World’s Greatest Hamburger My brother will be surprised to know this post is about him—especially since it’s not a tribute to his death. How did this come about, you ask? I was reading a book and, about halfway through, the author described yet another character with superlatives. I thought about it and realized that the […]
July 4th is our anniversary, so I’m dedicating this post to my lovely wife. How To Stay Married For 44 Years This is my wife (she’s the one holding the brush). Her name is Michele, but I have known her as Mikki since I was 13 years old. We got married a few months after […]
Memories of a Great Teacher I recently lost two of my favorite people in the whole world: Aunt Margaret, who passed away a few weeks shy of her 91st birthday; and Aunt Rose, a few months before her 97th. They were at the top of my list for a lot of reasons, but one of […]
When I read this article my daughter, Aliza, wrote I knew I had to share it. She is a professional genealogist, and she writes for five Italian American publications as a columnist. If I must say, she is not only a great genealogist, but a magnificent storyteller. I hope you enjoy this. Giacomo Standing on […]
What Her Eyes Have Seen I lost My aunt rose a few weeks ago. Yes, that’s a sad thing, but the saddest thing was that she wasn’t just a dear aunt and wonderful person. What I lost was my own personal time machine, a magic mirror into the past. Aunt Rose was born in 1916. […]
Another Day in Paradise I was working at my computer, doing what writers are supposed to do, when the phone rang. Caller ID showed it was from my daughter-in-law. I grabbed the phone, a little panicked, wondering why she’d be calling during the day while she was teaching. “Someone stole Joey’s phone,” she said. “What? […]
Here’s the scenario—you’re stuck on a desert island and you get to pick one person to be with you, so the question is… Who Would You Pick? Who Would I Want to be Stuck on a Desert Island With? After much consideration, I select—my wife. Your wife! Yes, my wife. I know what you guys […]
I have been swamped with work as I prepare to launch my next book (March 4), so my lovely daughter agreed to let me post one of her articles on genealogy. Aliza is a syndicated columnist and feature writer for Italian American publications across the US. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the post. This article was originally published […]
Conflicting Characters I write crime novels, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy…no matter what you call them, they’re fiction books. But just because they’re fiction doesn’t mean they’re not real. What the hell does that mean? Some readers have written to me and asked how I make my characters seem so real. I thought about that and then […]
The Wisdom of Parents There are a lot of things we never thank our parents for. I’m not talking about the money it took to raise us, or the time we took from their lives, or even the love they gave, or the sacrifices they made. I’m talking about the wisdom they imparted. In particular, […]
