Otherways- Fiction Fanatics

Someone asked me recently how you could write every day and not get into a rut. Perhaps I shouldn’t attempt to read another person’s mind, but I think what they were really asking is what a writer does to keep their characters from becoming derivative. After all, what you write comes out of your head. What you like, believe, hate, and fear, probably hasn’t changed a lot since yesterday, so it is a very real concern that the people you in...

Since I am two weeks out from the American National Welsh horse show, wherein I will be showing a couple of ponies, and running the awards, I may have horse shows on the brain. Whether you show or not, though, there are a few things that are pretty much the same between showing a horse, and trying to get a novel published.

For instance, if you want to win, you can’t just pull Dobbin out of the field and sh...

Every once in a while, you read something that makes you want to never eat out again. Last week, just after I was mourning the closure of a restaurant/bar in Tulsa that I had occasionally enjoyed, I read that this same establishment had experienced “severe fly and roach infestations” in the months prior to its closing for good. Although that isn’t the reason they give for finally closing their doors, the news didn’t set well with m...

Dreams are worlds of our own creation, they spring entirely from our own minds, and yet very seldom does the dreamer seem to know what their own dreams mean. I find this a fascinating dichotomy, where we actually get a glimpse into our own subconscious minds.

Naturally, interpreting dreams is a big thing whether you’re a psychologist, or a fortune teller. Mystics from ancient to modern times have claimed ...

Some days, there are no words. At least, there are no words that it would be safe to speak. Any syllable that passed your lips on a day such as that would be razor-edged, and flung to kill.

On those days, I drink a lot of tea. I swallow a lot of emotions, and I let the words flow onto paper. No doubt, they still are potent, still fatal if taken internally. In those sessions, I’ve written lines that make ...

I’m really not sure how Aladdin got to be a hero. I’m not talking about the monkey-owning, Jasmine loving guy of Disney fame, but the original Aladdin. Like a lot of fairy tales the story has changed quite a bit from the original source, but here, we’re not even sure we have the original source. I first encountered Aladdin in the same place most people my age did, in the classic Arabian Nights collection of stories. I have to admit it wa...

Catching up on my reading is simply impossible. Not that I mind getting buried in this particular task, it’s just that my ‘to be read’ pile is threatening to collapse and do somebody some grievous bodily harm. I did manage to pull a couple of titles out and get them read over the last couple of days, and I thought I’d contribute to the delinquency of some other bibliophiles by reviewing these. After all, everyone needs a pile of bo...

Mothers will tell you that their children are part of them, that they share a connection that can’t be broken, no matter what distance lies between them and their children. It doesn’t matter whether their kids are still in diapers, or grown with kids of their own, the bond stays the same.

Turns out this may be more literally true than we thought.

Dads, I...

A couple of weeks ago, while we were in the grip of typical Oklahoma summer weather, I had an epiphany. If you don’t live here, I have to inform you that Summer is in fact gross. Temperatures can top a hundred and ten, while the humidity likes to hang out in the sauna range. Don’t get me wrong, I love the place, but Summer can be brutal, especially if you want to work outside. Since I’m a dyed in the wool horse junkie, I was of course co...

Wine is very chic right now, but our love affair with the bottled grape has been going on longer than recorded history. For me, wine holds little allure, since my first several attempts at sampling wine induced horrific migraines. No doubt, there are hundreds of types that won’t cause my brain to implode and initiate self-sustaining fusion, but I think I’ll pass just the same. Still, I find the chemistry of wine, and its hold on people, quite ...