Here in the West reports of temperatures reaching 125 degrees in places are, well, downright chilling. The wildfire season got an early start. California has already seen over 2,700 wildfires, burning five times more land compared to this time last year. A historic drought is underway. The coastal river that borders my place is a trickle of its former self. Many towns and counties are contemplating, if not already, enacting water restrictions. All this puts a sharp focus on water usage and the...

How readers help this writer stay the course When I completed my latest Nick Drake novel, “The Shaming Eyes,” I experienced a hangover of sorts, a mix of satisfaction, exhaustion, and restlessness. It turns out that’s not uncommon among writers. A clever yet insightful article in the New York Times even coined a term for it: “postwritum depression.” The piece reported how some authors behaved after typing ‘The End.’ Some did so in celebratory fashion, others seeking solace in the mundane. Jean...

"A Pale Chanting"  "The lie lay between them, there in the double bed beneath a red Maasai blanket, beneath the canvas ceiling, beneath the African moon dissolving into dawn. Outside, a lion prowled the tall grass roaring impatiently for his huntresses. The ground trembled from elephants steered by memories passed on by those who had passed by before. A go-away bird’s cry sounded like a petulant child. Robert listened to the Serengeti awaken, knowing that Sylvie was listening, too, wishing he...