Writing from the Heart with Brian
Think, Laugh, & Cry Each Day
(I ran a version of this story in January 2016. It's been updated and revised with current publishing data.) Patricia Cornwell’s books take-up two rows in my local library. Danielle Steele, now 76, has slowed in recent years, but she’s holding strong with two shelves of her own. James Patterson — the master — leads... Continue Reading →
I love people. I really do. Friendly ones and “stay off my lawn” ones, chatty ones and quiet ones, me-first ones and helper ones — the world is full of many different types and I like them all. However, my internal gas gauge is running on fumes. The gauge is placed firm on the E... Continue Reading →
When you ask people about their favorite books, you'll get a lot of votes for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy; and many others. Many folks often point to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by... Continue Reading →
Oh, my teacher meant well. My seventh-grade teacher tried to introduce my class to the joy of poetry. She tasked us with finding a poem that we liked and then reciting it from memory to rest of the class. We had a limited selection of poems to choose. Half of the class, meaning most of... Continue Reading →
(A short story on what happens when bad weather forces Santa Claus to make a brief stop on his Christmas Eve journey.) Santa Claus looked down at the gauges on his sleigh. They were teetering close to the danger zone. The swirling snow was tossing and turning his little sleigh and the weather wasn't getting... Continue Reading →
Sometimes things happen and when you see them, you're so much in agreement that you find yourself shouting out in agreement. You know what I mean. You're in line at the convenience store and your son sends you a text that he's getting a raise or been accepted into the school of his choice. Of... Continue Reading →
My wife called up from the first floor asking when I would be coming down. I acted like I didn’t hear her and kept working. A few minutes later, she asked again. I played innocent. I told her that I hadn’t heard her the first time and asked for ten minutes. Twenty-five minutes later, she... Continue Reading →
I would be angry, the frustration would build up, and the tears would come, but I didn't really have much of a way to stop them. I would promise myself that I would speak better the next time, I would speak slower, and the words would be clearer. When I think about my stutter and... Continue Reading →
(Reposted from December 2019.) The teacher stood over me like an angry giant. Looking back now I’m guessing that he couldn’t have been more than 5’8 or 5’9 tall and probably just graduated from college, but to my eyes, he held a position of authority, seemed pleased to catch his prey out of the classroom,... Continue Reading →
Writing from the Heart with Brian 
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