Every once in a while we writers crawl out of our hobbit holes and do events.
I had a very fine event last Thursday. I spoke in Canton. At the Friends of the Stark County District Library’s annual meeting. Every chair was filled. My speech went well. I sold a bunch of books. I didn’t get […]

I got a cell phone.
I had decided long ago never to get one.
First of all, I detest the cell phone behavior of others. Yakking while driving. Yakking at coffee shops. Yakking in line at the bank. Yakking in supermarkets. Yakking everywhere. And I hate it when people’s phones go off, playing those horrible little […]

Yes, yes, yes, I got the topcoat. But there was a final plot twist in the story. As you surely remember, Carol took back the coat they sent her because it was the wrong size, a 46 long. And so she took it back and got a 48 long. As it turned out, the […]

Carol and I were married four years ago, on December 21, at the O’Neill House, a magnificent Tudor mansion where one of Akron’s rubber barons once lived. We made our vows in front of a huge Christmas tree, surrounded by family and a lifetime of friends. The harpist played Greensleeves. My grandson, Gabriel, just 14 […]

We creators of fictional sleuths must never get so full of ourselves that we think we could actually solve a real-life mystery. But sometimes it’s hard to stay grounded. Take, for example, this recent snowstorm of clues that have led me to know what I’m getting for Christmas without even peeking in the box.
Here’s the […]

I am a hip, trendy guy. I quickly succumb to new fads and technologies – usually within a decade or two.
Christmas is no exception.
There was a time when I refused to have an artificial tree. Now I have one. There was a time when I disdainfully shook my head at the show-offs who covered their […]

Saturday night Carol and I went to see my mother at the rehab center. She’s been there for several weeks now, since she fell and broke her ankle. Maybe in a couple of weeks she can go home. Before Christmas, God willing.
The rehab center is a wonderful place. It’s called Falling Waters. It’s full […]

First of all, let me apologize for getting this posting up late.
It’s late because I forgot to write it last night. I forgot to write it last night because I was asleep on the sofa. I was asleep on the sofa because I totally conked out after raking my leaves. I guess I slept a […]

One of these days our house is going to disappear into a big hole in the ground with a resounding kerfluuumph.
Not because we live on an earthquake fault or over some old abandoned coal mine. Because of the books. The ever-growing number of books.
They come at us from all directions. Bookstores, garage sales, libraries, friends […]

Well, here it is – the heart-grabbing opening lines from my newest manuscript:

“Mexico by any measure is a giant. It’s population, now nearing 110 million, ranks 11th in the world. It is about three times the size of Texas ― 2.0 million square kilometers, or 761,600 square miles. Its large urban population and growing middle […]