Blog

I am not actually talking about REAL ghosts. However, I have found that over the past few months the loss of my wife, Linda, has brought up thoughts and feelings about other deaths. Not all of my deceased friends and relatives, but specifically my daughter, Katie, and in the past few weeks a miscarriage we […]

We have just finished the longest Holiday season of the year. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all smished together. Some calendars even highlight the dates in red. These days are significant. And they can be especially impactful on people who have suffered a Loss. Often people are at their lowest point after a loss […]

I have read and have had some people say that the second year after a Loss, the death of a loved one, is harder than the first. In my experience it has been HARD. Not necessarily harder but different. When we lost or daughter, Katherine, to a birth accident in 1992, I was inconsolable. For […]

We have just finished the longest Holiday season of the year. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all smished together. Some calendars even highlight the dates in red. These days are significant. And they can be especially impactful on people who have suffered a Loss. Often people are at their lowest point after a loss […]

First an apology. This should have gone out weeks ago but travelled to visit family in NJ for T’Day. And then caught a three week bug! Speaking of Holidays I will be writing about Loss and Holidays and Anniversaries since the season is upon us. People have very different reactions. Anyway, Writing is essential. We […]

Is it okay to be angry when dealing with Loss? Hell yes! When dealing with a Loss pretty much anything goes. Whatever works. Except of course self harm, harm to others and spiraling into addiction. We all develop strategies. I have been talking in these pieces on Loss about my own methods. They don’t work […]

As I have said in previous posts, each person deals with Loss uniquely and deals with every Loss they experience in a unique way. So I have developed my own lexicon. The entire landscape, as I’ve said here before, is Loss. Sadness, depression with a small “d”, technically termed anhedonia, and grief sit within that […]

I have Blogged the past few weeks about Loss, often referred to as Grief. I consider Grief to be a particular emotional state set within the context of Loss. I will write more about Grief in my next Blog. As I have mentioned I lost my wife, Linda, last November to ALS and my daughter, […]

Having lost my wife, Linda, nine months ago and my daughter, Katherine, in 1992, I am writing a series of short Blogs about the experience. With Katherine, she inspired me to write the fantasy series, The Ur Legend, to give her a life she never got to live since she dies at seven months old. […]

I returned to my Blog a few weeks ago after an absence of two years. As I have said, I was consumed with taking care of my wife, Linda, who had been diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2021. She died on 11/12/2023. Most books on loss carry Grief in the title. I prefer […]

My wife, Linda, was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neurological disorder, in August of 2021. She died November 12, 2023 at CHOMP Hospital in Monterey,CA. It happened in the wee hours, 2 AM. I was at her side but sleeping when the nurses woke me to tell me she had ‘passed’. So now […]

So what’s with the interrobang (yup that’s what it’s called: Qmark followed by an exclamation point)? Every year the US Men’s Open, golf, concludes on Fathers’ Day. Fitting in many ways. Usually the winner thanks all who have helped him. Especially their dads. Often there are bleary eyed, teary eyed encomiums to their fathers who […]

I try to ground my Fantasy in some sort of factual basis. Before I began writing ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ I read an article in Scientific American that concerned a short but dramatic fall in temperatures world wide about 12,000 years ago, during an interstitial warming period during the Ice Ages. The melting caused a […]

“I know the way to your heart is through your brain and I do love you for it, or in spite of it.” Loss One of the major themes in the book Sun Valley Moon Mountains is “loss.” In the first chapter of the book, Kate says to Jaq, who finds her crying in the bathroom in the […]

Well, fans, it’s been a while. A LONG while. But I finally made it back on to FB. This is important because the FB Boost feature is a must for marketing books if you’re an Indie author. Background: a couple of years ago I received a text from FB asking me to confirm my identity […]

I try to ground my Fantasy in some sort of factual basis. Before I began writing ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ I read an article in Scientific American that concerned a short but dramatic fall in temperatures world wide about 12,000 years ago, during an interstitial warming period in the Ice Ages. The melting caused a […]

Last week I wrote about the disconnect between Trump’s actions during the CV19 crisis and his perception of himself as an autocrat. I thought I’d reprint a post about how Kim and Trump are ‘sole proprietors’ and how this has affected their behavior. North Korea is an issue I have addressed, since the first part […]

