Tag: writer

  • My poems are “accessible.”

    My poems are “accessible.”

    A while back, I compiled some of my poetry and had Community Printers in Santa Cruz print up two hundred copies, which I distributed to family and friends. I did three readings and maybe sold a half dozen books. All in all, a great experience. I have continued to write…

  • Adventure in Lombok Strait—2003

    Adventure in Lombok Strait—2003

    This blog has nothing to do with my novel, Five Hundred Moons. (Did I hear some sighs of relief?) No, it’s about my son and his friends and an adventure in Lombok Strait—2003. An experience they would just as soon forget.

  • Destination: New Friends, Books, and BBQ – The Texas Book Festival

    Destination: New Friends, Books, and BBQ – The Texas Book Festival

    At 5:00 AM, Jennie and I threw our human necessities into the Toyota. Destination: New Friends, Books, and BBQ – The Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas, home of my first and only editor, a person I’d never actually met.

  • A Large Mushroom Cloud—California Wildfires and the Ohlone Way

    A Large Mushroom Cloud—California Wildfires and the Ohlone Way

    Recently, I noticed a large mushroom cloud over the Gabilan Mountain Range, east of Salinas. Like most news junkies these days, I went online to investigate.

  • Reunions and Reviews…

    Reunions and Reviews…

    The past two Saturdays I’ve been involved with two reunions—my 50-year high school reunion (Soquel High) and a family reunion that Jennie and I hosted at our house (all descendants of my grandfather). Both affairs were enjoyable. I got to visit with people that I’ve been close to for many…

  • What’s in a Name?

    What’s in a Name?

    The original title for Five Hundred Moons was In the Name Of. Throughout the entire writing process that was the name of the book. I even had my daughter-in-law design the cover art with that title in bold print. I assumed most people would add their own opinion as to…

  • How I Learned to Write

    How I Learned to Write

    Since I published Five Hundred Moons, several people, including some I’ve known since third grade, have made the comment, “I didn’t know you could write so well,” or posed the question, “How did you learn to write?”

  • My Wedding

    My Wedding

    On June 27, 1981, at 5:00 pm I stood next to the altar in the Mission Carmel Basilica, waiting for my bride to appear from the courtyard about a hundred feet down the center aisle. Below me, entombed in stone crypts, were the bones of three men—Father Juan Crespi, diarist…

  • Traveling along the Central Coast

    Traveling along the Central Coast

    While traveling along the Central Coast, Jennie and I took a trip down to Anzo Borrego Springs to see the wildflowers. Unfortunately, rainfall in the desert has been so sparse this year that we were mostly treated to cacti, dry shrubbery, and the occasional ocotillo bloom.

  • We took a short road trip down to Oceanside

    We took a short road trip down to Oceanside

    Jennie and I took a short road trip down to Oceanside a few months back. The brief trip was a spur-of-the-moment getaway…