Mike MartinezSep 17, 201210 minThe Day of the Gun, Part VChapter 18 As state and federal law enforcement officials pieced together what happened that afternoon in the Parkwood Cemetery, everyone...
Mike MartinezSep 12, 201212 minDreaming Out Loud, Chapter 13Here is Chapter 13 of Dreaming Out Loud, the book about my mother’s stroke. Chapter 13 Now that mom has returned from the nursing home, w...
Mike MartinezSep 4, 20126 minOf Mothers and Their ChildrenOn August 6, I posted a blog about my mother on her 73rd birthday titled “Remembering the Pluff Mud Queen.” In response, I received more ...
Mike MartinezAug 22, 201212 minSometimes You Don’t Let Sleeping Dogs LieI have felt virtuous of late. It concerns my love for animals and my decision to save the life of an orphaned puppy. Almost every Sunday ...
Mike MartinezAug 6, 201220 minRemembering The Pluff Mud QueenAlthough she died more than five years ago, I have been thinking a great deal about my mother of late. Today (August 6) is her 73rd birth...
Mike MartinezJul 27, 20123 minThe Story of Writing Where the Light is Dim: First AnniversaryI started writing a blog on my website in July 2011. Since a year has passed, I thought it would be instructive to reflect back on my ups...
Mike MartinezJul 20, 20127 minTraipsing Through the Middle Kingdom; Or, How I Spent My Summer VacationIn recent years, I have been conscious of time passing. One moment, I was safely ensconced in high school, and the next I was galloping t...
Mike MartinezJul 1, 20127 minThe Swords of Wicked Men, Part VSo here is a lesson on compromise in the publishing game. In previous blogs, I have warned writers about the numerous changes — large and...
Mike MartinezJun 20, 201218 minThe Day of the Gun, Part IVAnd now, for your reading pleasure, here are chapters 13 through 17 of The Day of the Gun. Chapter 13 Parkwood Cemetery dated from the Ci...
Mike MartinezJun 8, 201227 minI Fought the Law and the Law WonWe were arrested, my mother and I, on a hazy, humid Sunday afternoon in October when I was fourteen years old. She was 37. Handcuffed, mo...
Mike MartinezMay 25, 201234 minThe Day of the Gun, Part IIIAnd now, for your reading pleasure, here are chapters 7-12 of The Day of the Gun. Chapter 7 Arthur Foster McLean — “Mac” to his friends a...
Mike MartinezMay 11, 201213 minA Quarter of a Century at the BarOn a rainy afternoon 25 years ago, I graduated from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. The date was May 11, 1987. Emory ...
Mike MartinezApr 26, 20125 minHappy Confederate Memorial DayWilliam Faulkner once observed that “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” That wry observation seems especially appropriate for folk...
Mike MartinezApr 12, 20124 minNPE 2012 and EnvironmentalismOn April 4, I attended a huge plastics trade show in Orlando, Florida, known as the National Plastics Exposition (NPE) 2012. Scheduled ev...
Mike MartinezMar 29, 201213 minThe Day of the Gun—Part IIAnd now, for your reading pleasure, here are chapters 3-6 of The Day of the Gun. Chapter 3 As the body of the one man who might be called...
Mike MartinezMar 15, 201212 minThe Day of the Gun — In Defense of “Selling Out”“She was packing a pair of 38s — and a gun.” For years I have threatened to “sell out” in my writing career. Invariably, whenever I utter...
Mike MartinezFeb 29, 20125 minMock Trials and My Hope for the FutureMost of the time when I deal with undergraduate students, I fear for the future. The life of the mind may not be dead, but it appears to ...
Mike MartinezFeb 15, 20127 minAmerican Environmentalism, Part II want to talk about my latest publishing venture in this blog. For the first time in my career as an author, I am tying together my writ...
Mike MartinezJan 31, 201218 minUp From Clay, Part IIMost of Up From Clay, my novel-in-progress, is written in the present tense, but in some chapters I reflect on past occurrences. In this ...
Mike MartinezJan 2, 201212 minUp From Clay, Part IThe manuscript I have intermittently labored over for almost 18 years is titled Up From Clay. I chose the title to convey the idea that h...
