Motorcycles

Technology Today

June 17, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

This week I’m running behind schedule on most things, my blog included. I’ve been working on replacing the siding on our house. That means hammer and pry-bar, dozens of nails and bag after bag of debris—not to mention Ibuprofen at the end of the day. Definitely a low-tech operation. That part, I like. I have problems with technological innovations that keep offering to help me do whatever it is I’m doing when I’m on my computer. I have one on my bank app that doesn’t seem willing to concede defeat when I tell it to go away, and one that pops up on my computer when I start up that seems to think I need to install a program I’ve long been using.

I find these ‘helping hands’ an annoyance. I didn’t ask for their help, or their appearance. I don’t feel comfortable with the thought of using them or trying to. And, it doesn’t help when I’m told even a nine-year old can figure it out. I don’t want a nine-year old running my life or having more control over it than I do. One reason I don’t trust these pop-up helper appearances is they want permission to use information from all sources on my computer or phone. I don’t believe they have my best interests at heart. Come to think of it, I don’t think they have a heart.

I concede that there are great advantages to enjoy from the use of modern technology, but they come at the tacit acceptance of disadvantages as well. The trouble with technology, is that it gets ahead of us. Especially those of us who have learned a few things since we were nine-year olds. Like reading a map, writing a memo or note. Or letter. Some of us think we can handle our own organization of documents and photos. We can even organize our own thoughts and put them into a novel of our own creation.

Speaking of novels, I can’t picture my series protagonist, Bobby Navarro, embracing some of this technology either. He rides a Harley across country to relax and enjoy life. He camps out and cooks real food over a fire. Sometimes he stops off at a burger joint for lunch because he feels hungry and sees a place that’s handy. He doesn’t try to find a particular dining experience on the internet and then follow his device to the suggested location. That’s one of the many things I find interesting and reassuring about Bobby. He can do things for himself. Sometimes he gets stubborn in that regard, like when he is solving a murder. I’m glad he does. And, none of his intelligence is artificial. How’s your relationship with modern technology going these days?

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Camping, Cooking, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Reading, Uncategorized, writing

Writers and Weather

June 1, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

Weather is such a variable factor here in upstate New York. People joke about it. Many complain when it changes, bringing a threat of thunderstorms or whatever. Oddly, its one of the things I enjoy here. Not always, but overall. I had to run an errand in a town about twenty miles from where we live, so I took the Mustang and drove with the top down. Gorgeous drive. Farmers are plowing for corn, creating a checkerboard pattern of different colors and shades across the hills and valleys. Trees have leafed-out with lights shades of green contrasting with the darker stands of conifers here and there. Wildflowers are blooming. Yellow buttercups and lavender flowers looking like small pansies are clumped along fencerows and roadsides. Overhead, the sky was blue with white puffs of cloud providing dramatic accents. Horses grazed knee-high in grass and wildflowers, and herds of Holsteins occupied themselves with the rich spring grazing. Some farmers had already taken a cut of hay, and the big circular bales dotted freshly mowed fields. After the drive, we sat on the deck overlooking our own backyard and trout stream. What could be better?

Next morning brought complete change. The temperature was still warm, but not pleasant. Humidity was up, and the sky was heavily overcast and threatening. It remained that way all day. We’re still waiting for the rain, which we can use at this point. I need to water the plants in our vegetable garden. I don’t want them to wilt. And, instead of feeling uplifted by glorious spring weather, there has been a sense of impending problem or crisis of some sort. Easy to become anxious and turn one’s thoughts to all the things that could go wrong. Weather changes can do that to a person.

I’ve experienced a lot of adverse weather on the numerous motorcycle trips I’ve made across country. When you’re on the open road, you are exposed. No way around it. Sometimes, there is little you can do about it except try to survive the ride and whatever it brings. I’ve tried to bring that aspect of riding to my stories of Bobby Navarro. It’s part of riding a motorcycle, especially when you take the long ride. Later, it makes for an adventure you relate to others. At the time, endure the ride as best you can. But capturing the weather seems important to telling the story the way it should be told.

