Category Archives: Writing

December 28, 2011 · 6:00 am

I’m Gettin’ Lazy


The grandkids are in town.  Four out of the seven, anyway.  As such, I don’t really have time for a lengthy blog and, besides, it’s the countdown to the end of the year.

And what better way to symbolize the coming end of the year than an old, weathered, sun-beaten wooden door.  This one is located in Santa Fe on Canyon Road:

Oh, by the way, have you gotten a digital copy of The Globe for your Kindle, yet?  Better hurry ’cause they’re going so fast that Amazon could run out of ones and zeros any time now.  Speaking of which, did you know that there are 10 kinds of people in this world?  Those who understand binary and those who do not.

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December 24, 2011 · 7:01 pm

The Globe—It’s PUBLISHED!


The Globe is now available for users of the Amazon Kindle and those who have loaded the free Kindle Reading App on their PC, Mac, Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, iPad, or other compatible iThingy®.  This novel was two years in the making and took an incredible amount of research.  It is, I believe, the best thing I’ve written to date, and I’m sure it will leave you clutching your Kindle device and perched on the edge of your favorite reading chair.

The Globe is currently enrolled in Amazon’s new Kindle Select program, and thus will be available for the time being only through Amazon—at least for the first ninety days of its release.  After that, I’ll reevaluate and decide whether to remove The Globe from Kindle Select exclusivity and make it available for the Barnes & Noble Nook.

If you’re a member of Amazon Prime, this means that The Globe is also available to read for free using Amazon’s Kindle Book Lending Program, which allows members to borrow one book a month for their Kindle or Kindle Reading App device.

And for those who want to know about The Globe:

The Globe—38,500 tons of ocean plying opulence housing in its fabulous apartments some of the wealthiest people on the planet.

Reynard Chevalier—The Globe’s security officer.  An expatriate American with a new name, a new country, a new life, and a past that is rapidly catching up and threatening to destroy him.

Staff Captain Katarina Giordano—Reynard’s boss during the day, his lover at night.

Jane Hanover—The Globe’s latest resident.  The fiancé from Reynard’s previous life.  The woman who has sent Reynard’s past careening on a collision course toward his all too vulnerable present.

Charles Hanover, III—Jane’s philandering husband.  A man who rationalizes his infidelities by demanding that his wife also find solace outside their marriage.

Security Officer Sarah Brighton—Reynard’s amorous Number 2.  A woman too young for Reynard and too determined to accept no for an answer.

Sterling Heyward—The Globe’s reclusive owner and Reynard’s best friend and employer.  A man whose enormous wealth was built spilling the blood of others.

The Globe Slasher—A sadistic sociopath with a very large chef’s knife and an insatiable blood lust for the rich and beautiful.  A serial killer who has reached into the distant past to find inspiration for his perverse grotesqueries.

Louis Guignard—The French police captain.  A man stationed in Saint Barts, hundreds of miles from The Globe.  A man walking Reynard through his investigation via a very tenuous internet connection.  A man who knows that it is only matter of time before the Globe Slasher turns on the one person aboard The Globe who can stop the slayings—Reynard Chevalier.

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December 23, 2011 · 4:00 am

Christmas 2011


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All

It’s the Christmas Season and I wanted to take this time to wish all my readers regardless of their religious beliefs all the best during this time of celebration and giving.

Many Christians decry that this season has lost its meaning.  They cite not only the commercialization of this very sacred holiday, but also take issue with the generic “Holiday Season Greetings” that are displayed so often nowadays.  I look at this differently.  Christmas hasn’t lost its meaning, and those of other faiths—or even no faith at all—are perfectly aware of the true meaning of this holiday.  Yet many of other faiths choose to get into the holiday spirit and partake in the traditions of gift giving, fellowship, and family anyway.  This is not something warranting disdain.  It is rather something to be celebrated.

I have friends who are Jewish.  I have friends who are Muslim.  I have friends who are Hindu.  I’ve had friends in the past, back when I lived in Japan many long years ago, who were practitioners of Shinto and Buddhism.  I have friends who are atheist.  The one thing all these friends shared with me was an understanding of the meaning of Christmas and an eagerness to partake of some of its traditions.  And for that I thank them and admire both their tolerance and their respect for others.

Likewise, I enjoy granting to my friends of other faiths my best wishes during their religious holidays, and I try to learn and respect their traditions as well.  I make sure my guests’ menus honor dietary restrictions.  I wait for sunset during Ramadan before serving food or refreshments to my Islamic friends whom I’ve invited into our house for dinner.  And if I’m unsure, I ask questions so as to avoid unintentional offense whenever I invite people into my home to dine.  I’ve learned much as a direct consequence of these practices over the years.

So, to all my friends and followers of this blog, I would like to wish all the best this holiday season, regardless of your religious faith.  And I would like to thank all who have embraced some of the traditions of Christmas and incorporated those traditions into your own homes and among your friends and family during this most joyous season.  I hope you find me at least as tolerant of your beliefs as you have been of mine.

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