Donald Trump’s handling of CV19 is a bit of an enigma. Not just the specific policies of his Administration, but rather the lack of ‘ownership’ he has exhibited. So I thought I’d have a conversation with one of the characters in my ‘Ur Legend’ to get his perspective. Jumong had been the Chairman of the […]

The Beat generation in the US in the 1950s rebelled against materialism and questioned traditional American cultural values. They were portrayed often as black clad, beret wearing, bongo playing and ULTRA Cool ‘cats’. A classic caricature was the character Maynard G Krebs, played by Bob Denver. But the Beat writers were a serious group. The […]

So we will continue to post poems and short stories. The following is another whimsical work: A NOT POEM                         Harper Lee penned:                         ‘the senseless beauty of sunrise’                         Can it cook a breakfast of Happiness?                         Berliner said: ‘Wonder is not                         Happiness but its own reward’             […]

During this stressful time reading can often be a true pleasure. So rather than write about ‘heavier’ topics I plan to republish some poems and short stories, as well as publish a few new ones. ‘I Married a Butterfly’ has appeared here before but for those of you who haven’t read it I’m reprising. It […]

The past week has been both challenging and sad. Challenging to those of us still healthy and sad for those stricken with Covid19. I had planned before the pandemic to fire up the Blog again and write about two possibly prescient themes in The Girl from Ipanema, Book 2 of The Ur Legend: a global […]

Grief is perhaps the most brutal of emotions. Not because it is more intense than others. Certainly fear can be more immediately overwhelming. But Grief is a chronic state. It is a response to Loss. Not simply the loss of a wallet, or a set of keys, but something irreplaceable and irretrievable. The object of […]

A couple of articles and editorials were printed in The New York Times this month on Grieving. An editorial by Sian Beilock, President of Barnard College, ‘No Right Way to Mourn’, was particularly insightful concerning society’s attitudes toward the death of public figures and those whom we may know casually or simply ‘know of’. She […]

Today is a special day. Our daughter, Katie, would have been 28. As you may know by now, I wrote a Fantasy trilogy, ‘The Ur Legend’, to give her a life she never got to live. And last week was a special week on the Monterey Peninsula. We hosted the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The […]

Elko, NV is the Go-To for my wife, Linda, and me when we travel from the Monterey Peninsula in Central Cali to Ketchum, ID. I wrote extensively about our Fly-fishing adventures in Sun Valley in October 2018. You can search my Blog site, at ajaxminor.com, for more links under Idaho. But first let me introduce […]

A few weeks ago I wrote a review of ‘Last Christmas‘ starring Emilia Clarke. Now I’d like to share some thoughts on ‘Uncut Gems’. What’s going on here? Why the movie reviews suddenly? I’d only written one other, a year or so ago, of the flick ‘Wonder Woman’. I always make it a point to […]

The distinguishing feature of Ms Lindsey’s writing is her ability to weave the emotional and intellectual connections between and among characters. It is, I think, a technique I have identified as the primary driver of plot in my own Ur Legend series. The two wonderful, salient aspects of her Mysteries are her ability to draw […]

Sun Valley Moon Mountains takes place at Christmas. But it is not a Christmas story. Not exactly. And the eponymous Jesus Christ makes an appearance! Read the story about the strange Christmas tree Father Nicholas Marduk Beele sent to Kate and Jaq, Oh! Tannenbaum?!

‘Last Christmas’ was billed, for some reason, as a ‘rom-com’. I suppose I don’t go to enough movies to have known what in hell that was at first. Let me be clear, this movie is not a ‘romantic comedy’ it is a FANTASY! It is supposed to be quirky, loopy and at times quite absurd. […]

I have finished the promotional period for my new novel, Kutuzov’s Dream, Book 3 in the Ur Legend series. Phew! Now I’d like to get back to some commentary. I’d like to refresh on the reasons why I began writing. But first I’d like to talk about something more basic I often hear people say, […]

There was quite the dust up recently over Trump’s remarks about four Democratic congresswomen, a.k.a. ‘The Squad’. He was accused of Racism. Is this accurate? Hard to say since we can’t get into Trump’s head; nor would we want to. He told them to go back to the countries they came from. But on the […]

Kutusov’s Dream, Book 3 of The Ur Legend series, is about to be published. I’ve finished reading through my editors’ notes and made my own corrections. All is ready but I’ve decided to give it one last read. A project years in the making deserves the extra effort. We want it to be as good […]