Weather can be a handy tool for a writer. Bringing in the weather can help set the mood for a story (aside from the clichéd It was a dark and stormy night). Shifting the weather from pleasant to threatening can help build tension and suspense. It can even dramatize the personality of a character. Think about a character walking down a seaside path, enjoying the sun, or not running from a sudden shower. Weather can also be used to convey a character’s emotions, something I find challenging. Like a lot of men, I learned more growing up about holding back emotions than I did about acknowledging and describing them. A timely comment about the weather helps me convey something about Bobby Navarro and what he’s feeling and experiencing.

What are your thoughts about weather? Do you enjoy an occasional storm, or cloudy/misty day? I’m going to assume everyone likes a sunny day, especially with a bunny in the grass.

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Village Life, writing

Upstate Spring

May 4, 2018 by Glenn 1 Comment

We’re back in upstate New York enjoying the spring routine. Well, some of it is very enjoyable. Some, not so much. We were able to take credit for bringing warm weather with us up from the south, but that only lasted two days. Then we had freezing temps, ice on the pond, sleet and snow. At a lake we enjoy hiking around in the summer, the ice on the surface was sixteen inches thick. Nevertheless, I got outside and started the routine of yard work. Getting the leaves out from under trees, plants and bushes is not my favorite job, but it felt good to be out in the fresh air.

Birds are out and active as well. We enjoy the songbirds we get up here, robins included, and love the return of the Canada geese. The trees on the hillsides are still bare, but their tops are showing hints of new leaf buds developing, and there is a reddish shading in the treetops as a result. Willows along streams in the valleys are showing chartreuse indications of new growth. On the ground, shoots are popping up everywhere and early flowers like crocus, grape hyacinth and daffodils are bringing color to the scene. All-in-all very pretty.

The last several days have been in the eighties, and I’m wondering if those first couple of days of spring weather were all we’re going to get. Eighties? Really? That’s summertime weather along with the rain and humidity. Still glad to be able to get outside between showers, though. I won’t start complaining…yet.

I know what Bobby Navarro would be doing this time of year. He would be getting his Harley ready for the road and another adventure. The seasonal changes are important to me. I enjoy the changes in the trees, the movement of wildlife, the changes in the air and temperature. I think Bobby would have to love the changes too, and not just be in a hurry to get his bike out of winter storage. Most people have a favorite season of the year, but I wonder how many enjoy all the changes, as I do. How about you? And, what are your thoughts about characters in novels showing, and reacting to, seasonal changes? Think about it, seasons and seasonal changes can be useful metaphors.

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Uncategorized, Village Life, writing

If Truth be Told

April 19, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

These days I’m hearing and reading a lot about people lying. Worse, I hear it’s becoming normalized. It’s in our ads, the statements salespeople and contractors make. Top government and business officials seem to do it with impunity. While lying for self-interest is not new—e.g. the ancient principle of caveat emptor—its current normalization has me concerned for several reasons. Obviously, I want to be able to trust elected officials who work for us, and for the good of the country. I want to receive the value for which I pay when I buy something. But most important, I want to know truth is still an important value in our country, not an antiquated bit of culture. Sometimes people lied when I was growing up. At the same time, a person’s word was supposed to mean something. A deal could be sealed with a handshake. If you were caught lying, you got punished.

Now, this concern may seem strange coming from someone who places so much importance in writing fiction. I’ve heard fiction writers referred to as people who lie for a living. But, I think that’s far from the truth. It would be a lie to write something, claiming it was true when it was not. That would be unethical. It would also violate the point of fiction. Fiction is an effort to capture more than a literal snapshot of some people or event. Fiction is an attempt to say something about life, about people, about ideas principles—and truth. Truth of character. Decent behavior. Justice. Things which we should care about.

I write murder mysteries. But, they are always more about personal and social crisis and response. And, good wins out. They are works of fiction I’ve crafted to say something about people, communities, situations and events. My protagonist, Bobby Navarro, is a fictional character, but he is not a lie. His stories support decency, not murder. I don’t want to see lying normalized. That would be giving up on ideals I think important to us and to society. Any thoughts on the matter?

