Big and Little Ways to Help

My latest at Our Sunday Visitor.

"When did we see you homeless?"

"It well may be — but unknown to you — a friend, coworker, neighbor or fellow parishioner has a family member who’s homeless. It well may be you have an immediate or extended family member living in a shelter or on the street."

Uh oh. A quiz.

My latest article at OSV.
Right here!

A 1982 DeLorean vs. a 2019 confessional?

Again, thank you Our Sunday Visitor for giving me such license when it comes to the newspaper article topics and angles I pitch. A 1982 DeLorean vs. a 2019 confessional? Great Scott!

How the confessional is better than a time machine

"How to Write Your Novel in Nine Weeks" now available in paperback

Now available in paperback: "How to Write Your Novel in Nine Weeks."

Let a sock puppet named Little Willie and me show you how you can do this. Yes, you. And tell your wanna-be-a-novelist friends. They can do it, too. (Certainly not as well as you, but still ... play nice.)

Buy my book, write your book. Boom. Done.

From the mouths of babes

But I don't waaaaant to.

Kinds of kindness

Thank you, folks at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, for running my ... stuff.
What type of kindness fits your life best?

"What is kindness? A basic definition is far from satisfying. 'Kindness is the quality or state of being kind.' Would it be unkind here to comment, 'Well, duh'?"

But you did reach your daily word count

So you got that going for you.

And he didn't even say "please."

But he's always been so cordial in his emails.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

But, it was so-o-o-o far into the future. I had plenty of time.

A Writer's Longtime Companion

What ranch folk would call a bur under your saddle.

Take the hint

Sure sign you've spent too much time talking to the barista about the book you're "working on" and not enough time actually, you know, writing.

No cookie determines your future

Don't believe everything you read about writing. You can write a book. (Yes, you.)

With coffee coming in a very close second.

Gordon Gekko, Greed and Grace

"For lack of a better term (here adapting a line from a 1987 movie) 'good greed is good.'”
My latest at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly.

A new take on one of my silly poems for kids

I've seen videos of my 1991 poem being performed by kids in speech tournaments but this is "sui generis" as we used to say in Latin class. One of a kind. Thanks, MC.

Just Keep Writing

Where's the line when it comes to 'just kidding'?

My latest at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly:

"Is teasing a sin against the Fifth Commandment?"

"...For this we turn to a group of adolescent males shooting hoops in the driveway, inhaling burgers at the fast-food joint or shuffling down the school hallway. That is, in their native habitat...."

Give "personal" peace a chance

You can find my latest at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly here.

No, most of us won’t broker a fair and lasting truce between two countries, but each of us can do something about the inner turmoil that bubbles up within ourselves throughout our lives.
We can give “personal peace” a chance.

Peace!

Why God Wants You to Be a Little Impractical

My latest at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly.

Take comfort in the fact God is a big-picture guy. A creative, big-picture guy. It’s not that he’s playing chess while we’re playing checkers. Closer to he’s playing chess, and we’re gnawing on a checker piece. And drooling.

God understands that we don’t get it. If he had wanted us to completely get it, he would have created us to completely get it while on earth. (Later in heaven, yes!) But he didn’t. So we don’t.

The Spirituality of Creativity

The Spirituality of Creativity

My latest at Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly. Featuring "20 Ways You're More Creative Than You Realize." (Including "your happy dance.")

Just keep writing.