My Twelve Books of Christmas 2025
My Twelve Books of Christmas 2025 It’s that time of year again, where I talk about my favorite books of the year, what I call …
Torino Film Festival 2025
Torino Film Festival 2025 The 43rd annual Torino Film Festival is winding down, and it’s been a lot of fun, as always. Last year I …
How to Set Up a Revision Journal
How to Set Up a Revision Journal This month’s post is something of a continuation of last month’s post. There I discussed using Sandra Scofield’s …
D is for Dispirited
D is for Dispirited As I was trying to think of a title for this post (my original idea was “When You Want to Look …
East of Eden – Top Shelf
East of Eden – Top Shelf Over at Doorstoppers we tend to read a long classic (or anyway an “older” book) during the summer. I’m …
Creating Alchemy and Suleika Jaouad
Creating Alchemy and Suleika Jaouad One of my all-time favorite memoirs is Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad. In …
A Tale of Two Drafters
A Tale of Two Drafters With two books published since October 2021 and a third in final revisions and due out imminently, I decided to …
A Focus on Focus…and Festivals
A Focus on Focus…and Festivals I’m sure I’m not the only one who goes through periods of being utterly unable to focus on anything other …
Trusting the Process
Trusting the Process – Shaun McNiff’s Trust the Process When we get stuck in our own heads, trusting the process is useful advice. Here I …
Roots and Other Problems
Roots and Other Problems We just finished up the latest selection at Doorstoppers, Roots, by Alex Haley. It had been on my TBR for literally …
Death of The Author, by Nnedi Okorafor
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor A novel-within-a-novel featuring robots who crave stories springboards Zelu, the protagonist of Nnedi Okorafor’s latest book, Death of …
The Other Side of IT
The Other Side of IT I’ve been watching coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires, which has no doubt transfixed so many people in the last …
Five Books for Beginners in the New Year
Five Books for Beginners in the New Year We’re coming up on a new year and, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, …
Torino Film Festival 2024
Torino Film Festival 2024 I missed the opening weekend of the Torino Film Festival this year, but I can’t complain too much since I was …
The Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery and Story Structure I love a good heist film — who doesn’t? — and decided to rewatch 1978’s The Great Train …
Summer of the Lost Summer – How to Rerail the Derail
Summer of the Lost Summer Summer is winding down here and I’ve been trying to deal with a mélange of feelings. Having to cancel all …
You Don’t Have to Be a Star, Baby
You Don’t Have to Be a Star, Baby As hard as it is to believe, it’s already been ten weeks since I was in the …
A Magic Carpet Ride to Anyplace Other than the Couch
A Magic Carpet Ride to Anyplace Other than the Couch It’s been almost six weeks since I was in the hospital, which I talked about …
Sometimes You’re the Hammer
Sometimes You’re the Hammer Have you heard that expression? You know, the one that starts “Sometimes you’re the hammer….” Ah, well, if you haven’t, think …
2024 Turin International Book Fair
2024 Turin International Book Fair It’s that time of year again. We’re gearing up for the 2024 Turin International Book Fair (aka the Salone del …