I spent the first eight years of my life on Bainbridge Island, across from Seattle. In those days, the island was a friendly and familiar rural community, with only a gentle swell in population during the summer months. Where I lived our “neighbors” were Douglas firs,...

Books! What would we do without them? I literally go crazy if I don't have a current book, ready to snatch up at a moment's notice. In fact, it would be near impossible to fall asleep without reading at least a few pages of a book. Through the years I have en...

Okay. Face it. I am far from being an expert on this business we call writing. But, on the other hand, I have been an avid, prodigious, and downright manic reader since--well, since I could read. So, let me vent. I am getting pretty frustrated with "those-who-claim-to-...