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Reading, writing

The Core of a Protagonist

April 6, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

We were talking with friends the other night, and I mentioned I was reading a Jack Reacher novel. This produced an immediate outburst regarding the movie and our friend’s opinion that Tom Cruz was all wrong for the role. He was great in Top Gun, but just wrong for Reacher.

I’ve heard this conviction before. Several times. As in the past, I suggested Jim Caviezel, who plays the role of the tall, quiet man in a suit in the Person of Interest series, for the role of Jack Reacher. Our friends immediately agreed, he would be fine. I’ve heard this before, too. The way everyone seems to agree on this matter intrigues me. It’s not that they have been saying Tom Cruz doesn’t do a good acting job, but rather that he isn’t Jack Reacher. When I press the issue, I usually hear that Cruz is not tall enough. Well, size is certainly a major part of Jack Reacher’s character, but I insist there is more. He’s a street fighter who has won most of his fights. He has fought all his life. He had to. And, as an Army MP, he’s had to stand up to a range of opponents in his military career. He has. Without concern for the outcome. It’s part of who he is. Tough. Principled. With his own code for behavior and no room for deviation or hesitation no matter the consequences. Even if the consequences alienate him from everyone and everything he has enjoyed, mainly the Army. And, it shows. It’s part of his core.

Tom Cruz could play Top Gun, because that role called for a young, dare devilish man with a great smile and irrepressible charm. That’s not Reacher. John Reese (Jim Caviezel) in Person of Interest is tall, athletic with mature good looks, but seems isolated from everyday society. He carries a dark side born from a painful past. Caviezel brings the necessary mystique required to fulfill the part of Jack Reacher. He could achieve this requisite core of the Reacher character.

Naturally, my own thoughts after this discussion leaped to writing. Not all characters are written with a deep and essential core in mind. For me, these characters are less memorable in the same way some stories entertain for the moment and are quickly forgotten. I like those with a main character who is memorable and has depth. That’s also what I want for my own protagonist. I like it when readers find Bobby Navarro memorable, and when they do I think it has something to do with who Bobby is at his core.

Bobby is written as a biker who rides alone, he is not part of a club or gang. However, the highway, not the Harley, is at the core of who Bobby Navarro is. Bobby rides into town as an outsider. Eventually, he will leave town again—once he has fulfilled his obligation to the victim. He is at home on the road, and that is where he seems destined to remain. The highway is in his blood, and colors his soul. It is essential to his core.

What core characteristics define your favorite protagonists? And, who do you like for Jack Reacher?

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Rural Florida, Village Life, writing

Managing Memories and Memorabilia

March 23, 2018 by Glenn Leave a Comment

A friend of ours is getting ready to move after twenty years or more in the same house. I’ve been through that process. It’s astounding how much accumulates over that length of time. It amounts to a lot of work. There are the forays for packing boxes, yard sales to set up, things to take to Goodwill, and hours to spend sorting though everything. However, from an outsider point of view, it’s like catching glimpses of someone’s life never suspected before. Memorabilia from times we’ve heard about but briefly, and otherwise didn’t share.

It also made me think about my series protagonist. I don’t see Bobby Navarro accumulating boxes, closets and rooms filled with stuff to be disposed of someday. After all, he spends his travel time on the back of his Harley. One doesn’t accumulate a lot of souvenirs riding a motorcycle. An old helmet, maybe a worn leather vest or pair of boots. Perhaps a tee-shirt with the Route 66 logo on the back. Not boxes of nearly forgotten things tucked away, out of sight for years. There must be a few things though. Something from his days in the Marine Corps? A piece of camping gear no longer used, but not discarded? An old knife? I wonder. He lives in a furnished apartment. He could probably throw all his belongings into sea bag or large duffel. It’s fun to speculate as to what he might hang onto.

