On December 29, 2023, I did what I hadn’t done in five long years: finished the first draft of a new book. I know. I’m as surprised as you are. During most of those years, I didn’t think I’d ever write another book, that there was no point, that I’d burned out whatever sources of joy or inspiration I used to have. But those things weren’t gone – they were only dormant.
Long Time, No Talk
The last time I wrote a blog post, I was living in an Extended Stay hotel in a new state, with no address of my own. I felt forced out of my previous home by the unwillingness of insurance companies to accept the fact that their business is, in essence, gambling. They chose to jettison all bets that appeared likely …
Fire, Water, Burn: California Is a Bloodhound Gang Song
What made you choose the city or town that you live in? Was it your job? Was it because you grew up there? Was it because you can afford it? Was it because you like the view? What if you had to start over and pick someplace new? Where would you go? How would you decide where you should be? …
How to Translate a Foreign Language Video on YouTube
If you’ve ever wanted to translate a foreign language video on YouTube, this is the post for you. Boy, if I had a dime for every time I found a documentary on a royal figure that’s in Russian, German, or some other language I don’t speak…I’d have enough money to buy a second monitor, that’s for sure. The technology isn’t …
Historical Research: Forums, Search Engines & Social Media
How do you learn about a person who lived a hundred years before you, in a country that speaks another language? You get crafty AF. Clearly, I’m no expert. But I’m documenting the process here for my own benefit as well as yours. The older I get, the more forgetful I get. Sometimes, I just need that shit written down. …
Historical Research: What’s in a Name?
Hands down, the hardest part of research is keeping everything organized. When I started this project, it was just for fun. I didn’t realize it would snowball into three books, with hundreds of sources in four languages. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you actually know. That’s okay—it happens to just about everyone. But it meant …
A Writer’s Midlife Crisis
There is a lie we tell our children. It goes something like this: “If you set your mind to a goal, you can achieve it. Anything is possible if you work hard enough.” We tell our kids they can be an astronaut, a ballerina, a basketball player, a physicist, or even the president. It’s not true. At least it wasn’t for me. I …
2016 Wrap-Up
Happy New Year’s weekend, everyone! Welcome to my year-end wrap-up, along with a few recommendations for amazing stuff to watch and read that I discovered in 2016. Although this year kind of sucked for obvious reasons, it wasn’t all bad. Here’s the proof. On to the wrap-up! In 2016, I published: I have two more books coming soon: I’m also planning …
The Carmelite Prophecy: Reading List
This book was simultaneously fun and torturous to research. On the one hand, who wouldn’t want to prowl around the web and YouTube looking for pictures and video of a beautiful French church? On the other, I knew going in that a hell of a lot of people were killed there in a gory massacre in 1792. So there’s that. …
The Dante Deception – Chapter Six
June 1978Moscow, U.S.S.R. Three loud raps on the door startled him. Valentin Lazovsky looked up from his dinner, a plate of pierogi Stepan had left in the icebox for him. He glanced at his father, slumped in a moss-colored chair in the next room. Makar’s head twitched at the knock, but nothing more. Valentin made a fist. He got up …