(Are you sure you want to know?) You will often hear professional writers say “there is no such thing as writer’s block.” And to some degree, that is true. When you need to publish books to pay the mortgage, you don’t have the luxury of staring at an empty screen. …

Wherein a popular myth of the American Revolution is deconstructed. It’s the great American myth: The Revolutionary War was fought by untrained farmers who hid behind rocks and trees to pick off the British troops like ducks in a carnival shooting gallery, while the latter marched down the middle of…

In which I blame evolution for our obsession with collecting. I hunt. Stealthily moving down the path, eyes sharp, taking in every detail of my surroundings. Looking for any hint of my quarry, in a world of confusing debris. There are other hunters about. I can see them in the…

Sometimes small actions can have big consequences. Marian wasn’t looking for help for her daughter. She’d given up hope. Christy had arrived in this world the same year my debut novel was published, and Marian and I often joked about the two of us having given birth at the same…

Offering immunity against misinformation. When you’re looking for scientific information, social media is both a blessing and a curse. Misinformation abounds, much of it coming from people who claim non-existent credentials to lend a patina of respectability to their writing. Meanwhile, those who might offer genuine enlightenment often dress it…