I’m Getting Into Audiobook Narration

Here recently, I realized that I have a perfectly good microphone from my podcast days lying around, a free GarageBand program on my MacBook Pro, and some evening free time. So, why not take all of the novels I’ve written over the years and narrate them into audio books? Well, first of all, one has to

All We Have To Decide…

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often? J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” I think of this quote more and more as I get older, and since this week marks

My Mother One Year From Her Death

Today’s prompt is a good one. I suppose I could write about a lot of family members, but the one who made the most positive impact on me was my mother, Rita Mae Colby. My mom grew up in southern Oklahoma, Johnson County, near the small town of Milburn. When I say small, I’m not

Why I Ditched Social Media, and You Should, Too

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog, but it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything at all, really. I’ve written six novels since 2009, but haven’t written anything since 2018. Not a blog post, not a short story, not anything. I went through a horrific set of trials

Why Teaching Research Writing Is More Important Than Ever

As Harlan Ellison said: “You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. Everything else is just hot air and farts in the wind.”

How a Writer Beats the Coronavirus Blues

As a creative, someone who is hyper-sensitive to emotional cues, I am bombarded with this so much that I am overwhelmed. Sitting down to write about it is at once therapeutic and also necessary. I’ve decided to do a few things to get me through it, and also to help me actually get back to writing.

Works That Inspire Writing Day 3: Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers”

I know I haven’t been doing these day-to-day, but I’ve been trying to keep my students engaged online during this pandemic. However, today’s piece is one of my favorite Robert Heinlein novels: “Starship Troopers”. Unfortunately, Paul Verhoven is forever linked to this amazing novel, having made a horrible adaptation of the book. The novel indeed

Works That Inspire Writing Day 2: Fahrenheit 451

Of all of Ray Bradbury’s novels this one has to be my favorite. It is his most critically acclaimed novel and his most controversial. I honestly think that many of the ideas expressed in the novel are timeless and nothing could be further from the truth in our current political climate in the United States.

Works That Inspire Writing Day 1: Hulu’s “Devs”

I decided to write a 30 day blog challenge in which I write about works that inspire me as a writer. I wanted to showcase these things mainly because I needed something to write about that would kick-start my writing day and because I just wanted to share work, hard work, that exemplifies what I

The Plight of a Red State Teacher

I have watched the direction in which our GOP dominated legislature and governor are leading the state regarding education and I am feeling rather hopeless. It’s not just in my state, but public education is in trouble in every red state in the union.