Month: October 2013

  • On dogs and manuscripts

    I have heard about dogs that are so well-behaved, you could leave a plate of food out and they won’t touch it, even if you leave the room. (Even if you leave the house!) I have heard about dogs that are so well-behaved, you can tell them to stay by the mailbox and they won’t…

  • Moms are the best (Or: A brief scene from Friday Night Lights that brought me to tears)

    First, a very relevant shout-out to my mother: Happy birthday, Mom! Thanks for always supporting me in the pursuit of my dreams. After a series of controversies, Dillon Panthers star running back Smash Williams finds himself without a scholarship. Which means he can’t afford to go to college. Coach Taylor lines up one last opportunity, but Smash…

  • Family and football rule all

    When people say they love Friday Night Lights, they generally mean the TV show. FNL, if you’re in the know. Dillon, Texas. Go Panthers. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. Since I tend to resist things that are hugely hyped, I avoided FNL for a long, long time. Finally, the dust settled — to the…

  • Wisdom from James McBride and Maria Semple

    Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending Books by the Banks, an awesome celebration of authors and books and reading and writing, put on annually by the local libraries and my favorite independent bookstore (Joseph-Beth, where Andy proposed). Previous years have brought some amazing authors like Garth Stein, Jennifer Weiner, and Dennis Lehane. This…

  • Two important messages

    Friend and fellow writer Dustin is a very talented artist, and he’s participating in this thing called #inktober. I’m an amateur doodler at best, but I like the spirit of #inktober, so I’m going to do the “5K” version, meaning 1 drawing a week. Here is my first: Riley wanted to participate too, but he…