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Women’s shirts make messaging hard

A woman approached me yesterday and asked, “Do you like my tee shirt?” There was a message on the shirt, stretched across her chest, which is always awkward for me. Her request amounted to something like this: “I’ve purchased a shirt with a clever message that I’d love for you to read and admire. Unfortunately,…

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My postage stamp mia culpa

Yesterday I shared a series of text messages between my wife and me that did not go well. While standing in the post office, I watched a woman spend five minutes examining all of the possible postage stamps, hemming and hawing, before choosing the one that she liked. As I watched this happen, I sent…

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Worst moment ever for an author

Elysha and I stepped into a bookstore a couple years ago, looking to spend a little time browsing before heading home. As we entered, I noticed an author standing in the cafe to the right, speaking to a small audience of readers. He stopped speaking for a moment as I passed through the doorway, and…

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These two posts make readers the most angry

I’ve been writing a blog post every day without missing a day for nearly 15 years, and almost 11 years on this platform. That’s 4,696 days worth of blog posts, More than 4,696 actual posts, since there was many days, especially in the past, when I would more than once on a single day. That’s…

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“I don’t mean to insult you, but…”

I was speaking to an auditorium filled with high school students about storytelling. After completing my remarks, I asked for questions. A young man in the front row raised his hand. When I motioned in his direction, he stood and said, “I don’t mean this as an insult…” I stopped him right there. “I want…

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Warmer days ahead

The weather has turned cold in New England. Frost on windshields. Leafless trees. Demands that Charlie put on real shoes and socks before heading outdoors, damn it! On mornings like this one, when I’ll be forced to don a hoodie before heading outside and won’t be able to play golf until well after has risen,…

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Perfect pair

Three ways that clearly indicate how Elysha and I were meant to be together: We both eat our hot dogs plain. We are both vehemently opposed to finding out the sex of your baby prior to birth. We both firmly believe that Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the Battlestar Galactica reboot are the two best…

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Twenty-one Truths About Love!

Best cardboard box of the year showed up at my doorstep yesterday. Copies of my next novel, “Twenty-one Truths About Love,” have arrived. This is my fifth novel and my sixth book, and honestly, it was just as exciting as opening the box and seeing my first. There will always be a part of me…

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A lot of feelings for my children today

My 10 year-old daughter, Clara, is teaching my 7 year-old son, Charlie, about author Mary Shelley and the writing of Frankenstein. Also about the feminist implications of Shelley’s work as it relates to her position in both the world and her marriage during her life. At 6:19 AM. While playing Minecraft. I’m not sure if…

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Optimism is kind of like eating kale

I am an eternal optimist. I’ve been told – many times – that this is empirically ridiculous given the life that I’ve led, but wait. Yes, I was arrested and tried for a crime I did not commit, but I was also found not guilty. Yes, I’ve twice stopped breathing and my heart stopped beating,…

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