New Star Wanderers cover reveal!

Behold! This is officially the new ebook cover for Star Wanderers. I’ve uploaded it to all platforms, though I haven’t updated the epub files yet. I’ll also update the paperbacks as soon as I have a chance, though that may take a while, especially with the new baby. This image was AI generated using Stable… Continue reading New Star Wanderers cover reveal!

Can this video possibly be more Georgian?

All it needs is a couple of old men playing backgammon on a folding table by the side of the road… although that’s something you see more of in the town, not the village. For goodness’ sakes, it even has a rooster crowing at the end!

Motatseba, or how to bag a wife—literally (Blast from the Past: April 2012)

With the rise of #MeToo, I thought it would be interesting to revisit this old post from my time in the Republic of Georgia. Here in the US, we seem to be in the process of completely reworking the societal norms for how men and woman interact in the public sphere. On one extreme, we… Continue reading Motatseba, or how to bag a wife—literally (Blast from the Past: April 2012)

Color Revolutions and Collusion News Network

For most of 2012, I lived in Georgia, a former Soviet Republic of the USSR. I came to know the people, the culture, and the politics of that part of the world first-hand. In particular, I was there for the 2012 elections, a watershed moment for modern Georgian politics. A little bit of background. Georgia… Continue reading Color Revolutions and Collusion News Network

The road to Kutaisi

Here is another unpublished post I found while rummaging through some of the old drafts on my blog. I wrote it while I was teaching English in Georgia, and probably intended to publish it after I’d taken some pictures, but never got around to it. I lived in Kutaisi, but made it out to Tbilis about… Continue reading The road to Kutaisi

The Self-Sufficient Writer: What I Learned by Leaving the Country

When I left the United States in 2012, I didn’t have self-reliance in mind. The plan was to break out of the cycle of poverty I’d been living in by starting a career teaching English overseas, bouncing around the world as a global nomad. If I landed a good paying ESL job somewhere like the… Continue reading The Self-Sufficient Writer: What I Learned by Leaving the Country

#WIP excerpts: THE SWORD KEEPER, chapter 2.1

I really like this excerpt. I wrote it while I was living in a farmhouse in rural Georgia (the country, not the state). A lot of the stuff from this scene was pulled directly from my own experience. We had chickens, cows, pigs, sheep (dumbest animals I’ve ever seen!), and grew grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, and… Continue reading #WIP excerpts: THE SWORD KEEPER, chapter 2.1

W is for Writing the Next One

If you want to make a living as a writer, you’ve got to write a lot of books. One book is not sufficient to make a career, unless you’re the exception that proves the rule. But that’s okay, because writing is probably the thing that made you want to do this as a career in… Continue reading W is for Writing the Next One

Q is for Quitting the Day Job (or never having one to begin with)

Writing is one of those gigs where everyone expects you to have a day job, since common wisdom says that writers don’t make money. In traditional publishing, that may be generally true, but self-publishing is an entirely different game. It isn’t necessarily easy to make a living as an indie writer, but it is possible–much… Continue reading Q is for Quitting the Day Job (or never having one to begin with)

Lindsey Stirling, Nichieri, Susan Boyle, and thoughts on discoverability and greatness

I saw a couple of things on Youtube that made me think recently about the importance of quality work, especially in the arts. I’m a casual fan of Lindsey Stirling–I’ve watched most of her videos, put them on in the background from time to time, and get a kick out of following her career. For… Continue reading Lindsey Stirling, Nichieri, Susan Boyle, and thoughts on discoverability and greatness