A few years ago when my first novel, Big Lake, made the New York Times bestseller list, we celebrated by buying a new Breville toaster oven for Terry. She has said many times that it’s one of the best purchases we ever made, and she has used it for everything from baking bread to making […]
Note: This story is from my book Highway History And Back Road Mystery II. At the City Cemetery in Mishawaka, Indiana we learned the story of William Aldrich, a decidedly colorful character of his time. Born around 1840, Aldrich was an eccentric and self-proclaimed atheist, along with being a gambler, horse trader, and some claim, […]
When I was young man I used to be involved in all kinds of shooting sports, including trap shooting. I was never great at it, but I was able to bust a few clay pigeons and I always had fun. Over time life got in the way and I stopped competing in matches but still […]
She was born into extreme poverty and suffered abuse and hardship as a child, but she proved that if you set a goal and work hard enough, you can overcome anything. In her day, Annie Oakley was one of the most famous women in the world and America’s sweetheart, celebrated in books and film, and […]
No, I’m not talking about that show with the nerdy scientists and the hot blonde chick, this was another kind of big bang. I had just finished proofing the last couple of chapters I wrote in my new book Big Lake Wedding yesterday afternoon about 2 PM and decided to go out and check the […]
If you’ve been following the whole Phil Robertson media fireworks show, you probably already know that A&E Network has now rescinded its decision to suspend the family patriarch from the popular Duck Dynasty reality TV series. I won’t go into the debate here, it’s been covered everywhere, including on Bad Nick, but I got to […]
Wow, I go away for one afternoon and the whole world changes! What’s up with that? I had to get up earlier than usual for me yesterday morning, because I needed to be wide awake for a 9 a.m. conference call. I’ve found that folks tend to get offended or lose confidence in you if […]
I talked to the owner of the RV shop where our burglary and vandalism took place over the weekend, and he told us to be there when they opened this morning, and he and his crew would do whatever needs to be done to get us back on the road in time to get to […]
Friday morning we left Traverse City, Michigan about 9:30 a.m. and drove about 56 miles south on State Route 37, a nice two lane road that passed through the Manistee National Forest, a land of dense trees and few people. There were a scattering of canoe and kayak rental places along the slow moving Manistee […]