On Turning 53

I TURNED 53 just over a week ago. Not sure how that happened. Seems like I was just 35. I had to be away from home this year — I had a four-day business trip to Las Vegas that meant I was working for 12 hours on “the day.” I’m not a gambler, so I’m not a big Vegas fan, but I did manage to make the most of the small amount of free time…

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What I Did On My Summer Vacation… Myrtle Beach via the Smoky Mountains

I HAVE WANTED to go to the Carolinas for over 30 years. My wife Geri and I have talked about going for most of that time. George, one of my best friends in college, had planned to drive there with me over our winter break during my junior or senior year while we were at University of Illinois… but then a massive ice storm hit the east coast that Christmas, and so we had to…

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Book Expo 2018 – A Flame Tree Preview!

A WEEK AGO at this time, I was having dinner in New York City with my new publisher, Nick Wells, my editor Don D’Auria, and three of my favorite fellow authors — Tim Waggoner, Jonathan Janz and Hunter Shea. We had all flown in to New York to take part in a big “preview autographing” session the following day to debut the new Flame Tree Press imprint to the thousands of booksellers, librarians and publishing…

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Return to New York!

THIS HAS BEEN a crazy couple of weeks! Two weekends ago, I spent playing pinball with my son and friends in Michigan… and then, last weekend I spent working at a convention center in New York for my dayjob. In between? I signed a contract for my 11th novel, finished the final rewrites and  copy edits on my 10th novel The House By The Cemetery, and had dinner with my editor to catch up and…

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One crazy week… anchored by a Meteor

SO LAST WEEKEND, I got home late Saturday night from a work trip to Vegas. But I didn’t stay put for long. After a one-day rest, on Monday, I rented an SUV and drove four hours to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The reason? Meteor. Meteor is a pinball table that I’ve been looking to add to my basement mini-arcade for the past couple years. There were a lot of them produced back in 1979 by Bally…

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Pinball at the ‘Zoo… 2

WHAT AN AWESOME WEEKEND weekend! Shaun and I drove 3 hours up to Kalamazoo, Michigan on Friday to hang at the Pinball At The ‘Zoo convention. My friend Brad Czernik had talked about the con for years to me, and so Shaun and I went last year for a day… but this year was even better, because Shaun was a little older and we stayed a little longer. We started our time in Kalamazoo Friday…

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Finding the Dogfish in D.C.

I VISITED WASHINGTON, D.C. from June 22-25 for business, and finally got to visit one of the arms of one of my favorite breweries — Dogfish Head. The last time I was in D.C. a couple years ago, I wanted to get out to Virginia to check out their Falls Church Ale House… but just didn’t have the time available. This time around… I had a day where I was done with work before dinner…

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One day and two nights in Amsterdam

A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, on April 13th, I flew to Amsterdam for a quick business trip. It was one of those “fly in, have a dinner, spend an afternoon, then fly home” trips… which are kind of crazy when you spend 18 hours in the air for less than 48 hours on the ground. But I always try to make the most of these opportunities — you never know if you’ll ever get the chance…

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An Asian Expedition Part 2: Tokyo, Japan

This continues the story of my Asia expedition begun in An Asian Expedition Part 1: Seoul, Korea. ONE THING that will forever be memorable about my first trip to Tokyo is that I actually flew there in Business Class from Seoul. A little thing? Sure, but it’s only the 2nd or 3rd time in 30 years of flying that I’ve ever been in one of those cushy cabins! The airline upgraded me (I have no…

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