Doralzuela – Exploring Miami

Thirteen miles west of downtown Miami is Doral. In recent years, as the political and economic conditions have deteriorated in Venezuela, so many of that country’s citizens have migrated here that Miamians now refer to the community as Doralzuela. In case your memory of the greater Caribbean map has dimmed,… read more

Wynwood and Little Haiti – Exploring Miami

Ten years ago Wynwood was like a lot of other old-time light industrial neighborhoods in the US. A wasteland of abandoned warehouses with empty streets and urban blight. A place you wouldn’t go to in the daytime, much less at night. What a difference a decade makes. Wynwood Today Today… read more

Blurb Writing II: Before and After

Blurb writing is difficult. But once you know the five steps, you have a chance at crafting something effective. See Writing Blurbs I: Five (Not So Easy) Steps. I’m using my just-released The Hard Bargain as a before-and-after example. Blurb Writing: Before Here’s what I wrote before attending Kristin Wallace‘s… read more

Writing Blurbs I: Five (Not So Easy) Steps

Raise your hand if you’re a novelist and you don’t like writing blurbs. Okay, that’s pretty much everyone. Most of us would say we prefer writing the 80,000-word novel to writing the 200-word blurb. (I know I’ve said as much.) Whether you are traditionally published or an indie author, you… read more

Writing Trends: Dos and Don’ts

To open my discussion of writing trends, I’ll quote the Beach Boys “Catch a Wave” from 1963: “Catch a wave / And you’re sittin’ on the top of the world.” Lucky you, if you swim out into the oceanic literary marketplace and sense a big wave coming afar off. All… read more

Miami Beach – Exploring Miami

Florida is such a strange, compelling place for me. And I am finding Miami ever-more fascinating. In my continuing exploration of the city I went to Miami Beach, aka South Beach, this week and took in the magnificence of 7 miles of white sand. It’s difficult to capture without an… read more

Alter Egos: Thomas Edison & Steve Jobs

I am reposting this blog from October 8, 2015 in response to the October 25, 2019 opening of The Current War: The Director’s Cut. This movie first appeared in 2017 but played mostly in art houses. It’s about Thomas Edison who favored direct current (DC), and George Westinghouse who favored… read more