Stephen Lawrence Brayton's Blog (200)

“I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.”

I don't frequent bars. I'm not a beer drinker. Now, this isn't to say I haven't imbibed and if you ask the right friends, they'll tell you tales of times when I've, uh, well...let's just say I overindulged a bit. However, this brings up an…

“On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food.”

Well, then bring along some Fritos.

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Last time I talked about my basic day-to-day schedule, but my eating schedule has also changed since the move. I've been trying (somewhat successfully) to be more aware of what I eat. Trying to cut back on the carbs and…

I entitled this post 'New Year's Resolutions' for a simple reason: I don't make any. I used to but made progress on them for only about a week or so, then fell back into old habits. You know, the old standards: more exercise, watch the diet, quit smoking. Whoops, well, I can't claim I ever made a resolution to quit smoking since I never started.

I've been thinking about the end of…

I chose this accompanying picture specifically because I don't like pushups. Never have. I don't have the strength to do many pushups because of my right arm.

For those who aren't familiar with my story, let me share. When I was a baby I fell out of bed. I was ill and the infection settled in my ankle and elbow. The ER nurse told my parents that I was crying just to get attention. (Dad, to this…

“I think the freezer deserves a light as well.”

Why not? Illumination certainly would make finding that long forgotten frozen bagged hunk of round steak you placed in there eight months ago an easier task. This is one of those questions that nobody has taken the time to answer.

How does this truth relate to writing? Again, you'll have to…

Johnny's Italian SteakhouseJohnny's Italian Steakhouse 6075 Mills Civic Parkway West Des Moines, IA 50266 Phone: 515-333-5665 Fax: 515-309-3359 6800 Fleur Dr. Des Moines, IA 50321 Phone: 515-287-0847 Fax: 515-287-0850 …......................................... Today we find Lori Campisi back home after a Friday night out after a long, tedious case. She is speaking through her encoded video conferencing software to her contact back in Washington, D.C. “How ya doin' Fox!” John Hundt said. He…

“It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often need to buy things during 'siesta' time-this should be banned.”

I'm sure if the person had spoken to the mayor, he would have made a new law right then and there. Sheesh!

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This brings up the topic of schedules. Since the move back in October, '13 to a bigger city (well, a suburb of a…

This is along the lines of perseverance but I think where perseverance tends to lean toward trying and not giving up, determination comes before.

If you persevere for something, you are going to try and try, overcome whatever obstacle in your path. Tagging along with this can be a determination-al mindset that you are determined-dedicated-to reach your goal.

However, I view…

There are times that I don't enjoy being an adult. Sometimes I want to be a child again.

I get this feeling whenever I read a book with a child in it playing with a toy.

See, that's the key word. Toy. Sometimes, I don't like the word. It brings back an aching nostalgia. Two years away from being fifty, I miss my childhood toys. My bunny, play pistols, Tonka toys, trucks and cars, rocket ships,…

This morning I'm awakened early by this week's featured author. It's one of my friends from the weekly writers' group I attend in Knoxville. Into the transporter we go and I set the destination controls and before we take off, she pushes a button on the side of the console, one I've never seen before.

Soon we're in Nashville, at the Grand…

I posted the idea for this blog on Facebook wanting some comments and asking if other authors had experienced rejection. My thanks to David Schlosser and Bob Dunbar who responded with an example each. I can't make up this stuff so I'll let them tell their short stories in their own words:…

My first rejection came from a rude secretary in the Quad Cities when I was driving the route Mallory took in Beta. I stopped at a plant that processed meat gelatin. (Yeah, sounds disgusting to me, too) When I asked the secretary if there was a PR person available she told me one didn't exist. When I asked her who might help me, she said he wasn't available. I gave her my name and contact…

I thought about this topic several weeks ago when outlining a chapter to put at the beginning of Mallory Petersen's next adventure, Delta. In the story she meets a classmate about halfway through the story. When I wrote the first draft, I thought the scene worked, but after reading it to a critique group, and discussing it with a friend, I decided I needed to introduce the classmate earlier…

I wanted to write this on one of the reviews I've done on my other blog, braytonsbookbuzz.wordpress.com but decided instead to write this up as a regular blog. One of the reasons I chose to do it here instead of there is because I initially thought I'd write this at the beginning of one review and it might seem like I was lambasting the author, which, essentially, I am. I could have written up a separate…

One day in August of 1991, I was uptown and saw the local taekwondo club had a special offer of two weeks' free classes. I'd always been interested in martial arts, so I thought this sounded like a good deal and started classes.

I'd been in Oskaloosa less than a year and soon after starting my job at the radio station I joined the local community theatre group. I had been acting in plays since…

I really enjoy the forms of the American Taekwondo Association. The white belt form has 18 moves and you work yourself up to 81 moves for the first degree black belt form. White belt starts with some very basic moves, punch, front and side kicks, low, high, and middle blocks, and a knifehand strike (karate chop). Each form thereafter introduces a new move or combination move with some extra turns, and so…

My first bike was a 5-speed Schwinn. The gear shift was in the middle with a big black knob on the end. Banana-type seat. Later, I had a ten speed which I outgrew. In Oskaloosa, I had, for a short time, a three speed several decades old, complete with a headlight. Unfortunately, I kept it in the laundry room and someone stole it. Now I have a ten speed that is just a bit small for me, but it…

I went out for track in both junior high and high school. I never placed in any of my races. I went out for basketball as a junior in high school but the first warm up made my legs hurt for three days.

I'm not a fast runner but I've built up the endurance through taekwondo and through persistence.

I break down my running exercises into two categories. Intervals and…

We now return this blog to its regularly scheduled program. lol

This was my main thrust at the Sisters in Crime meeting. I discussed my fitness regimen, how I workout. Then I related those workouts to writing. So, let's spend a few weeks on just this aspect.

I discussed my workout regimen in that I have a lottery system that determines what I do from day to day (or day to…

It's a warm and humid Friday morning and I'm all ready to post part three of the recently popular series of blogs regarding fitness and writing. As mentioned last week, I suspected that an author might intrude upon this series and I was proven correct when the door burst open, the cat raced under the bed and this woman stood in the doorway. "Come with me," she commanded. "Yes,…