To begin a blog . . .

This is an experiment, to find out if I have anything to say.

I'm a middle-aged writer and editor with two teen-agers and a novel on the way. Mocha is a year-old Lab puppy and Thief of Socks.

In religion, I'm Eastern Orthodox; in politics mostly conservative; in animals a dog person; in music a listener to jazz, bluegrass, classical, blues; in activities a hiker in the woods; in writing just a step out of skew with reality; in humor a literalist with an edge; in temperament impatient with snobs and pretension; in reading a great fan of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy.

I'm reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, a young adult fantasy that might be Lord of the Rings if written by a psychology major instead of a Medievalist. There is much to like about it. His various worlds are an intriguing application of probabilities, and his protagonist, Lyra Silvertongue, is fun to follow.

I confess that there are passages that leave me saying, Puhleeze! The witches are so gosh-darned wonderful that I can hardly stand them, and the Church is so gosh-darned evil that it's just tiresome. I know, if you've read this far, you know my bias, so I can't justifiably be annoyed or offended by the evil Church in fiction. The truth is, though, I would have the same reaction if the characteristics were reversed.

So this is my first post, fairly painless actually, and now I'll get back to my own novel in progress. It's the classic question: What happens next?

Stay involved. The world needs people who care what happens to it.