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Author: Art
Art’s writing career burst forth at age eight when he won a creative essay contest at his local public library. Shortly thereafter, he learned about paying bills. Leaving the famous leafy Boston suburb he’d always called home, he earned his BA in geology at a bucolic, erudite college not too far away where he met and hung out with guys talented enough to actually climb the big mountains that still intrigue him.
After that, he embarked on a career telling CEOs what to do. Over several illustrious decades—maxing out on frequent flier miles, but never quite mastering jet lag—he penned countless corporate treatises, each of which seemed weighty and potent at the time. Mercifully, that part of Art’s literary oeuvre remains cordoned behind non-disclosure agreements.
He has published in places as diverse and obscure as Computer Reseller News and Ultrarunning Magazine.
Shortly after 9-11, without ever really intending to, he became a Christian.
Art and his wife of 30+ years remain planted near Boston where they walk their dogs alongside an expanding flock of grandchildren.
Covered With Snow is his first novel.
History vs. Historical Fiction
One of my biggest reading disappointments ever was Edmund Morris’ biography of Ronald Reagan—and not because of the subject. ‘Dutch’ came out in 1999; Morris died in 2019. This tale may seem remote to those under forty but please hang in there. ‘Dutch’ was a controversial watershed for biography, memoir, and history, with ripple effects…… Continue reading History vs. Historical Fiction
Connected?
Check your purse, pocket, or hand. Smart phone? Yep. Called it. That hardly makes me a prophet. Unless you’re spelunking deep in a cavern, shepherding in the Australian Outback, or ski-trekking in Antarctica,* you expect the instant potential for human connection. *(Initially, I included swimming as a fourth alliterative example of unreachability, but, I just…… Continue reading Connected?
Nebraska
A reader who knows I’ve lived my whole life near Boston asked: How did Nebraska come to figure in Covered With Snow? Here’s the gist of that back story (no spoilers). In the late ‘90s I had my dream job. Dot.com was booming, up-ending assumptions. How will the Internet change our business? People with money…… Continue reading Nebraska
Geeking-Out on Fonts
I used to think it pretentious that the authors of certain literary novels (or more likely, their highfalutin publishing houses) would devote space to discussing fonts. (Here’s why we specially designed this unique font for you, oh discerning reader.) Really? If your story can’t stand on its own once the e-book homogenization process gets hold…… Continue reading Geeking-Out on Fonts
Prologue: The Face of The Deep
The Columbia Icefield, August, 2019… Cece Paine, Professor of Glacial Geology at the University of British Columbia, is not sure, when she crunches out of her tent in unlaced, crampon-clad boots, if a spot of bright green deep in the crevasse lit by her headlamp is not a dropped hat or mitten. She hopes it…… Continue reading Prologue: The Face of The Deep
One: Octopus
The Boston Arena, March, 1965… Otis Fletcher is used to sticky, constrained, desperate situations: man-sweat sharp with fear, arms taut, and ribs and faces entwined, high-tops scrabbling the bull’s-eye mat, not sure he can hold on one more second, or wants to. Ear guards damp grunts; thrashing masks pain (blood sometimes too, if the ref…… Continue reading One: Octopus
Two: Brothers
August, 1966… A year and a half later, all three Fletcher boys left home within days of each other: Henry to Vietnam for his second tour, Billy to start prep school up in New Hampshire, and Otis three hours west to the Berkshires to start Deden-Fisher College, his top choice despite it being all male.…… Continue reading Two: Brothers
Three: Acceptance
Summer, 1967… The following June, Billy returned to summer camp in Maine. Henry wasn’t due back from Vietnam until fall. Otis was working at Sucre Flambé, Dirkden’s fanciest French restaurant, washing dishes, unloading delivery trucks, and keeping its walk-in fridge organized. On his day off, his parents proposed splurging for a meal there together. “We’d…… Continue reading Three: Acceptance