Archives for March 2018

I’m no longer the rabid baseball fan I once was, although, with the 2018 season getting underway, reading about the activities of several of the teams who’ve been training here in the Phoenix area awakened a few memories. For many years, my dad was Sports Editor of The New York Times and, every March, my mom and he … [Read more...] about Play Ball

Lake Superior State University has just released its 43rd annual tongue-in-cheek “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.”  According to an LSSU staffer, “We’ve drilled down and unpacked tons of pre-owned words and phrases deemed impactful by hundreds of … [Read more...] about Banished Words

I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten awfully tired of the ongoing complaints about certain nicknames for sports teams that the PC folks find offensive, for various reasons. Well, now it’s time for me to jump on the bandwagon. I happen to be mainly of Irish descent (way, way back), and it distresses me deeply that … [Read more...] about The “Fighting” Irish? I Object!

The Rest of the Story Today, centuries after his death, Patrick of Ireland is again introducing lost souls to the Savior. This part of the story began in the early 1980s in Southern California, where I first became friends with a Christian actor named Roger Nelson. For many years, Roger's specialty has been … [Read more...] about My Friend Patrick and Me – Part 2

My Friend Patrick and Me Part 1 It may seem odd to call someone you've never actually met a friend, especially one who died more than 1,400 years ago. But that's exactly how I describe my relationship with Patrick of Ireland, mainly because I played a small part in bringing him back to “life.” For me, it’s … [Read more...] about My Friend Patrick and Me – Part 1

Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this. Okay! Want to learn more? Recently, I spotted a bit of advice from author Stephen King about grabbing your reader’s attention in that most important place – the opening line of your new manuscript. King’s advice? I used it to start this post. Nobel Prize- … [Read more...] about Opening Lines!

Thanks to a recent ezine from long-time colleague and friend John Pearson, I finally joined the ranks of the millions – make that mega-millions – of folks worldwide who have laughed and cheered at how one man took on a giant U.S. company over its customer service policies – or lack thereof. It’s nearly as good as the … [Read more...] about David Wins – Again!

I started reading a new book recently; the author writes well and has an important message. However, it’s very hard to read, because the rest of the team let him down – badly! I’m referring to the editor, designer and publisher. The editor displayed a woeful ignorance about paragraphs. Such literary legends as H.W. … [Read more...] about Three Strikes and You’re Out!

How Readable Is Your Writing? (Part 2)   In my last post, I described a rather tedious process for calculating the readability of what you write. I used it for years. But now, there's a better way. In your Word document, simply highlight the writing sample, go to www.readable.io, click Text, paste in the … [Read more...] about How Readable Is Your Writing? (Part 2)