“The journey toward enlightenment is not a straight line from ignorance to knowledge... At times it is an arduous trek up a steep mountain of my ignorance whose rocky ledges crumble under my feet as I try to ascend to greater understandings. " amazon.com/dp/B0BFJHH4S8 – at Paris, France

Life lately. A while back, I posted that indie authors should contact professors about getting their books assigned as course reading. That drew a few dismissive comments. Well, I stand by it. Contemporary English. Contemporary Lit. Contact the professors. I did, and it works. Offer to visit a class. A guest visit gives profs a day of not having to teach and they jump at it. You get to sell your books in bulk to a college bookstore, and the markups can be insane. I mean crazy amounts of money. I know because I do it. The skepticism my post received hasn’t aged particularly well. Enywho, I had to redact names here upon request. I promised several classes that a few students in each would receive a free mug. Through a combination of scapulimancy, Zoroastrian fire rites, and iPhone-generated random name selectors, the winners have been selected. Their mugs are on the way. Outside of the "lottery" for mugs, I sent one to this student who noted in her assignment paper that I was her " favorite". BTW, @CherieCurrie3, check out “I don’t know who The Runaways.. were.." at the bottom. That is just wrong on so many levels.

Todays Author Site Scam: Alleged human " Nancy Smith". Evidently "Nancy" is the face of everything from romance scams, free stock images sites.... authorwavefm.org/ exists, they have a website, but "she" uses Gmail, not a domain email address. They have interviewed CS Lewis( who died in 1963) this past July, and Lewis looks amazingly like Matt Haig. Their " episodes" are a few minutes of techno music they borrowed from 123apps.com . Their " live" radio broadcast is the voice of the female from Google's Notebook LM" which just say some nonsense and there aren't any shows.

That time I flew from NYC to London to give a signed copy.. Recently I made the journey from NYC to Grimsby, England to meet Frank Sparkes. At an age when many slow down, Frank is out cleaning up Grimsby, one street at a time. Funded solely by donations, he volunteers his time ,cleaning up the city he calls home. His dedication has earned him the Environmental Award at the BBC Make a Difference Awards. I'm honored to call Frank a friend, and even more honored that he calls me one. – at Modena, Emilia Romagna

Kids, I walked into a used bookstore here, and I swear I hit the lottery. This out of print book was sitting right there, as if Providence had placed it in my path just for me to find. Remember, there are many "Bond Girls," but there is only one Britt Ekland. Whenever you're having a bad day, never forget this: the planet has been spinning for billions of years, billions of people have come and gone. You are fortunate enough to be alive during the same small sliver of time as @BrittEkland. – at Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France

After reading posts here on X the past few days, it is obvious it is time for another of these.. – at Milan, Lombardy

Have a great day, everybody... – at Milan, Lombardy

On a subzero day in New York City in January, I had the honor of meeting Petra Němcová, a multi-award-winning competitive shooting athlete. The wind was so brutal that I bought a pair of sweatpants to wear over my slacks just to keep warm! Yesterday, under the sunny skies of Aruba, Petra took first place in the Production Lady division at the 2026 Pan American Handgun Championship. Congratulations, Petra! It was a privilege meeting you—and wonderful to see another remarkable achievement added to your story. 🏆🇦🇼 – at Milan, Lombardy

Kids, I hope your Friday starts off better than mine. 8:00am : I'll circle back and pick you in front of the bank( left image) in ten minutes or so. 10:00am , I am still in front of the bank. – at Lisbon, Portugal

Anaphora: the deliberate repetition of a word, phrase, or sentence at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or paragraphs, usually for emphasis. A reader recently asked why I opened two nonconsecutive paragraphs in a heartfelt letter written by one of my characters with the same sentence. This can be described as anaphora, though when the repeated line returns after some distance rather than appearing back-to-back, it may be more precisely described as a refrain. A refrain does real work. It can emphasize an idea, connect two thoughts that live apart on the page, or carry greater emotional weight when it returns. In this case, the sentence lives inside one character’s letter to another—a letter written from the heart, not a case being argued. People writing from that place circle back to the thought sitting heaviest on them. He moves on to something else, but the repetition tells you the first feeling never actually resolved. It’s still there, underneath. As the author, I wanted the repetition to hold two parts of the letter together and let that one sentence pick up new weight the second time it lands. I wanted it to sound like a man circling back to something he can’t quite put down. Sometimes repetition is a mistake. Sometimes it’s the whole point. Context, character, placement, and purpose tell you which one you’re looking at. As authors, we often give reviews more authority than they deserve. A reader is always entitled to a personal response, but the freedom to critique a literary choice does not necessarily come with an understanding of the technique or intention behind it. A review tells us how one reader experienced the work. It does not, by itself, determine whether an artistic choice was a mistake. Sometimes a reader identifies a genuine weakness; sometimes a deliberate technique is mistaken for an error. Reviews deserve perspective, not authority over the work. As David Bowie advised, “Never play to the gallery.” His meaning was simple: be true to your art. A reader may question an intentional choice, they may not understand the reason for it, but that does not mean the artist should surrender it to satisfy someone else’s expectations. Listen when there is something to learn—but stay true to your art. (@GrimfelOfficial, you like how I finagled a Bowie quote into this?) – at Paris, France

