Author: David J. Hamilton

Writers are lunatics. We plant handfuls of seed at random, hoping it finds purchase in fertile soil. Then water, sun, love. And if all the efforts align, who knows what wilderness could grow. Pretty, huh? Now ask an editor what they think. Yeah. Writers grow mad gardens. Editors prune them into beauty. Wild is just…

If I hadn’t learned it the hard way, it likely wouldn’t have stuck. Easy lessons fade. The hard-won knowledge of failure lasts forever. But there is always hope of rain from peaceful skies, and there is always another off-ramp. Another exit. Another rebrand. Forward is inevitable. Insert subsequent cliché here. Success is the result of…

I was wrong, and I am sorry. Arrogance blinded me to the simple truth, but I understand now. I do. I have seen the error of my ways, and I apologize for my transgression. Never again will I be so pretentious as to defend the absolute uselessness of the semicolon. In the interest of full…

Would you believe me if I told you vegetables don’t exist? Think about it. Everything that you know as a vegetable is actually something else. Lettuce is a leaf. A carrot is a root. Brussels sprouts are, well, sprouts. And cauliflower … you get the picture. Now, why would someone create an entire category of…

Do you still watch television?Do you read a newspaper? A magazine? Does your information come from a physical source, or do you consume content in a digital buffet? I imagine using the term anachronistically – even a single generation ago. Tell someone in 2001 that they were consuming content and they would likely punch you for making a fat joke. Before…

A line on a map. A river. A mountain range. An accident of birth, and another citizen is added to the populace…. Is there still room for the idea that where you’re from makes who you are? The world is small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket nowadays, so with the ability to see everyone, everywhere, everywhen, can…

Eight months ago, I sat in this chair, took out a piece of paper, and started writing an outline. That outline became a draft, and that draft became a manuscript. With a little help from the online world, that manuscript has now become a dream – a dream undying …. The process is daunting. It…

My friends, The time has come to stand against the army of punctuation haters threatening to destroy our beautiful language! There are so few acceptable ways to construct a sentence – and even fewer ways to control the flow and cadence. Hence, our helpful little friends: punctuation marks!  Lately, there has been much rage spent…

Is there value in remembering the outmoded? Will remembering how to use a rotary telephone ever save the day? How many times have you been forced to escape in a manual transmission car? Oh, and don’t forget to press play AND record at the same time if you want to capture your new favourite song…