It’s a tried and true cliché: Writing is a solitary affair. A writer and his or her computer, typewriter, pencil, tablet, pen, marker, crayon, or other writing implement of choice are isolated for hours, days, weeks, or months on end staring out a window, at a wall, or at the blank page. Locked away in an office, attic, basement, or studio with no people, no interactions, and no interruptions (hopefully). The writer alone with his/her thoughts. (And, when working on a computer, with the endless distractions of the Internet.)
I’m an extroverted, community-oriented, people-energized kind of guy. How did I end up in this world?
Well, there’s another cliché, just as true, that while writing is solitary, a book is a communal undertaking. I can scribble all day for my own entertainment and edification but unless I have others to assist in getting it from the page to an accessible form, it’s merely an exercise of the imagination. That has its own value, to be sure, but it’s generally not the writer’s ultimate aim. Furthermore, if no one reads what I scrawl, it’s vanity of vanities, as the Preacher tells us. The written word needs to be read to be complete.
Take my case, for example. Each of my 12 (so far) books lists me as sole author. (My picture book also has an illustrator.) That’s misleading because I hardly worked alone. There were editors, designers, consultants, inspire-ers, and (maybe most important of all) encouragers, to name a few. And, as I said above, the folks who read those books are as important as any contributor. To paraphrase the age-old question, “If a book is published and no one is there to read it, does it matter?”
Change is in the wind. For the first time, my writing is part of a group project. The local writers’ group I’m part of has published a collection of writings. I had the privilege of contributing three pieces: two short stories and an essay. “Somewhere Stories” can be found on Amazon by clicking on the image below.
As the flyer above indicates, a book launch will be held next week, on Thursday 12/18/25 at the “somewhere” where we meet, the Chelmsford (MA) Center for the Arts. Feel free to drop by, have some cookies, and check it out.
(In case you were worried that I’ve given up writing long form books on my own (admit it, you were worried, weren’t you), fret not! I have a new book in the works, a family-friendly comic tome based on another of my unproduced (as yet 🙂 ) screenplays. God willing, it will be out in plenty of time for better weather reading.)
Scribbling in the Sand 