In praise of comfort reads

Like all writers, I’m a reader too. When I need to recharge, or am low in spirit, books are a great comfort. Over the years I’ve recognized there are books I always turn to. They’re the ones on my keeper shelf, which follow me from place to place, and whose characters...

The vanishing art of letter writing

When did you last write a letter? Or, a word I learned from Dictionary.com, when did you last epistolize? I’m not talking about sending an email, tapping out a text or posting on Facebook. When did you last put pen to paper and write a letter to a friend or family...

Books for planes and trains…but not automobiles

When this post goes live, I’ll be on my way from the UK to Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, via a layover in Toronto. Then it’s back to Canada, before returning to England a week later. Travel is a constant in my life, mostly for my day job. With long days,...

Words to live by

Words are my business. Finding the right words to express emotion, and to show conflict and character development, are fundamental to my work as a writer. I also delight in learning new words through reading, and the word of the day from Dictionary.com In 2014,...

Senses of Christmas

There’s a sticky note on the wall facing my desk. On it I’ve written the five senses–smell, taste, see, hear and feel–as a reminder to include sensory details in the scenes I write. Christmas is perhaps the most sensory of Christian festivals. So in the spirit of the...