You are enamored OF me, not enamored WITH me. Enamored of is the traditional construction and remains the more polished choice in formal or literary prose. Enamored with is now common—in American English—and is accepted by dictionaries, so it is not grammatically incorrect. Still, to a traditionalist or usage-conscious reader, it may make a manuscript feel slightly less refined. American author Brenda Ayres writes in Victorians and Their Animals (2019), "Why am I more enamored with some of the animals in Victorian novels…?" British author Emma Smith writes in Portable Magic (2022) of "a culture newly enamoured of the products of mechanical printing." This is not a reason to disparage the use of with; it is a reason for authors to understand the impression each construction may create. Both will be understood and both are accepted—but if the aim is polished, formal, or literary prose, enamored of (or enamoured of, as spelled throughout Britain, Canada, and the wider Commonwealth) remains the safer (I would argue, the better) choice. (@timmckay52 , what does Steve have to say about this issue? ) – at Paris, France

Kids, I strolled up Boulevard Saint-Michel to Saint-Germain-des-Prés to slug coffee at Café de Flore. When Simone de Beauvoir conceived The Second Sex in 1946, she was sitting at Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. (At the time, she lived at 60 Rue de Seine, just a few hundred yards from the café.) Just one door away is the Café de Flore (because it's Paris, and every block must have a minimum of five cafés). During the 1940s, Beauvoir treated it as both her office and her social headquarters. She spent countless hours there with Jean-Paul Sartre, her closest intellectual and personal companion. Albert Camus, whom she met during this Saint-Germain period and who belonged to their immediate postwar circle, was also a regular, as were Boris Vian, the writer and jazz musician, and Raymond Queneau, the novelist and poet. Now I am here. Pencil in one hand, notebook on the table already collecting a dozen coffee rings. Remember, it's called "writing," not "typing." Have a great Friday. – at Paris, France

"Civil Twilight", the approximate 30 minutes before sunrise , 8/20. Lights on across the street, the neighbors are starting to stir. Kids, have a great Thursday. – at Paris, France

Hit up my favorite book shop, now on the balcony in my new Yankees hat, ready to be the neighborhood's most obnoxious New Yorker. Spending my ten minutes of daily X time reading shitposts. Living the dream. – at Paris, France

Three cups of coffee in, sitting in one of the world's most famous cafés*, surrounded by the Cool Kids of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. For the moment, I may not be winning, but I am certainly not losing. Have a great day, everybody. (*When Simone de Beauvoir conceived The Second Sex in 1946, she was sitting at Les Deux Magots. At the time, she lived at 60 Rue de Seine, just a few hundred meters from the café.) – at Paris, France

Finally settled back in after my trip to Grimsby, England. While there, I had the pleasure of meeting a truly remarkable man, Frank Sparkes, a septuagenarian who devotes countless hours as a volunteer to cleaning up litter and improving his hometown. People like Frank make communities better, not by talking about change, but by quietly rolling up their sleeves and making it happen. I regularly donate to the causes Frank champions to help improve the city about which he cares so deeply. Grimsby is fortunate to have him. As you can see from the photos, not only did I sign a copy for Frank, I also got to pitch in and " wear the vest of Champions". – at Paris, France

Kids, my Honda 750 was put puttering on fumes- I made it to a pump- only to see the pump was out of service . Had to walk the bike to the next pump on Boulevard Saint Michel. Not a good way to start the afternoon! I hope yours is going better than mine. – at Paris, France

Kids, after far too long back in my hometown of NYC, followed by pit stops in Grimsby (to meet @GrimfelOfficial and deliver the American Oreo cookies) and London, England, I am finally settled back in at home here in Paris. Have a great evening, everyone. – at Paris, France

I am deep into the land of drizzle and sheep – at Doncaster, England