Don't get me wrong; dentists are setup to deliver serious doses of discomfort, but they don't have a monopoly on torture for hire. I recently made a visit to an establishment completely authorized by law. The practitioner of the art in question is hi...

Middle names? Does anyone use them--aside for serial killers? Do they have a purpose? Are they primarily for mothers to shout to let a boy know that life as he knows it is about to end?I was picking up a prescription at a pharmacy that I not previous...

Who killed the Nazgul Captain, the Witch-King of Angmar?If you've seen Jackson's movies, it appears that Eowyn fights the captain and is about to take a death blow when Merry distracts him with a stab to the leg that causes him to fall to his knees....

Have you ever sent a text to the wrong person?We all have. When you did, was it funny? Calamitous? Let me know.I didn't send a text to the wrong person last week, but I sent contact information that went through an interesting transmogrification. The...

I ask you, Is it wrong to mock the mockers? Is there no balm in satire?If past experience is any guide, some of you may be troubled by what I'm about to do. Look away, O ye of faint heart with trembling limbs. Ye brave may gird up your loins and come...

Something is rotten, but I'll get to that.First, if you could be the sidekick to a fictional hero, who would you choose?Would you choose a modern or historic setting?Would you choose a real world hero or someone from a sci-fi or fantasy world?Would y...

What is your favorite genre for reading? Do you have more than one? Let me know.The trip to Moab was a blast.In Blanding, we stopped at the visitor's center and were directed to some books in which we read about my great, great grandfather and Posey'...

I wondered if Conan had read Leviticus. Do you remember when Conan was asked what was best in life?His response is pretty well known - "To crush your enemies. See them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of their women."It doesn't possess...

Last month I asked, "Which is more important to you: story, character, or world building?"I came down on the side of the story. Let's look a little deeper.Many stories purport to be "character-driven." What does that mean? But FirstBefore I answer th...

Which is more important to you: story, character, or world building?I think we can agree that story and character are the primary elements for which we read books. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that while story is not everything, it is the ma...