Welcome to Always Hope
It’s time to write casually, from the heart.
I’m launching a monthly Newsletter named after my daughter, where I hope to connect with readers interested in knowing more about my writing and my life, which is no bigger than anyone else’s but chock full of stories. (Ask those who know me.)
I’m retiring my blog but the old posts are still available down there.
Come on. Sign up for this thing. It’ll be a journey for both of us.
Blog Archives
How To Not Go Nuts While Writing
I'm often asked by other writers how I get my work done.
I ask them the same thing, looking for the same guidance. For all of us, it's a constant challenge. We need all the fairy dust we can find.
It's All Talent
I recently visited Stephen King. Not the man himself but his black, wrought-iron, bat-studded fence outside his red home in Bangor, Maine. That day his front driveway gate was open, yawning, daring, but I didn't trespass.
Writing A Sex Scene Isn’t Sexy
There is much to think about when considering a sex scene as a novelist. How graphic? Should I include clinical detail or cut to the waxing moon?
Inspiration
At Brasenose College at the University of Oxford there is a famous chapel with an unknown secret door. It’s in the high wooden wall that separates the entrance narthex from the chapel proper, to the right of the stairs that lead up to the massive organ that rises to the gorgeous fan-vault ceiling.
Building Structure in Farmer’s Son
I’ve been asked how I structure plot. Not so much how I make characters cause the effects that advance the drama but how I choose the framework to tell the story.