• "Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense." Mark Twain
    Artwork,  General Thoughts,  Novels (my writing updates)

    How much truth is in my fiction?

    Writing what I knew as a teenager I loved reading when I was a kid, and I began writing as a teenager. The results of my early efforts were 7 handwritten “finished” novels, several poems (many of which are terrible), numerous essays, one random index card with a great idea, a notebook of not-so-great ideas, and a handful of false starts for a story that will never work. My finished stories were fabrications with a bit of what I wanted mixed in. For example, I gave all my main female characters a love interest because I wanted a boyfriend so badly as a teen. Along with the fiction was a…

  • Illustration of two male singers with guitars.
    General Thoughts,  Pop Culture

    My 30 Favorite Male Singer-Songwriters

    I recently wrote about my favorite female singer-songwriters, so now I’m writing about the male ones. My initial list was long, and it was extremely difficult to narrow it down to my top 30. That’s why you’ll see a lengthy list of honorable mentions. I’m not saying any of the artists are better or worse; I’m just basing the list on my favorites and the songs that have meant the most to me. A key difference in a lot of the male singer-songwriters is that more of them are lead singers of a band than the songwriters I admire who are female. It’s just how it is, I suppose. Now,…

  • Illustration of female singer with a guitar.
    General Thoughts,  Pop Culture

    My 30 Favorite Female Singer-Songwriters

    Female-led music that inspires me I’m an artist of the written word, and I adore music. It inspires my writing and helps me time travel for stories I set in the past. Lyrics are poetry set to music with a universal quality to help us feel less alone in the world. My favorite songs come from talented singer-songwriters who share their work with the world. In prep for this post, I started listing female singer-songwriters with works I enjoy and soon had a huge list of over 40 talented ladies. It was too big of an undertaking, so I tried to cut the list down to my top 15, but…