Michael Davis' site dedicated to writing, travel, and commentary.
Let's say you've labored long in the fields of creative writing and the People Who Know (or maybe just the people who've noticed) have appreciated your talent. Some have appreciated it loudly and publicly, some quietly to friends in ways that eventually come back to you, some through amazing feats of jealousy, and others through... Continue Reading →
Attending an all-boys school felt like prison. Read my latest on Splice Today:
Today, I was advised to get an editing and proofreading certification from one of the many professional associations available to show potential clients that I am all business and not, as one would otherwise assume, a crank. Three decades of professional writing, editing-for-hire, and proofreading won’t do it. The representative who cold-emailed me on social... Continue Reading →
I rewatched Interview with the Vampire last night and it just doesn't seem dark enough. Maybe that's a reflection of how my emotional self has darkened after Covid, rapacious politics, and so much social turmoil. But it seems to me that the story, the myth, of the vampire is dangerous because it is Dionysian and... Continue Reading →
Read my latest on Splice Today: https://www.splicetoday.com/on-campus/the-new-puritanism-isn-t-without-precedent
Read my latest on Splice Today: https://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/convicting-kyle-rittenhouse-shouldn-t-be-easy
Today, I think I overcame my hitherto impassable mental block, the one I always get between pages 50 and 70, that indicates I've hit the "swampy middle." The term "great swampy middle" wasn't invented by me. In fact, I have no desire to discover who first coined the term because I have no desire to... Continue Reading →
Twenty years ago, she might have lit a cigarette. That would have been better. Twenty years and people still didn’t know what to do with their hands. Now they looked at each other and waited. “I love him. Is that what you want to hear?” “I don’t really care about that, Mrs. Sorrel. Not what... Continue Reading →
Professional writers and artists sometimes forget that they are human beings. In the immense pressure to monetize their work, develop personal commercial brands, and get recognized as professionals (because without such things, capitalist culture regards an artist as a hobbyist at best), they can forget that their art is only one part of who they... Continue Reading →
When people don't fully understand a particular branch of science or scientific inquiry (which we imagine must be most non-scientists), "following the science" comes down to making an informed leap of faith. There is nothing wrong with that. Leaps of faith are necessary on a daily basis in every part of life. Without them, we... Continue Reading →
The Writing Expedition 