Social Isolation Hack #1: Changing Your (Virtual) Scenery
Today’s headlines affirm many of us are hitting a social isolation wall, and we all have reason to fear a group charge into the virus-infected wild for a change of scenery (and maybe a bacon cheeseburger). Before you go full Butch & Sundance, maybe decorating your virtual space in...
Turn, Turn, Turn: The PD Gladiators Story and a Time for Reinvention
I have not posted in this space in over six years, but in my fourth season of reinvention (see sidebar) I’m re-purposing my blog. Now entitled Shaking The Chi, it will serve as an incubator for high impact solutions to complex social problems, with a particular focus on issues...
The Law of Small Numbers Repeated Many Times
I mentioned in my last post that I have some history as a deliberate thinker. As a writer, I craft my plots carefully, working out details early in the story to lead seamlessly toward the end game. You will rarely catch my protagonists relying on coincidence to solve a...
The Fiscal Cliff: A Return To Reason?
In the wake of the election, it’s nice to hear the usual DC suspects singing a tune of unity rather than obstruction. Time will tell if the principals in this stage show–President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner–back up their words with action, but they...
My Inspiration For King of Paine
I’m often asked about my inspiration for King of Paine because the story melds two wildly different story lines (and because one of them centers around some pretty kinky sex, and on first sight I seem about as vanilla as it gets). In the main story, Special Agent Frank...
The Chop, The Beast & The Infield Fly Rule
The knock on me as a sportswriter for the Albany Student Press back in the early 80s was that I wrote with my heart instead of my brain. After a December 7th triple-overtime loss by my beloved Great Danes to the national powerhouse Potsdam Bears (Albany played in Division III...
Weaving Social Themes Into Suspense Novels
Like many thriller/suspense authors, especially those trained as attorneys, I craft intricate, well-researched plots, engage my characters in thought-provoking social drama and spice their lives with alluring romantic entanglements. The most challenging aspect of mastering this genre is incorporating contemporary social issues without preaching or compromising pace. Two early...
Researching the Psychology of BDSM
Despite the provocative image on King of Paine’s cover, I did not set out to write a novel about BDSM. The story remains primarily a whodunit that follows two investigations, the FBI’s pursuit of a stalker committing a series of kinky Internet crimes and a reporter tracking the disappearance...
“Who Are You Chatting With? The Dangers of Anonymous Internet Communications”
Ever since my two sons began using AOL’s instant messaging service in the late-1990s, I’ve been intrigued by the potential for good and evil inherent in anonymous Internet chat, a device featured prominently in both of my novels. Like every parent, I feared my kids could become vulnerable to...
Patrick Henry Revisited: Give Me Liberty AND Give Me Death
I dislike that we have become a starkly divided nation but understand the philosophical underpinnings of many disputed issues. I can’t understand how one mind can believe government intrusion into the personal decisions of citizens is an intolerable restraint on liberty (the conservative credo), yet insist government deny women...
Debunking Cain: Turning 999 Upside Down
Herman Cain’s policies escaped close scrutiny while his presidential campaign lingered on the margins, but the businessman/radio personality’s recent burst into the frontrunner’s box targets him as a candidate to be taken seriously. He’s armed with what he calls his 999 Plan, and he’s dangerous. Cain’s plan is ultimately...
Is Social Security A Ponzi Scheme?
Texas Governor Rick Perry made headlines last week at the Republican presidential candidates’ debate when he asserted with an imperious tone that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It’s a tempting analogy because most of the payments to retirees are financed out of receipts from payroll taxes imposed on...