The thing is, these artifacts of our existence were important to us at one point, and trigger memories about who we have been and the roads we have traveled. In that context, it’s important that our fictional heroes have a past, a collection of events and encounters that helped define them in the same way a prop room contains elements from past theatrical sets that made a former play come to life. Remnants of our past were props constructing who we were and help explain who we have become. However, as writers, we have to be careful how we bring forth the past belonging to our protagonists; a little bit can go a long way. Dredging up the old memories of our characters can easily become an unwanted data dump. It’s tricky. At the same time, a little glimpse into the past life of our protagonists can give them depth and add to the things that make them real and interesting. I wonder what memories Bobby will uncover if he ever does go through his accumulated belongings, however meager the stockpile.

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Reading, Village Life, writing

Zen, Archery, Fly-fishing, Motorcycles and Writing

February 9, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

One of my sons was talking about archery the other day and described shooting his new longbow in terms suggestive of a Zen experience. He is an instinctive shooter, as am I, which means that the aim and release is a subconscious process rather than mechanical alignment and control of machinery. Struggling for adequate descriptive terminology starts to sound a bit flaky, but the archer experiences the event instead of deliberately committing the act. It’s far different from lining up the sights and target using a compound bow constructed with wheels, pulleys, and cams. The reward is that it provides the archer a Zen-like aesthetic experience.

While I’m only a beginner, I think fly fishing offers similar relief from the cacophony of everyday life in modern society. There is something meditatively rewarding and peaceful in presenting a fly at a desired spot on a burbling trout stream. You can escape the high powered motors of a fishing boat throttled-up to cover the next twenty five or fifty miles to an intended fishing area as quickly as possible. You can simply enter a stream in a pair of waders then carefully move toward a likely spot without alerting or disturbing any trout lurking ahead,. When you do you feel more in touch with fishing as it has occurred over millennia and less deluded with a sense of having power over nature. The fishing becomes a Zen-like experience.

Things I’ve read about Zen often seem paradoxical. You have to abandon yourself and give up trying to be in control of your bit of the world in order to find yourself and the truth of what is. But then, much of what I’ve encountered in life has been paradoxical—good/bad—win/lose—right/wrong. In literature, I think interesting fictional characters are complex, and such complexity reflects the paradoxical and dual nature of our universe. They are not all one thing. Heroes are good, but not entirely good. Villains are bad, but not completely bad.

But, you can’t simply toss a contradictory set of behaviors into a story and end up with a more interesting character. The complexity must emerge from some underlying truth about the character. I suspect that emergent truth is often discovered by the writer as well as the reader rather than planned at the outset. In a sense, the writer must discover and experience the story as well as write it. More paradox.

Of course, a writer must dutifully sit at the keyboard and write, but you cannot wring a good story from a mind crammed with rules and literary prescriptions by sheer force. You have to lose yourself in the story to write a good one. The Zen of writing? Perhaps so. When it happens, it feels real and truthful, and that is a very precious experience to have these days.

I remember leaving the fast-multi-lane freeways and putting the tires of my motorcycle on the narrow, undulating pavement of old Route 66 on a book promotion tour for my first novel, Murder on Route 66. I felt an instant sense of being in touch with the fields and ranches alongside the roadway, more in tune with the skies overhead, the smells of the fields I passed, and the cool shade thrown onto the road by trees growing close alongside. I had let go of my schedule and purpose and became more in touch with both it and myself. I remember taking a deep breath of air, smiling at how good I suddenly felt, and how fortunate I was to be on that ride. I knew my series protagonist Bobby Navarro had that side to him as well. I knew it was something I wanted to be able to communicate in the stories I would write about his adventures on the road. Riding Route 66 wasn’t about overcoming the traffic ahead or powering past a row of eighteen wheelers blocking my lane. There was no traffic. There was no hurry either. By slowing down, I captured some of the magic and allure of that old, iconic highway I had pushed hard to reach.

