Jesus Swept

Finding balance can be hard sometimes, especially in politics. It's easy to get mean, and the truth is, I don't want us to be mean. Us as in anyone. For example, I shouldn't have started that photo caption contest about Liddy, I didn't think through that it could go south so easily. It wasn't nice.

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I've written a novel in which I cooked up my new philosophy of life: Do good. Be nice. Have fun. These are the threads of life fully filled. From chapter 82:

“Venn diagram,” says Oscar. He grabs a pen and draws three interlocking circles on a paper towel. “That little space where the circles overlap? That’s the sweet spot. Good. Nice. And fun. All at once.”

My first novel will be published later this year. It is a frenzy of fun and fury that explores hope found and love lost on the North Carolina coast. Plus it's loaded with life lessons like this:

It’s mid-afternoon when the boys get back to the Jeep. They escaped the Marines mostly unscathed, though Sergeant Stone threatened to shove a broom handle up somebody’s black ass. Luke climbs into the backseat, settling in somewhere between seething and scared. Twenty mad minutes later on Sunrise Beach, he can barely stop himself from strangling the new Jesus, who has just run the only stop light on the island.

Cross-posted from Mystic-Lit

Countless travelers swirl through the airport terminal, delivering a sweet stream of inspiration for the thirsty writer inside me.

Bundles of babies wailing for attention. Big-bellied businessmen clinging to their Crackberries, getting in that one last call, that one last fix. Families in their fast food frenzies, counting on Sbarro to grease their traveling skids. It’s a world of worry and waiting, tinged with terror in all the wrong places. Anxiety runs amok.