Welcome! Jump Right In.

Welcome to the blog!
First and foremost, check out my book: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/FallstheShadow.html

Okay, business out of the way... on to thoughts and ruminations.

Who am I? I'm a writer from Northern Virginia. I'm a husband and a parent. I'm a New Englander at heart, transplanted to this area more than twenty years ago. I miss the weather, believe it or not.

Northern Virginia really is a fascinating area. There are people from all over the world here. I know, nowadays there are people from all over the world everywhere you turn. It really is amazing. But in the Washington, DC suburbs we meet people from all over the world every day. Just walk into the local supermarket and you're liable to run into a neighbor from India; the cashier may be from Estonia; the manager may have just arrived from China... you get the point. It really is interesting.

The faces, the languages, the dress, the cultures all colliding daily in a colorful, sometimes cacophonic, suburban dance. The varied perspectives you can find from just talking to the parents from other countries is amazing. And it's good to shed our misconceptions and dispel the foundless rumors that float around out there. It's particularly good to step outside our comfort zone and experience something totally new now and again.

You want to experience something new right away? Go to a pot luck lunch at your place of business in Northern Virginia, particularly if it's a high tech business. The food is glorious! And it's from everywhere! And people are so proud to share these delights with everyone. It's fun and eye-opening, not to mention waist-expanding.

What's most interesting about this area is that we're close to lots of different things. Boating, skiing, hiking, beaches, museums, night life, theater, foliage, pro sports, you name it. If you're interested in something, chances are you can get to it fairly quickly from Northern Virginia. Sure, it might take a little longer to get to a beach at the height of summer. And sure, it's going to take you some time to get downtown during rush hour. But the stuff is there. It's all around you. I guess timing is the key there.

I've often heard folks from California say how they have everything - skiing, beaches, etc. etc. And I get that. It's beautiful. It is convenient. I have been amazed at all there is to see and do here, though. I'm not selling the place, just sharing the realization. In short, it's pretty handy.

Over the past few years I've been doing a fair amount of writing. I look out past my desk, through the window, into my back yard (covered in snow right now), and just drift off into another world. That's pretty much how the initial process goes for me. I go away. I brainstorm, mind dump, whatever you want to call it. Then I go back and rewrite. And rewrite. And rewrite.

Did I mention rewriting? Tons of it. I actually find the rewriting process more enjoyable than the initial writing process. It's like I have the clay in front of me and now I can mold it. In my experience, the writing and rewriting processes are different for everyone. I have a few friends who find the "emptying of the imagination," that opening salvo in the proverbial war against the page, to be the be-all and end-all. It is definitely exhilarating. You have the idea. (I've learned over the years not to trust my memory, so I write this stuff down at the oddest of times - honey, would you put away that notebook, the concert is about to start.) You let the idea germinate. You play around with the idea. You even talk about it with a close friend, just to make sure you're not going nuts or anything. Then you start formulating a structure. Sorry, I need to get some sort of structure in place. The only writer I know of who just leaps onto the page without knowing where he's going and has any success is Stephen King. And let's face it, there aren't many of him around. Anyway, once I have a structure in place I start dropping the pieces into it, moving them around, finding the good fit and flow. And then I start writing.

And if you're anything like me, once you get going, you don't want to stop.
So, I'll stop here. See you next time!