The Work of Refinement

It’s a quiet week in my world. A relief after the hustle of my week off work. Traveling There are no announcements, no finished chapters, no visible milestones. What there is, instead, is refinement. Tomorrow I’ll be revising Chapter 7 in preparation for reading at Scribes. Reading aloud is an important tool. It clarifies rhythm,Continue reading “The Work of Refinement”

Knowing the Characters

When I read at Scribes last week, I was amazed again at the response. It does my heart good. People respond as though the characters’ inner lives feel real. They ask questions about motives, tensions, and decisions as if these are living people rather than historical figures on a page. That tells me something important.Continue reading “Knowing the Characters”

Standing on the Same Ground

Abraham Lincoln grew up in Indiana. I grew up in Indiana. So did my ancestors. We didn’t live in the same century but lived in the same state. That shared geography matters. My grandparents had a photo of Lincoln that always hung in their house, and it now hangs in mine. I think this isContinue reading “Standing on the Same Ground”