The Purpose of Government and Politics

The purpose of government is to make life better for its citizens. The purpose of politics is to elect officials who will keep the government focused on that purpose.

No Way to Run a Country

The US is a country built with the labor, sacrifice, and dedication of serous, committed working class men and women. People who get up day after day, rain or shine, hot or cold, whether they feel like it or not and do their job as best they can - paying the bills, putting a roof over their family's heads, putting food on the table, getting their children through school, and hoping to save a little against the day when they are no longer able to do all that. The current administration was elected to make life a little easier, the day a little brighter, the future a little safer, and so far all they've done is destroy the wealth and savings of hard-working Americans - and for no good purpose. This is no way to run a country.

A Distracted People

We have become a distracted people - sports, entertainment, social media, texts, photos, selfies, constant phone calls - at a time when our closest attention is needed. 

Life is a Process

Life is a process. We are in that process. We are part of that process. No one stands apart from life as an unbiased, unaffected observer.

All Of Life Is An Approximation

 Life is lived and encountered approximately. It is not a precise undertaking.

New Release - Winter Hill Farm

Available now in print and e-book from  AMAZON -  BARNES & NOBLE  - and wherever books are sold

Farmers Market

 Farmers Market, Houston, Texas

An Alley in Meridian

 

                                                                An alley in Meridian

A Red Door

 A red door, in Brenham, Texas

Southland Hardware

On a recent visit to Southland Hardware
 

Countertop Reflection

Countertop Reflection

 

Box On A Parking Garage Wall

 Box on a Parking Garage Wall

Sunrise In Hermann Park

Sunrise In Hermann Park, Houston, Texas

 

Montrose - Houston, Texas

A residential street in the Montrose section of Houston, Texas.
 

SUNSET MOTEL - MIKE CONNOLLY #6

Sunset Motel - the sixth book in the Mike Connolly Mystery series - is now available everywhere online. Click the links to order.      Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Bookshop

 I like the sound of a train, passing in the distance, late at night.

 

New Edition of The Deposition

The Deposition - the 5th installment of the Mike Connolly Mystery series (originally released in 2007) will be re-released in December. It will be available in print and eBook. 

This is the latest version of the cover.

 

Other People, Other Places

AVAILABLE NOW!

Other People, Other Places - my newest collection of short fiction - is available now in print and eBook from all the usual places - AMAZON - BARNES & NOBLE - BOOKS A MILLION - and INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES everywhere.

Manhattan Book Review called it, "an outstanding book of short stories and novellas."

 

Teachers Make a Difference

One day when I was in the fourth grade, our teacher, Evelyn Miller, brought us back from lunch and spent half an hour reading to us. The story that day was about a boy who was given the chore of painting the fence around his aunt's home and how he convinced his friends to pay him to let them paint it. That story, of course, was from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. I remember the day, the moment she read that to us - because that was the moment I began to dream of being a writer.