Writing a story is a tremendous amount of work, but it is also rewarding when the words set down on the pages reveal the story you have been struggling to bring to life. Paradoxically, it is sometimes when you let go of your attempted control and let the story emerge that the tale you’re trying to write appears. The Zen of writing? What are your thoughts?

Upstate Trout Stream

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Reading, Village Life, writing

The Waiting Game

January 26, 2018 by Glenn 2 Comments

This week included a day when my wife and I had several appointments that involved a lot of waiting. It made me think about how much time we spend waiting and the many situations requiring that we wait. Those of us who have commuted to work in a large city are all too familiar with waiting in traffic or waiting for a bus, train or airplane. Anyone who shops in a supermarket knows about waiting in a checkout line. Most of us probably try to shorten the wait time by seeking the shortest line. If you’re like me, the shortest line gets held up by some glitch just after we join it.

And, how about waiting in a telephone queue? I’ve spent hours in this situation. Sometimes it seems like anytime I call a customer service number I’d better be ready to wait an interminable amount of time while the automated system runs through all the announcements and options available before I’m given a chance to seek whatever service I’m after. Then I must wait forever in a queue while some recorded messages assure me my call is important. Our ancestors had to wait for rain, or for the crops to ripen. That took months, but at least it made a lot more sense than the waiting we are put through today.

Of course, there are things I can do to make the waiting time more enjoyable or productive, such as taking a book along when I visit the doctor’s office. Of course, nowadays we have books available on our cellphones. That’s handy. But, waiting for highway delays to clear, or at traffic signs? That’s another story. Although, come to think of it, I’ve seen people reading while sitting behind the steering wheel of their car. I don’t recommend the practice. Unfortunately, people are all too likely to be texting on their cellphones while driving, walking, or even sitting at a table in a restaurant while presumably enjoying a meal with someone.

I hate it when the car in front of me fails to take advantage of a green light because the driver is on a cellphone. I hate it when someone sitting behind a desk or counter is texting on their cellphone instead of doing whatever their job calls for while I stand there waiting. I suppose I could just take out my own cellphone and busy myself while I wait. Maybe I could call the person on the other side of the desk or counter and let them know I’m waiting.

I used to look forward to reading magazines while waiting in a doctor’s office. They used to provide magazines. They might have been old issues, but they were still entertaining, and I might not have seen them. Now, I notice a lot of waiting rooms only have magazines offering information about available services. Sometimes there are no magazines, only a television with infomercials playing while you wait. I’d be happy to settle for an old issue of a magazine at this point.

With all my thoughts about having to wait, I suppose I should feel guilty about subjecting my series protagonist, Bobby Navarro, to waiting. I do though, but not too often. I think he should have to wait in line at the supermarket occasionally just like we do. Years ago, I had nearly completed an all-day ride on my motorcycle when traffic came to a halt. Naturally, it started to rain. I got soaked. Needless to say, I’ve let Bobby get wet a time or two as well. It’s only fair.

What pet peeves do you have about waiting? Any favorite stories? And what do you do to handle the waiting game?

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Reading, Rural Florida, Self-improvement, Village Life, writing

Where Have All Those Resolutions Gone?

January 12, 2018 by Glenn Leave a Comment

It’s the middle of January, and my understanding is that half the New Years resolutions have been abandoned. I’m proud to say this is not the case with mine. I decided to be careful what I resolved to do and pick something I might have a real chance of accomplishing. To that end, I came up with a short list of things I wanted to resolve, but put off the final selection and commitment until now. That way I wouldn’t overshoot reality in the frenzied days of New Year celebration and set out to do something I had little chance to achieve. So, while others have given up already, I’ve just begun. Pretty clever, don’t you agree?

I really like making New Years resolutions. I guess I’m an eternal optimist, believing people can improve. Not that many seem to. This New Year season seemed to generate a larger than usual number of articles on how to make and keep resolutions. I have to say, no one I read came up with the approach I took, however. In general, advice seemed to center on laying out specific, attainable goals. I think that may be part of the reason people have already given up on their resolutions. With such specific goals to live up to, it’s easy to see right away that one has failed. If I had resolved to lose two pounds a week, I’d certainly be able to tell by now that I’d been a miserable failure. I gained a bunch over the holidays. No, I’m much better off resolving to recover the body I used to have, back when I could eat anything and not gain an ounce. Instead of facing failure at not having lost a couple of pounds, I still have my goal to look forward to achieving—someday. In fact, think I should celebrate. Ice cream anyone?

