breeze - curtain fluttering at an open window

it's a breeze

One day last week, I wished a friend of mine a happy birthday. He turned 30 and was feeling old. Interestingly enough, he was a sophomore in high school when I met him, and I was older than he is now. So I was able to paint a convincing picture for him as to just how young he still is. As we…


The Best Advice So Far - the builders

the builders

I was wakened from a sound sleep by the ungodly grinding of a saw cutting through what sounded like concrete or metal right outside my bedroom wall. The whole place shook, setting the nearby jar candles to skittering. It was immediately clear that this was not going to be a situation solved by…


The Best Advice So Far - elevator

elevator

Whenever someone learns that I’m a writer, they inevitably ask the following two questions: What do you write? Who is your target audience? They’re reasonable questions. And you’d think that after a decade of professional writing, I’d have honed my elevator pitch by now. I haven’t. I’ve…