Names and Places
In my fiction writing I typically invest almost as many hours choosing the names of people and places as I do writing about them. These details matter; I’ve always felt that in f
A Cosmic Equation
It’s a sensation that never quite leaves you, this feeling that you owe your very existence to someone you will never meet. My older brothers were born in 1950, 1952, and 1954; I
Fate, Grace, Karma
In Believe in Me, Tim Green ruminates on fate more than once as he explores his own belief system. “I’m nobody’s chess piece,” he declares, before turning around a few doze
Beautiful Soul
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things canno
The Right Question
Five months into grieving the loss of my mother, it’s become clear I’ve been asking myself the wrong question about the process. The question I’ve been asking is “When will
Nothing Has Changed (But I Know It Has)
How can I put into words What my heart feels? It’s the deepest thing When somebody you love dies – Ian Hunter, “Michael Picasso” Sometimes I think the hardest part of d
Earthquakes
Growing up in California, you get used to earthquakes. They’re impossible to predict, but you always know another one will come eventually. All you can do is prepare as best you
I Need to Know Who the Drummer Is
One of my regular music publicist correspondents sent me an electronic one-sheet recently that caught my interest, so, as I always do, I requested a physical copy of the album he w
Tom Petty: Making Magic
It’s a mark of respect, this business of obsessively listening to our musical idols’ songs in the days after they pass, but also a ritual of mourning. We listen to remember—m
Never Break the Chain
Writing a book is a journey culminating in a moment not unlike a key one in this very story: the author hands his or her baby off to the reader, saying “Here. This is yours n