Posted by Walt “Slice of Life” writers, such as Ernie Pyle, Erma Bombeck, and Dave Barry, have occasionally been accused of exaggeration. A charge often leveled by parents, spouses, offspring, and just about anyone else who enjoys the gift of knowing them. To which I say: “Tosh” (and other words […]
VIPER at amazon for preorder
http://www.amazon.com/Viper-John-J-Desjarlais/dp/1933184809/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307241406&sr=1-6
The Bible as Literature
My usual blogging day is Saturday but I’ll be at the Printers Row Book Festival in Chicago – so I’ll post this a day early. I have the privilege of teaching ‘The Bible as Literature’ at my college. It’s an 8-week intensive online course that I guide nearly every summer. […]
Writing and the Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Lawrence, in his book The Practice of the Presence of God, writes about a prayer life that is not dictated by hours or structure. To practice the presence of God is to use every moment as an opportunity for prayer, be it words, action, or a simple awareness of […]
May Committee Updates
Here are the updates of current CWG committee. CWCO: (Leader: Karina Fabian)– About: Annual online conference. Next conference scheduled for March 17-30 2012.– Status: Committee currently in hiatus until September when planning and organization will begin again. CWCL: (Leader: Ann Lewis)– About: Annual Live conference– Status: In the final stages […]
Amazing Grace
I look at the pattern on the top of a pine cone and am fascinated by its rhythmically increasing woody scales. I notice the fiddleheads of the ferns and their identical unfurling symmetry. A few steps away, I take a closer look at the sweet woodruff and its whorled, leaves […]
Books in Heaven
There are books in heaven. Well, figuratively. First, there’s the scroll written on both sides with the 7 seals described in Revelation 5, with the 4 horses and riders of doom. Then there’s a ‘little book’ that John is told to eat in chapter 10. Then, in chapter 20, there […]
The Story Before the Story
I’m beginning the third mystery/thriller in the series that began with BLEEDER and continues in VIPER. At this stage there are all sorts of thoughts swimming in one’s head, and one of them is ‘what happened long before this story began’? What has happened in my characters’ families, education, careers […]
Abstract: A New Paradigm in Interaction of Small Quadruped Mammalian Life Versus Artificial Intelligence.
Posted by Walt A large number of writers work for cats. In a chat at the end of the recent Catholic Writers’ Conference Online 2011, someone mentioned cats and a flood of war stories inundated the chat room. Everyone, it seemed, had one or fifteen to tell about their fur-covered […]
Seat in the seat
We writers have a strange approach/avoidance thing going on with writing, like teenagers with their parents. I find that most young writers want to have written, but few like to write. They’ll find anything else to do, even unpleasant chores, rather than write – do dishes, vacuum the house, take […]