The Author Guy Blog

  2 2 nd December 2023 Hello, out there, Welcome back. Today, I’ve been thinking about the expression “the reason for the season” as it pertains to Christmas. What about the inverse – when the season becomes the reason, moving from a noun derived from Scripture to an adjective associated with the last few weeks of the year? This time of year, for many or most of us, connotes a feeling that can reach in and touch the human spirit. As a novelist, I remain in awe of the Hallmark Channel’s ability to create a seemingly endless run of seasonally-themed movies, all essentially telling the same story with basically the same type of characters with the requisite happy ending in so many different versions. Yet it’s likely not the true meaning of Christmas (noun) that keeps viewers coming back for more, rather the sentimentality of the Christmas (adjective) spirt in each and every storyline. Not complaining, mind you. Rather wishing there was a way for this seasonal feeling of happiness and ...

  15 th December 2023 Hello, out there. Welcome back. Today, I want to share with you how proud I was when, upon renewing my passport recently for the fifth time since 1981, I listed my profession as “author.” It represents a dream come true for me since my high school days, and places me into what I believe is a very special category – one I encourage you to join. I’ve read many times that 80% of the U.S. population has thought at one time or another about writing a book. Only a very small percentage actually begin the process, and a miniscule number will go on to finish a manuscript. Sadly, for me at least, an even smaller subset of that tiny number will go on and actually publish a book. The rise of small and mid-size indie and hybrid publishers in recent years has opened doors for authors that were previously closed by the tight knit community of agents and mainstream publishers. I, for one, happily walked through that door ten years ago, and I would be delighted to share my ha...

  8 th December 2023 Hey, out there, Welcome back. Today, a word about words. A few weeks ago, the autobiography My Name is Barbra was released. No need to identify the author – who else could it be? But here’s the thing. Isn’t 992 pages a bit much, even for someone with such a stellar stage, film and music career? I think it is. The comparisons I’m about to make are by no means parallel or comparable, but they are, I believe, illustrative about the verbosity trap into which so many people in the public eye are prone to fall. The account of creation in Genisis is told in only 400 words; the Ten Commandments in 313; the Lord’s Prayer in 66. The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, contains a mere 1,322 words, yet the 2010 Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) extends to almost twelve million words with all of its associated regulations. Whether written or spoken, I believe more words don’t always, or even usually, equate to better.  The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s large...

  1 st December 2023 Hey, out there, Welcome back.  Today, I’ll explain a couple of things about this blog. I’m a huge admirer of the late bestselling author Pat Conroy (even visited his gravesite in a small cemetery near Beaufort, South Carolina cemetery). After his passing in early March 2016, a collection of some of his speeches, magazine articles and letters was published as A Low Country Heart (Reflections on a Writing Life).  In reading the book, I learned he began such reflections with the simple words “Hey, out there.” From all that I’ve read about him, including his 2018 biography My Unremarkable Life, I don’t think he’d mind this one tiny bit of emulation. Secondly, I live in a Southern town where residents know each other and their business … or think they do. When folks became aware of my books and my newspaper contributions, and I was introduced for the first time, because of the uniqueness of my last name, more than one person responded, “Oh, you’re the auth...