Play It Again, Jim
“Because it’s what you’re supposed to do” isn’t a good answer, so let’s dig a little deeper. Exactly why DO I send out a newsletter?
We Don’t Live Our Lives Inside a Novel
Unlike novels, life is messy, ridiculously complicated, even downright chaotic, and the characters aren’t even believable. Good luck pitching it to an agent.
To Read the Impossible Book
I’ve loved “Man of La Mancha” since I first saw it in the sixties, so when I recently tried to read Don Quixote, I expected to be at least as deeply affected. Sadly, reality had different ideas.
You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone
Warning: 70s Folk Rock Ahead
A Few of My Favorite Things
What do snowstorms, martinis, and baseball have in common?
We are all odd, in our own ways. I may be odder than most.
What do pickleball, refrigerator magnets, and leaving Yankee Stadium have in common?
Here’s What I’ve Been Working On
The [finished] Unfinished Paris Novel, Behind the Rectory Door, and … Michael Nicholas #6?
All’s Well That Ends Well?
A few words about endings, real and fictional.
Fiction Often Tells Us What’s Coming
Sometimes fiction gives us a glimpse of the future.
Books Are Good For You
Expand those neural pathways and live vicariously!
Armchair Travel via Death in the Kremlin
Oh, the places you’ll go without ever leaving home!
When Your Main Character Suddenly Invades Another Country
The perils of using real people as fictional characters.
The Role of Chance in our Lives, or How a Single Moment Can Change Everything
From unexpected meetings to book that change our lives, E. J. Simon ponders the role chance—or fate—can play in our daily lives.
One of the most-asked questions of authors is “Where do you get your ideas?”
Dreams, travel, colorful friends … E. J. Simon considers where the ideas for his books come from.
Thoughts on the Progress of Artificial Intelligence
We’ve come a long way since HAL turned homicidal in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but where is AI headed from here?
Artificial Intelligence Has Caught Up With My Fiction
Ten years ago, my premise — that Alex Nicholas had himself “copied” into an AI in the Cloud before he died — was called far-fetched by some reviewers. Not anymore.
Is fiction a look into the heart and soul of the author?
Despite an author's assurances that certain characters are not a reflection of his own personality, they often are.
Are My Fictional Characters Real?
Many of my characters are loosely based on people I know, but I try not to be limited by reality.
Novels & Politics
When I’m writing, I’m not looking to find another way to divide us or to create more angst for myself than I already have.
What is fiction, anyway?
I want to be James Bond, but I don’t want to be swimming with crocodiles or get dissected by Goldfinger and his industrial laser. I like going to bed early.