In 1991 at Rollins College—twenty-five years ago—I took a course from Dr. Lezlie Laws on writing about literature. We kept journals. We wrote assignments in those journals. We recorded private thoughts in them, too. At the time, I did not realize I was gardening. I was planting seeds for future works: for an essay titled, … [Read more…]
In 1997 I was living in the historic Hyde Park area of Tampa, Florida, that borders Hillsborough Bay. One day, while walking down Bayshore Boulevard, I came upon a sight I’ll never forget. (photo). The old Swann House, as it was called it, was gone. Evidently, while I’d been at work that … [Read more…]
What was I thinking? Write a book? With publication for Undertow fast approaching (before Christmas; I’ll let you know when you can pre-order your copy) I thought I’d start a series about what it’s been like to write it. Welcome to Part 1 of “Writing Undertow.” Bits of analogies. Let … [Read more…]
Life is shorter than we think. That’s cliché, I know, but clichés are clichés for a reason. They carry a truth. Have you ever had a new friend that you wished, after you discovered they must soon move away, that you’d spent more time with? Have you fallen into the habit of expecting your friends … [Read more…]
Finally! Beat the drums. Coming January 2017— Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International™ This memoir draws back the curtains on my seventeen years in The Way, one of the largest fundamentalist groups in the 1980s. I now consider it a destructive cult. When I’d dropped out of college in 1970 … [Read more…]