We’re told that writers should read constantly. I’ll admit I did this a lot more of this when I was a tween and teen. I struggle now to read voluminously, and I gravitate toward what I like best, rather than stretch myself and read things outside of my comfort zone. Regardless, Siana’s War (my novel series) […]
On February 3rd I suffered a concussion. For the first week I labored under the illusion I would be fine… just needed to pop some Advil. By February 12th, I realized I was in for a big temporary change in my life. I took 11 days off work and had a slower, emptier life than […]
I don’t even remember what Perception: Part Two was going to be. Why? Because less than 24 hours after writing Part One, I struck my head on an overhanging concrete stair at work and began a many month, unexpected journey into the world of recovering from a concussion. It strikes me ironic that my last […]
A recurring theme in my experiences as a musician–both performing and teaching–is how subjectively people perceive situations. As a performer I have noticed–often to my own shock and dismay–that there seems almost no correlation between how I feel about my performance and what people have to say about it afterwards. It has taught me that […]
My hiking experience in the Issaquah Alps began with Cougar Mountain. But in 1998 we purchased a house much further south and over time became acquainted with the Southeast-most Alp, Taylor Mountain. My affection for Taylor was a slow grow. My heart was still in Cougar Mountain, for which I published the official guidebook in […]
I thought Field of Dreams was a really strange movie when I saw it. I’m not sure I remember it correctly. But the resonance of a piece of art is sometimes unrelated to your appreciation of it at the time. The phrase “Build It and They Will Come” (applied in the movie to Kevin Costner’s […]
Better put: boring lives achieve more. I spend a large portion of a typical week in one room, a beautifully equipped 220 square foot music studio with 11 guitars, a drum set, a 88 key synthesizer and a full recording setup. My house is on the same road as my studio, 7 miles south. I […]
An article Leviathan author Scott Westerfield wrote about Buffy the Vampire Slayer (A Slayer Comes to Town) made me conscious of a prevalent theme in sci-fi and fantasy: who is “In the Know”, versus who is not. Of course, as Scott points out, we’ve all been seeing or reading this dynamic in multiple stories all […]
I not only teach guitar and bass, but direct a music school that has over 30 instructors. I have never advertised a job opening. But I get lots of unsolicited resumes. In looking over resumes, I often don’t see the real information I’m looking for. What’s most important to me is your philosophy of teaching, […]
My brief answer is no. There is, however, a good reason for asking the question. Lovecraft is my all time favorite writer. To analyze Lovecraft’s influence on my unpublished fantasy trilogy Siana’s War, I’ll first address the question of Lovecraft’s influence on me. My fascination with Lovecraft began when I was a tween, and it […]