Last Christmas there was a huge dust up over the Frank Loesser song ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’. It may have seemed innocent enough in the ’40s but in the new #MeToo world it was regarded as the picture of a persistent, predatory male. Fair enough. Males are predatory and persistent. Our minds conjure up the […]

As Daenerys sat atop Drogon at King’s Landing and listened to the bells toll surrender, she had a choice to make. For some odd reason she chose the total destruction of King’s Landing, along with a population of common people she had spent her young life protecting. Inexplicable, bad storytelling in my opinion, but the […]

Over the last two weeks I’ve lost two friends. My superb social media guru, Evelyn Helminen, changed jobs, and the move put too many demands on her time to continue to provide the great graphics you’ve all come to expect and enjoy. I’ll do the best I can. And I lost Daenerys Targaryen. I invested […]

Given the recent aggressive moves by Kim Jong-un and escalating tensions just about everywhere on the globe, I thought I’d reprint a post on the two main personalities in the conflict. North Korea is an issue I have addressed, since the first part of ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ takes place in the DPRK. I needed […]

We hear a lot of cries to ‘take our country back’, to ‘give us our rights as a legitimate minority’ and to ‘free us from a foreign oppressor’. The first is probably more common today rising from the ardent nationalists, the second from specific demographic groups such as religious or ethnic. The last is less […]

Sylvia Plath was a genius and is my favorite lyric poet of all time.

Given my preference for strong female characters, I sprinted to the box office with my wife, Linda, to see the film.

The past week saw the horrendous devastation caused by tornados in Alabama…

Two weeks ago, the Monterey Peninsula, where Linda and I live, hosted the AT&T golf tournament.

Ethnicity is prominent in my series, and ethnic prejudice draws from the same well as racial prejudice.

No, not the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. This is a true tale.

‘Cassandra Heeded’ is Book 2 of N W Moors’ Second Chances series.

As a fantasy writer, I find it great fun to base my stories on some sort of credible fact.

If for no other reason than to experience the short story ‘Sandcastle’, I would recommend the book highly.

Having just returned from Florida to spend Christmas with my 92-year-old Mom, I thought it fitting to share some random thoughts.

Time to talk about what is often a favorite time of year for many of us, CHRISTMAS.

“Fish have to eat every day.”

I’ve been writing about fishing for the past few weeks.

There are three basic types of fly used to lure the fish: Dry, Wet and Nymph.

I wanted to talk to you this week about the differences in the types of streams where you fish, freestone and spring creeks.

I grew up doing lake and ocean fishing. So how did I become a fly fishing addict?

As you know by now, if you read my blog, Linda and I went fishing in Idaho a week or so ago.

If you’ve read Sun Valley Moon Mountains, you know that my main characters, Jaq and Kate, were anglers.

This week we will publish the last two of the poems that were submitted over the past couple of weeks.

In a recent Facebook post I had asked if anyone would like to submit a poem and I received FIVE new works!

Over the past few weeks I’ve posted some work in my Blog by previously unpublished authors.

A few weeks ago I published a short story by my sister, Joanne Trebbe, who was previously unpublished. This week, as promised,

I’m a novice at Social Media.

I wrote a Blog recently about The National Marriage: Red and Blue, a  response to a David Brooks column in the New York Times. But what about the personal side of divorce?

While I continue to nurse my wife Linda after her foot surgery,

As individuals we are all unique, if not all equal in talent or, especially, recognition.

Last month, David Brooks wrote a column in the New York Times, to which he is a weekly contributor, entitled ‘How to Repair the National Marriage’.  

We’re going to reprise some previously published short stories and poems this week.

Is Split Rock by Holly Hodder Eger a romance? Is it the story of one woman’s mid-life crisis?

Given the events of the past few weeks concerning the separation of families by ICE, I decided to jot down a few thoughts,

Over the next month I am going to post work by a pair of authors, neither published.

So do you like mythology? Particularly Greek mythology? And did you like American Gods by Neil Gaiman?

A few weeks ago I gave an interview to King Grossman on his local show, local to Monterey CA that is, Artivism. 

Last week I wrote about my own mom. This week I’d like to discuss four other mothers in my life.

In honor of this past Sunday’s Holiday, Mother’s Day, we’re going to talk about Mom. This is fertile ground for an essay

Sometimes the mind works in subtle but wondrous ways.

