Month: April 2024

My Review of Portland Author and Friend Mark Pomeroy’s New Novel

Work on the books I’ll be publishing in the coming months forced me to put my Writing the Northwest site on pause last year. But I just relaunched it with a review of my friend Mark Pomeroy’s excellent second novel, The Tigers of Lents.

As I write in my review, Mark’s novel is a “full and compelling picture of a struggling family in crisis”and “a deeply satisfying read.”

You can read the whole review here. And you can purchase the book here.

If you live in the Seattle area, you can see Mark in conversation with me about his novel at Third Place Books-Ravenna at 7 p.m. on THURSDAY, MAY 9.

Staying in Robert Lax’s Old House

The front door of Robert Lax’s house on Patmos, 2024. (Photo by Michael N. McGregor)

In late January and early February, I spent two weeks living in Robert Lax’s old house on Patmos while doing research for my forthcoming book An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life (Monkfish Publishing, spring 2025).

I’ll be posting more about the book and my experiences in writing it in coming days, but for a taste of it now, you can go to robertlax.com and read about my thoughts while looking over the only reminders of Lax still in his house: his books.

“Art Makes the Real World.”

Still life by Paul Cézanne

The title of this post is a quote from an autistic artist named William Scott, who was featured in a PBS Newshour segment on an exhibition of art by disabled artists at SF MOMA.

I think he is exactly right.

The world we see in the news–of conflict, violence, hatred, accusations, recriminations, and revenge–is not genuine. Artists offer us visions of a world that is more real because it reflects the desires, values, and aspirations of our better selves.

You can learn more about William Scott and the Creative Growth group he’s part of here: https://creativegrowth.org/william-scott

https://creativegrowth.org/william-scott

Manuscript Delivered! AN ISLAND TO MYSELF To Appear in Spring 2025

Sitting in one of the monk caves near Grikou on the island of Patmos.

I just delivered the manuscript for my book An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life to Monkfish Publishing.

Look for it in the spring of 2025.