Can you color outside the lines while staying inside the box? Is this the definition of quiet desperation? I don’t know, but I had this idea and gonna try it out. Not quite ready to reveal the substance — mostly because it’s scary AF to a lot of people inside the box, so I blurred … Continue reading Outside the lines, inside the box
If your dog knew just how close you were to jumping off the planet, should she abandon you for another? If your dog knew just how close you were to jumping off the planet, would she still rely on you for walks and her dinner every day. Would she still sleep so close to you … Continue reading Your dog doesn’t know you are mentally unstable
Once on This Island is playing at the Dayton Playhouse Jan 13–29, 2023. Some musicals are meant to entertain for an hour or two and then be forgotten. Some musicals work their way into your ear, tap your dreams all night as you sleep and cause you to make multi-colored pancakes for your grandkids in … Continue reading Some say Dayton was transformed into a tropical island on a cold Friday night. That’s what some say.
Do we share New Year’s Eve stories like Americans share 9/11 stories? Can I do it anyway? Y’all can add your story below if you want and let’s see how long a chain we can make. I’ll go first. On December 31, 1999, there is a 16 hour advance in Sydney, Australia from the Eastern … Continue reading The New Year’s Eve when the world was supposed to grind to a halt; Y2K
Ingredients are only part of the recipe. This is about cookies, but it’s also not about cookies. It’s about writing books, but I thought I would talk about cookies first. Like a lot of folks staying at home during this pandemic, I’ve taken to baking things, mostly cookies. I’ve baked perhaps hundreds of dozens of cookies … Continue reading The order in which you do things matter
The mechanics of turning a series of stories or chapters of a longer story is almost an insurmountable task for many writersI’ve discovered that the mechanics of turning a series of stories or chapters of a longer story is almost an insurmountable task for many writers. For me — a writer with software coding, design, page layout, prepress , … Continue reading Turning your writing into a book — how to not get taken by fake experts
Take your new marketing plan old school. Telephone, fax, postcards.Take your new marketing plan old school. Publish a telephone number, get a fax number and mail confirmation postcards. I guarantee, you will stand out in a packed soccer tournament market.That was a long title for a short story, but;Take your new marketing plan old school. … Continue reading The new soccer tournament marketing is the old soccer tournament marketing
Never with a bang…I woke today to a curious breezeThe flutter of dragonfly wings I could not seeThe day grew older, the breeze grew darkerAnd swirled around my eyesUntil it became thick and darkLevered into my chest and pulled out my heartMy phone lit up with a risen moon and as it faded to lockI knew … Continue reading Death of a friendship
The author wrote a book in the fourth grade. Her dad found it 22 years later and turned it into a published book.One of the finished illustrations and the original drawing.I was going through a pile of stuff from my corporate days, old planners, files, etc. stuffed in file boxes in my basement, stuff I would … Continue reading The Corn and the Carrot
Just curious how this looks. Medium made some colossal changes to their app; changed they did not ask us paying customers about and just did it. So, I’m moving over to WordPress. And this is my first post. In the coming weeks, I will be moving all my content over here and just abandoning the … Continue reading Welcome back
What does it mean to be “home?” An old ’60s style rotary telephone… black, of course. Yes, it works and when my network quits recognizing pulse dialing, there are tech solutions. I bought an old ’60s rotary telephone last year. I don’t really know why, but I think I do. It is a physical object that … Continue reading Permanent impermanence
Photo by Aleksandr Ledogorov on UnsplashDon’t sell me hope.Don’t sell me love.Don’t sell me acceptance.Don’t sell me trust.Just don’t.
On your skin, in your skinI breathe you in deeply.With every breath, prose spins into poetryAnd your story crushes into my heart.
I’m still here. I hope you are, too.When I was about 9 or 10 or maybe 8, I can’t recall, it has been a long time…. I was obsessed with chess, like “The Queens Gambit” obsessed… I borrowed a book about chess from the local library on Lexington and University in St Paul. It’s not there … Continue reading Object impermanence
So, you think you want to run a soccer tournament.Why?It’s not a flippant question, but one that needs to be answered before you do one more thing on your event. If your answer is “because everyone else is doing it,” stop, click away and pursue other hobbies. Without a clear purpose for your event, you … Continue reading Starting a youth soccer tournament
Ok, so earlier this month, someone from a major metro newspaper posted this question in a private group:“If you had $50,000 in marketing budget that you needed to spend before 1/1/22, what would you spend it on?”Ever the consummate smartass, I replied;“TikTok ads and strawberry Twizzlers!”Because, why the hell not? I mean $50,000 on strawberry … Continue reading TikTok ads and strawberry Twizzlers!
What if you were never intended to be born, that everything you did just make it worse for everyone in your life. Would that be god’s mistake?I’ve survived the coronavirus pandemic. You’re reading this now, so chances are, you have also survived the pandemic. Whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad … Continue reading What if god* does make mistakes
From a casual observation one summer day that lasted ten, a butterfly named Callie found her way into a children’s book.Last year, I noticed a caterpillar had made herself into a chrysalis on my front porch railing. I published my story and made a short video which caught Sarah Woodard’s eye. She commented that it … Continue reading From caterpillar to book
Like an artist statement where you need to define your aesthetic, a personal brand is like grasping at clouds. My Medium and all my socials, really, is like wandering into a used book store or a surplus store. You know the kind of shop, smells of dust and grease and life. You don’t know why you … Continue reading I’ve finally figured out my personal brand
Artists, musicians, writers…. how do they pay the rent while they are creating stuff?The writer, thinking he can play the banjo. He can’t play worth a damn. He knows his hair and beard are too long, but we’re still in a pandemic. It got past the annoying stage and is well on to its ‘I kinda … Continue reading How the hell do they pay the rent?
I’m an impulsive writer. When I get an idea in my head, it’s a race to bang out those words, massage those sentences, divide up the stream into coherent paragraphs — against an imaginary real deadline of urgency.The world needs to know this NOW!!Apparently, that runs counter to a successful paid Substack Writing newsletter. The common wisdom … Continue reading The impulse to publish is destroying my newsletter
I like simple foods. My idea of a salad is cold, crisp fresh lettuce, cut into large pieces with a quality blue cheese dressing on the side where I dip my fork into it and stab some lettuce with each bite. For me, simplicity and the taste of a pure food is perfection.Inevitably, someone will … Continue reading Focus and simplicity
Have you ever tempered chocolate? It’s the slow, patient warming and cooling of hot chocolate to work the crystals in the cocoa butter to a specific pattern that makes the chocolate moldable, shiny and gives it that pleasant “snap.”It’s hard work and easy to screw up. When done well by a master chocolatier, it looks … Continue reading Writing is tempered rage
You can learn a lot about how a team plays soccer. The lesson lives forever.On October 22, 2020 the Judicial Committee in the American Senate voted 12–0 to advance the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate for debate and confirmation. The Democratic senators all boycotted the vote in protest, denying the committee, chaired … Continue reading A cheating legacy
How do you sell a soccer tournament during a pandemic? The short answer is; you don’t.Instead, you pivot to marketing your event for next year. Everyone is now on the same level playing field, all of your competitors have the same market conditions under which to attract teams. Nobody has any particular advantage, points don’t … Continue reading Selling a soccer tournament during a pandemic
Gerard McLean 
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