I will say again that it is amazing how much excellent works is being produced by writers all over America.

This week and next it will be my pleasure to publish reviews of books by two authors, local to the Monterey Peninsula, King Grossman and Steve Hauk. 

Email doesn’t do ‘tongue in cheek’ very well.

We all, atheist and believer alike, must have Faith. I will tell you it gets tested when you are struck with a catastrophe like losing a child.

Disembarking I noticed soldiers everywhere, armed with automatic weapons and wearing jack boots.

So much has been made this week of Mueller and McCabe and Stormy Daniels the mind boggles. But unlike previous administrations we keep being distracted by

Humans have an enormous capacity for greed and violence. But also a capacity for love.

Katie would have been 26 last month. There is truth in the expression that Time heals all wounds.

What does the Second Amendment have to do with my book, “The Girl from Ipanema?”

I bought Colum McCann’s book, ‘Letters to a Young Writer’, after watching a spot on PBS Newshour hosted by Jeffrey Brown. Am I a young writer?

So much has been made this week of Mueller and McCabe and Stormy Daniels the mind boggles.

Last week I said that we would talk about the great ‘Sh**hole’ moment. Or was it ‘Sh**house’? No Matter.

The #MeToo tidal wave has caused men to begin to rethink their view of women.  Even those of us who have not been offenders.

As I have said, I don’t consider myself a poet, though I have the temerity to lob a few poems in your direction on occasion.

What is ‘Not High’ Fantasy? In short, it means, no dragons, no dwarves, no F*&&^%ing elves.

This is the last in a 3-part series, in which I review Erin Lindsey’s ‘Bloodbound’ series.

This is the 2nd in a 3-part series, in which I review Erin Lindsey’s ‘Bloodbound’ series.

This is the 1st in a 3-part series, in which I review Erin Lindsey’s ‘Bloodbound’ series.

Okay, so we’ve been hit with a lot of bad, sad lately. Sexual harassment at the fore.

As I have stated in the past, I think it’s important for writers to review other writers’ works. There is much to be learned by engaging in criticism.

On the Road at Dawn To the East the sun rocks, and huffs softly

This week, starting Thursday 11/9 and running through Monday 11/13, Book 2, The Girl from Ipanema (TGFI), will be free for your e-reader.

Perhaps you’ve been curious about the novel Sun Valley Moon Mountains. Here’s a chance to get it for free!

Is Harvey Weinstein a sexual predator? Is that a rhetorical question? Seriously.

What does the Second Amendment have to do with my book, “The Girl from Ipanema?”

This week I’m letting it all hang out and publishing a poem. I’m exposed here since I don’t consider myself a poet.

So what is UPPRE? Well, it’s a site devoted to the Lifestyles of people from a variety of walks of life. And it has an International flavor.

As with many things, female announcers may be an acquired taste. But once acquired they are to be savored. Sort of like caviar.

Okay, so I finish the book and sit there stunned. WOW! And for a fleeting moment I have this rush, as if I’ve actually discovered a great talent.

I’d like to touch on the Solheim Cup contested last weekend between professional golfers from the US and Europe.

I’m Jaq. If you’ve read Sun Valley Moon Mountains, you know me already. But this is my first foray onto Ajax’s website.

I was fortunate last week to do a Podcast with Connie Dunn on Publish With Connie.

If you had a second chance—but only one—what would it be?

Did you know? Dr. Samuel Johnson compiled “A Dictionary of the English Language” in 1755, and it is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language.

“I know the way to your heart is through your brain and I do love you for it, or in spite of it.”

Can art be a balm for Grief? If so, how?

We are in the middle of a promotional campaign for The Girl from Ipanema. I’m working with Smith Publicity out of Cherry Hill NJ and am excited about the interest they’ve generated.

How does one deal with a crushing loss, such a losing a child?  

Who in hell is Ajax Minor?  

North Korea’s subtle shift. Climate Change surprise

Last week we addressed the issue of the extent to which stories are autobiographical.  Now let’s talk about something more basic. I often hear people say, “I’ve always wanted to write,” or

Do writers always write about things they know? Should they write about things they don’t know?

We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the publication of a new book in the Ur Legend series with an improved website.

In “The Girl from Ipanema,” scheduled for release in May 2017, we meet Ur as a young lady, and, boy, is she growing up!

The first novel in the series ‘The Ur Legend’ was released April 1, 2016.