Posts made in August, 2011

I love to swim. I’m not a very strong swimmer, but I love it. I did a couple of mini triathlons when I was younger and tried to train hard so the swimming portion wouldn’t hurt me, but it never helped. One year I did a triathlon in the police games, the mile swim was in a lake, and I was last out of the water. Ouch. I still love to plod along either in a pool or in the ocean and I have a great respect for those hardy souls who swim well and swim far, whether it be in a grueling race like an Ironman triathlon or some of the impressive long distance swims I’ve read about. I’m in awe of people who have the determination and stamina to train and compete in all extreme sports. But nothing boggles my mind like open water swimming Here’s a list of seven swims,...

Since I take care of my elderly parents, there are times when I dwell on the subject of aging. Now, it’s not an option to age, everyone does it, but how can I do it so I don’t end up somewhere I don’t want to be. Today in the gym aging was on my mind and as I looked around me I couldn’t help but notice that while it’s true that everyone ages, it seems to me that not everyone gets old. There is this tall guy I see often at the gym, he walks on the treadmill, then he rides the bike and he chit chats with people. He’s got a full head of white hair, he’s very friendly, says hello to everyone and he told me that he’s 90 years old with three sons who are in their 60’s. He’s aged, but he’s not old. (I’ve noticed that he flirts with all the...

Where do you get ideas for your novels? Since I write suspense fiction, and in every book I have written the main character is a police officer, I often get ideas for novels from true crime reports, and in one or two cases, from crimes I saw while I worked in uniform. Sounds morbid, but since I believe there is hope in every situation, sometimes the more tragic the crime, the more hopeful the story becomes in my mind. There’s a web page I check regularly that is a compilation of crime stories from all around the country. Every so often a story shows up there from overseas, but in general the stories are about the most depraved people here in our own backyard. Today a few of the articles that caught my eye were one about a police shooting in Oakland, another...

Were people as rude before cell phones? I just got back from a trip to the doctor with my mom. We arrived a little early, but with only one elevator working out of three, we had a long wait for the elevator to take us to the top  floor. Once we stepped onto the only working car, it was packed. By the time we’d traveled three quarters of the way, everyone but my mom and I got off and a woman, talking on a cell phone, stepped in. But she kept her hand in the doorway so they would not close. She was not waiting for someone, she was trying to keep the doors from closing and severing her cell signal. So, she stood in the doorway, holding this one working elevator in place to finish her personal business. She finished the call just as I was going to say...

I just finished reading a book on writing, by the mystery writer Elizabeth George, called Write Away. I found it informative and inspiring. George is obviously a disciplined and thorough writer, of course I knew that from reading her books. Her recurring character is Scotland Yard DCI Lynley, and the crime series is set in Great Britain. The books are always long, involved and totally engrossing stories. One great nugget I took away from her writing book is the idea of “bum glue.” I’m sure you can guess the meaning of the phase, for a writer it means sitting at the computer and staying there to write. Easy enough, right? Not when the ideas are coming slowly and the prose is getting tougher and anything and everything can be a distraction. I admit I struggle...