That brings up another point, rewards. Those articles I read mentioned a reward system for good performance. In my case, being able to eat anything I want without gaining weight is reward enough. I love to eat. I don’t need other reinforcement. I admit I don’t have that ideal body back yet, but I haven’t given up. You see, I don’t have to say I’ve failed. Without specific, measurable goals I’m better able to maintain the vision and stay the course. Not that I don’t expect difficulties ahead. I am willing to be realistic, after all. I’m aware that I ought not to go clothes shopping just now, for example. A lot of the clothes I might like to buy are either too snug, or pooch out over my belly. Actually, I have lots of those clothes I’d like to wear already—in my closet. They’ve been there for years. I keep waiting. . .

I wonder what my series protagonist, Bobby Navarro, would have resolved if he gave in to the New Year pressures to do so. Certainly, he wouldn’t need to resolve to take another great cross-country ride on his Harley. That is something that is just going to happen. And, resolving not to get involved in another murder investigation would be useless, too. You and I know that’s going to happen as well. And, he doesn’t need to worry about his weight. He manages to stay in great shape all the time.

So, fellow New Years resolutionists, how are you doing? If you’ve had trouble keeping your resolutions, it’s not to late to take up the approach I used, and enjoy the success I expect to have someday. Share your thoughts?

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, dieting, Motorcycles, Rural Florida, Self-improvement, Village Life, writing

And Peace on Earth

December 15, 2017 by Glenn Leave a Comment

The weather warmed up again here in sunny Florida where we are embarked on our winter stay. That means morning exercise walks are pleasant. Chilly sometimes, but usually not very. Other winter visitors are coming in daily to choruses of welcome back greetings, hugs and enquiries as to health and wellbeing. Holiday decorations are going up as well. That part always seems strange, even though we’ve spent so many years either in the desert or here in south Florida during the holiday season. When you’ve just put away your heavier clothes and donned shorts and short sleeved shirts to accommodate the weather, winter holidays seem unreal.

Even Thanksgiving seemed strange without a showing of fall foliage or bare limbs, dried cornstalks, and frosted pumpkins. But Hanukkah and Christmas? With the only snow on television or in news from friends and relatives up north, the only familiarity in the setting is the sudden explosion of ads trying to get us to buy gifts.

Then, people start putting up decorations, and we are induced to follow suite. Pretty soon, one remembers the annual boat parade, or golf cart parade, or other tradition. Here, people put up Candelaria, using plastic milk bottles with a little sand in the bottom and a votive candle. The streets will surely glow the night they are lit. It reminds me of the Candelaria in New Mexico, when we lived in Las Cruces. We have a friend who has made an annual tree ornament for over twenty years. Just got word that this year’s surprise creation is on its way. Bit by bit, it starts to feel more like the holidays, although I can’t help but think winter snow is needed to really set the atmosphere.

In this era of conflict and tension between so many people, groups and societies, I think it would be good if we had a tradition of winter celebration that did not have any particular religious base, just a celebration of life and a time of caring for each other. A time to bring peace on earth.

Enjoying Rural Florida

Up north, I’m sure Bobby Navarro has put away his Harley for the winter. I find that hard to picture as well. Someday I’m going to have to do the holidays with him in the story. Of course, that would have to mean murder somewhere as well, or would it? I wonder if I could write a good mystery that didn’t include a murder. In any case, hope you enjoy the season wherever you are, and whatever you celebrate. And, if you’re looking for a gift suggestion, don’t forget to put a good book on your list.

Filed Under: Back to basics, blog posts, Books, Motorcycles, Outdoor living, Rural Florida, Village Life