I’d be honored to introduce you to a good friend of mine. Thank you, Mr. Gunn. Welcome to my world, ladies and gentlemen – my name is Bubba. It is dark outside as I write this in the middle of the night when it is a little cooler. The strange sounds and smells of the...

I am feeling a little weird today, so please bear with me. Some of these are original and some were stolen (I mean copied): If you throw a cat out of the car window, does it become kitty litter? If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? Is it okay to use the AM...

I was betrayed; someone I trusted let me down. After another setback, I decided to take an afternoon reprieve from my writing malaise. I needed a break – maybe a long, extended one. I needed to refocus, put things behind me, and adjust my continued adventures on the...

She was small in stature but large in our lives. Exie Dee Fitzgerald was not much taller than her name was long, but she was the mother of my mother. Exie Dee was born in 1891 in Leon, Oklahoma in spite of the rumors she rode on a buckboard seat into Oklahoma Indian...

Oh, it’s almost that time of year ... the smell of hot dogs, nachos, and popcorn fill the air as the fans scurry to their seats at a baseball field! (I would say the ‘smell of grass’, but few fields still have any.) Opening Day for the Texas Rangers is on Thursday,...

On December 8, 1941, the United States of America declared war against the Empire of Japan as a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. On February 19, 1942, the United States of America declared war on 120,000 of its own American citizens for the very same reason. ...

Dottie and Mom were the best of friends. They pushed baby strollers up and down the boulevard at the same time. They played bridge with their husbands in a great group of friends. And they tortured their young daughters, Bambi and Susan, with the biggest, blowout...

Looking for “normalcy” this year is difficult for all. We found some normalcy and peace when we watched the 1947 classic movie entitled The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. The screenplay was written by Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo...

My wife Mary and I were walking from the grocery store one day in 2019 when we saw a penny on the ground. Mary remembered the old saying, “Find a penny and pick it up. Then all day you will have good luck!” Days later, she noticed another on the ground at church. She...

Let me share a story with you that is real and happens across our country. Close your eyes and return to that first day back to school after the Christmas Holidays. The kids were excited to see their friends and share their own Christmas joy and experiences. Anna...

Before we married, it was so critical for both Mary and I to learn how people existed outside individual comfort zones, including faiths. Mary and I would often accompany each other to the other’s church – some Sundays at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church (SMGCC) and...

We are all familiar with the expression “Divide and Conquer.” But where did it originate and what does it really mean to us today? The expression is a variation of the translation from Latin “divide, vince, et regulam” which means “divide, conquer, and rule.” In Mark...

After the blog was posted last Friday, we spent much of the day at Gunn Junior High School Fine Arts and Dual Language Academy loading display cases that were either new or old ones that had been empty for two years. While the building was under destruction,...

He was raised in Lubbock, Texas but spent many of his summers on his grandfather’s farm, cutting weeds with a “go-devil” sled pulled by a horse, hoeing, and chopping cotton. Early pictures of Floyd show a sometimes serious and sometimes mischievous boy – and usually...

Long, long ago, in a high school not so far away, I had an incredible taskmaster, Miss Melba Roddy, who taught English and also sponsored the cheerleaders. She also taught what was then called Advanced English and would now be termed Advanced Placement (AP) English....

I was creating an incident that would involve one of my characters. My hands paused over the keyboard as I said aloud, “What kind of airplane would he be flying? I better do some research.” I glanced at the clock on the wall – it read 11:45 a.m., so I said, “This...

It was like a Sunday morning at church. We all stood and became silent for the prayer, with two exceptions. It wasn't a prayer, and we were at a baseball game. Everyone waited for history to happen Monday night, but it didn't. Each time Aaron Judge strode to the...

There was a large cooking island in the kitchen of the home our father built in the mid-1950s, a most unusual feature for that day. On the west end of that island were twosmall drawers, both officially titled ‘junk drawers’ and will be the subject of a future...

Years after he retired, Dad started making pancakes or waffles for Mom on Saturday mornings. If it was just the two of them, they would share their morning devotional and play cribbage after breakfast. On other Saturdays, part of the family might be around the table...

Play Day at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers, is magical. Fans wander around the field, explore dugouts, play with their children on a major league field, and take guided tours. Then they enjoy lunch in the Lexus Club or field-level boxes looking out...

My answer to this question may appear droll and uninspiring, but perhaps manyother writers would respond in a similar fashion. I just keep my eyes and ears open. A short story entitled “99:99” was inspired by my then 96-year-old mother. Shehad a love-hate relationship...

Yes, I do blame it on Tom Sawyer. He convinced his friends to help himwhitewash Aunt Polly’s fence, which would shorten his punishment sentence for somemischief I do not remember. I thought I could also ‘escape’ a similar sentence in asimilar manner with similar...

Perhaps I should change the name of this to FLOG TIME because that is what writing feels like at times.  For me, writing is sometimes easy (well, once or twice), and at other times painful (ok, much of the time). Sometimes the words flow like a garden hose that was...

The short answer is I have written all around this world and many more. Let’s consider the locations in terms of past, present, and future. PAST The council of an Old West town met to discuss how to reduce the loss of residents, and perhaps increase the number of new...

Before you read this, make sure there are no children in the room. This is not spoken of in mixed company. Some writers might consider such a discussion to be heresy or perhaps grounds for a lobotomy.  It is the dreaded WB – Writers Block (say that very softly so...

When was the last time you heard someone say:  “I’m afraid to tell you something because I don’t want to destroy our friendship.” “I’m afraid to tell him because it might offend him.” “I’m afraid to do that.”  “Ah, come on – what are you afraid of?” “I will not get...

I posted a blog recently entitled “What Is Your Story?” I said we all have a story within us, and the starting point for many of my stories were from my family. I listened to tales from grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and outlaws. I think most were true, but...

It is easy to establish relationships (good and bad) with the characters you create. After all, they are products of your mind, or approximations of people you know or meet. You infuse them with personality traits and quirks you exhibit or see in others. You see their...

This may be my blog, but today it is more about you. Can you answer the question posed in the title? We all have a story within us. The starting point for many of mine has its roots in the storytelling traits and happenings of my family. I listened to tales from...

Search the Internet for the words ‘writing is …’ and see what you find. ‘Writing is an art,’ ‘it is fun,’ ‘it is hard work,’ and ‘it is therapeutic’ will all pop up. One even said, “Writing is easy, just open a vein and bleed.” I started writing back in the 1980s for...