Blog
WRITING
How to lose a reader in 12 pages
Maybe you’ve heard it said that most readers never get beyond the first twelve pages of a book, particularly if it’s non-fiction. This supposed tendency is what drives the billion-dollar write-a-book-in-a-weekend industry. Become a published author. Have a book to...
Better the devil you know
I'm sitting here this morning listening to Walt in the other room. He's on a Zoom call with one of his clients, and apparently the guy is reluctant to try something new. He wants to cling to his old business habits because, as my mother used to say, "Better the devil...
What I read while waiting for a helicopter in Papua New Guinea
Let’s just say I had an awful lot of time on my hands while on vacation several years ago. That’s what happens when you deliberately leave your computer at home; AND you’ve got nowhere to go, save the local airstrip or the hotel compound; AND your helicopter can’t...
Eight Books, Eight Lessons: Why I’m Not Slowing Down
At my 60th birthday party a couple of years back, something interesting happened. A number of my friends started talking about retirement—counting down the days, making plans to "slow down," fantasizing about endless yoga retreats in Mexico and Netflix binges. They...
READING
What I read while waiting for a helicopter in Papua New Guinea
Let’s just say I had an awful lot of time on my hands while on vacation several years ago. That’s what happens when you deliberately leave your computer at home; AND you’ve got nowhere to go, save the local airstrip or the hotel compound; AND your helicopter can’t...
Eight Books, Eight Lessons: Why I’m Not Slowing Down
At my 60th birthday party a couple of years back, something interesting happened. A number of my friends started talking about retirement—counting down the days, making plans to "slow down," fantasizing about endless yoga retreats in Mexico and Netflix binges. They...
The Best Books of 2025: Holiday Reading Recommendations from Summit Press Authors
Every year around the holidays, I love pulling together book recommendations—and this year, I thought: who better to ask than published authors? After all, writers tend to be voracious readers who know their stuff. I asked some of our Summit Press authors to share...
Gordo lied
"This is the hardest thing you will ever do." That's what Gordo, the instructor of our Intro to Scuba Diving class, told us while he scrawled his name on the blackboard. Gordo was a big guy, nearly 300 pounds of flesh that couldn't have been easy to squeeze into a wet...
LIFE
Game recognize game
We once had a dog named Edgar whose whole raison d’etre was to kick cat ass. Unfortunately, we also had two cats: Peanut Butter and Mozart. Peanut Butter was a cat-hater’s cat. He had all the swagger of John Wayne, and the cool detachment of Humphrey Bogart. Tail up,...
Better the devil you know
I'm sitting here this morning listening to Walt in the other room. He's on a Zoom call with one of his clients, and apparently the guy is reluctant to try something new. He wants to cling to his old business habits because, as my mother used to say, "Better the devil...
What forty dead chickens taught me about playing small
Envy killed the chickens. Or so my Bedouin mother-in-law believed. There once was a jealous neighbor who came for a visit. Commenting on the large flock of hens pecking away in the courtyard, forgetting to invoke God's blessing on such wealth, she drew the Evil Eye's...
Eight Books, Eight Lessons: Why I’m Not Slowing Down
At my 60th birthday party a couple of years back, something interesting happened. A number of my friends started talking about retirement—counting down the days, making plans to "slow down," fantasizing about endless yoga retreats in Mexico and Netflix binges. They...
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