Blog To my Son My son, do not fear. There are many things to be confused about, yes. Many questions are yet unanswered, and the guiding light of hope and freedom for our country has been dimmed. But that light will not be extinguished. I ask you to be brave in the days ahead.
Blog Progress on the Book Cover Great progress on the cover design for my novel, The Tree of Children. I have enjoyed working with the artist, Ashley Sowell [https://www.instagram.com/commandurr14/]. Fonts will change but I really like her energy in how she represents the main characters.
Essay Life of (Pizza) Pi In the face of this density of pizzerias on a single side of a hundred-yard stretch of road, a deep understanding of the rankings can only come through years of dedicated testing and retesting. You can’t get that from a few casual visits.
Blog Opening up Royal Road and Patreon After reviewing several of the self publishing websites, I decided to open an account on Royal Road where I can publish serialized versions of my fantasy long form writing. No, it isn't "the dream" of getting picked up by a big four publisher, but so what.
Essay Streams of Time I jump into my Google photo collection and keep scrolling back all the way to 2002, the first dated picture I have stored there. Then I inch forward in time.
Essay On Figuring My dog keeps looking at me like I have all the answers, like I am about to do something incredible, and she’s going to be there for it.
Blog Publishing It seems pretty difficult to get a book published. Even digital publishing, as simple as it is, seems fraught with doubt, what ifs, and expense. But, what can be done? I am wrapping up the first part of a book I have been working on for awhile and I want
Blog COVID Testing Without Cars How are people who do not drive, and who might be in a wheelchair supposed to get COVID tested? Many of the testing centers I see are drive thru. Some are in hospital centers, but I suppose the person who thinks they have COVID is supposed to get on a
Essay The Work You Do An alumni association from one of my old colleges telephoned the other week. “Hello, Mr. Field! Can you catch us up on your education since leaving our school?” Of course. I provided the highlights of the six colleges I attended and three master’s degrees I earned. “Oh, my! So
Essay The End of Learning I had to drive around the block to see them, my children, as they carried themselves towards the old stone steps
Essay The Spring of our Reconditioning Where does the return to the old ways leave me, the common house dad? I am the parent who played the stay-at-home role over the last 400+ days. After everyone returns to work, and I come home to a quiet, suddenly empty house, I wonder if I will miss any of it and what I will do.
Essay Featured Slow-Time House Dad There are two large cookbooks in front of me on the table. My wife used them to press the moisture out of the tofu we air fried. I don’t…
Essay Featured Thirty-Eighth Wednesday of the Pandemic Drinking bitter coffee at our small dining room table, I can look out the window and see the piles of camping gear on the back porch…
Essay Featured The Hard Part of Writing I am sitting on thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of words. I crafted my story and heroine and dramatic arc and epic conclusion. I placed that last period after that last word of that last sentence.
Blog We Need a National Discussion on Living with COVID-19 for the Long Term The thing that bothers me is that our national leadership is acting like the COVID-19 virus is some sort of temporary thing. Our leaders need to underscore the message that this virus will be here for a while; a year, maybe years.
Blog What Len Taught Me There was a time when I thought I might make a pretty good teacher. People told me I was kind and patient, understanding, and knowledgeable. They told me I had so many qualities of one. Then I worked as a substitute in a public school district.
Blog COVID-19 and the Working Parent I have a luxury. I am in graduate school. As I observe the number of COVID-19 infections grow by ten thousand each week, and hear of regional lockdowns, major conference cancellations, and school closures, I take a minute to consider what it might mean if my children’s school closed.
Blog Getting Knocked Down It is easy to look in the mirror and not see any value. Walking out of class yesterday, feeling too miserable because I can’t understand the math behind economics, I kept having memories from my freshman year of college in Kentucky; they kept looping through my head.
Essay On Seeking Joy What is joy? Is it watching your children run into their school building on a drizzly morning, their backpacks bobbing up and down as they laugh and leap around puddles? There they go, through the doors. What wonders await them.
