I have the wonderful winter opportunity to visit the greater Palm Springs, California area with someone that has to spend all his time attending lectures, classes, and huge group events. One of the luckiest parts of this is that I don’t have to go to any of it. In fact, I can’t go to most…
Holiday Concoctions
I want to say Thank You to In Dianes Kitchen for a couple of great presents I’m making for folks this year. I found the Apple Cider Syrup a while ago on her website and saved it on my present list. It’s quite easy to make, but takes several hours, so plan on hanging around the kitchen…
NaNoWriMo update: Conflicted – work in progress
I didn’t win this year’s National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, meaning I didn’t complete 50,000 new words for a story. However, I did do exactly what I set out to do. I got myself focused and tuned up the skills I’ve learned in the past to fire up the word engine. I’ve been working on…
Readers make me happy
Whether they are nieces, nephews, or friends from places 10,000 miles away, readers make me happy. And no, not only when they’re reading my books. They wouldn’t make me happy very long then, because I haven’t written many books. To me, reading, almost any genre, is a connection I feel with people. Kind of like…
It’s NaNoWriMo Time again!
November is National Novel Writing Month = NaNoWriMo I won (wrote 50,000+ words in the month) in 2013, 2014, 2015 and took 2016 off. So this year is the fourth year I’ve participated and I’ve chosen what I think is a terrific project. I am calling it CONFLICTED. It’s a Psychological Thriller with roots in…
Gadgets, devices, and distractions
These days most everyone has at least one, many people have several, and some seem to be controlled by them. I’ll admit it. I have a PC, two phones, an iPad, and a Kindle. That’s not to mention three TVs. While my number of devices sounds more like ‘first world problems’ and somewhat like me…
Inspiration for Smugglers in Paradise series
A reader recently asked me what was the inspiration for my SMUGGLERS IN PARADISE series. This might be a good topic to talk about in a couple of blog posts. I’ll start with book one – GAME OF WIT AND CHANCE: BEGINNINGS. This story is best described as a family saga using passion and tragedy…
Back to School
Writing Prompt from Poets and Writers Magazine: Back to School Ms. Taplick took a breath and straightened her back, bringing herself to her full five-foot three-inch stature. First impressions were so important, especially when she would have these kids for only a short time. If she could gain control immediately, the class always went more…
Saltwater Saves
Saltwater Savior It was the bird that saved her. The bird whose entire head was inside the little one’s mouth. The bird whose scrawny feet were just barely twitching as the little one suckled in apparent ecstasy. She hadn’t been to this side of the island. And for good reason, she thought, her legs aching…
Eating my way through Manila
I’m spending a couple of weeks in the Philippines visiting good friends, doing research, meeting readers, and trying to get better connected. While I’m at it, I’m eating good food. I’m staying at an extremely reasonable boutique hotel in Makati, a business district in the heart of Metro Manila, that is close to some great…
R. Scott Tyler - writer 