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On the Road: Short trip to Wise County, Virginia

Those who Love to Travel know they don't have to journey far and wide to find interesting places to visit. My wife and I go to various towns and historic sites within driving distance of our home in c…

Those who love to tr…

Those who love to travel know they don't have to journey far and wide to find interesting places to visit. My wife and I go to various towns and historic sites within driving distance of our home in central Kentucky. Last fall, we discovered Wise County, located in southwestern Virginia and bordering southeastern Kentucky. It's an area rich in Appalachian history and culture, with beautiful scenery and mountainous terrain. It was a pleasant four-hour drive on the country roads. And it exceeded our expectations.I first became aware of the area after the publication of Adriana Trigiani's best-…

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Michael Embry March 3, 2026

Destination Amsterdam: Flower Power

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I ventured outside the city to explore two places that showcase the beauty the Netherlands is known for worldwide: flowers. I toured Royal FloraHolland, in Aalsmeer, t…

On a recent trip to …

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I ventured outside the city to explore two places that showcase the beauty the Netherlands is known for worldwide: flowers. I toured Royal FloraHolland, in Aalsmeer, the largest marketplace for flowers in the world, and spent several hours at Keukenhof Gardens, in Lisse, known as the "Garden of Europe."Royal FloraHollandKeukenhof GardensFlowers are ready to transportRoyal FloraHolland handles 10.3 billion flowers annually, operating 24/7 to meet the international demand. It's almost dizzying to watch carts of flowers being moved across the warehouse floor and …

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Michael Embry April 21, 2025

Destination Netherlands: Amsterdam

 Amsterdam is celebrating the 750th anniversary of its founding in 2025.750 years old I recently spent five days in the Dutch city of about 925,000 residents and found it easy to navigate, friendly,…

 Amsterdam is celeb…

 Amsterdam is celebrating the 750th anniversary of its founding in 2025.750 years old I recently spent five days in the Dutch city of about 925,000 residents and found it easy to navigate, friendly, and charming. It's cosmopolitan, home to 180 nationalities although about half the population is of indigenous Dutch origin. I found it to be a colorful, and perhaps underrated, city to discover because of its rich history and diverse cultures. About 90 percent speak English, making it easy for this American to communicate with its citizens. At times, when in shops and restaurants, I almost forgo…

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Michael Embry April 6, 2025

On the Road: A Short Trip to Greenville, S.C.

There are some cities and towns that fall under the radar and should be visited by curious travelers. Some folks refer to them as hidden gems. Occasionally my wife and I take long weekend trips to va…

There are some citie…

There are some cities and towns that fall under the radar and should be visited by curious travelers. Some folks refer to them as hidden gems. Occasionally my wife and I take long weekend trips to various areas within a reasonable driving distance and we discovered a gem in Greenville, S.C. The small city is about 365 miles from our home in Frankfort, Ky., about a six-hour drive depending on the route (we took the scenic route through eastern Kentucky, crossing parts of southwestern Virginia, and east Tennessee). Main Street While Greenville proper has a population of about 72,000, the metr…

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Michael Embry August 14, 2024

Unfocused in 2024

It's been a while since I've posted a blog. That's going to end today.I'm unsure why there's been a drought since Dec. 7, 2023. It's been frustrating. I've had things to write about, especially travel…

It's been a while si…

It's been a while since I've posted a blog. That's going to end today.I'm unsure why there's been a drought since Dec. 7, 2023. It's been frustrating. I've had things to write about, especially travels to various places, but I haven't been inclined to put those trips down in words. Maybe it's a little laziness on my part. I plan to rectify that in the coming weeks.I have been writing, though. I'm working on the seventh novel in my John Ross Boomer Lit series. I also post book reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and other sites. I also edit the monthly newsletter from Wings ePress. You can check it …

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Michael Embry July 19, 2024

Back to the Keyboard

 It's been quite a while since I've posted something here. My apology. I could use the excuse that sometimes life gets in the way, but that would be a cop-out. A writer should write, regardless. I h…

 It's been quite a …

 It's been quite a while since I've posted something here. My apology. I could use the excuse that sometimes life gets in the way, but that would be a cop-out. A writer should write, regardless. I have been writing, but not on this platform since last May.First, I had the sixth book in my John Ross Boomer Lit series, Cradle of Conflict, published on Dec. 1. Anyone who has written a book knows that there's a lot of writing that goes into the final product, from drafts (I had seven), to edits, to rewrites. So that took up a lot of my time until I wrapped it up in early November with my editor …

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Michael Embry December 7, 2023

Alive and Well, and Writing

 I haven't posted a blog in about three months. That's a long time in cyberspace. It was my plan at the start to have a minimum of one post per week and usually exceeded that number. But sometimes l…

 I haven't posted a…

 I haven't posted a blog in about three months. That's a long time in cyberspace. It was my plan at the start to have a minimum of one post per week and usually exceeded that number. But sometimes life gets in the way of intentions. It's not like I've been in a vegetative state, even though I'm a vegetarian. I'm still working on the third rewrite of the sixth book in my "John Ross Boomer Lit Series." It hasn't come along as smoothly as the previous entries, but still, there's progress. I'd like to finish it in a few weeks to submit to my publisher for publication later this year. It might b…

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Michael Embry May 27, 2023

The Writing Life: Difficult Restart

A week ago I returned to a manuscript that had been in a file folder for nearly a year.  I had put it aside for various and sundry reasons. For those who don't follow my blog, I'm working  on the s…

A week ago I returne…

A week ago I returned to a manuscript that had been in a file folder for nearly a year.  I had put it aside for various and sundry reasons. For those who don't follow my blog, I'm working  on the sixth book in the John Ross Boomer Lit series. I confess that it's been a rocky return to the manuscript. I work on a chapter each day with edits and rewrites. The problem is that I'm still not sure I like where the story is headed.I originally thought I could build on the 40k words and finish the first draft in a couple months. Perhaps that'll happen once I get into a groove. My big concern is t…

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Michael Embry February 8, 2023

The Writing Life: Back to the Keyboard

 It's been nearly a year since I saved the manuscript for my next novel on the hard-drive. I put it aside for reasons that I'll keep to myself. But on Feb. 1, I reopened it to begin work on the sixt…

 It's been nearly a…

 It's been nearly a year since I saved the manuscript for my next novel on the hard-drive. I put it aside for reasons that I'll keep to myself. But on Feb. 1, I reopened it to begin work on the sixth book in my John Ross Boomer Lit series. It's my hope to have a complete draft finished in two months. I've written more than 41k words so my first task is to read what I've already written and go from there. So far it's been almost like going over another writer's words. That's good because I'm giving a reader's eye to the story.I'll be making edits and rewrites along the way as the story comes…

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Michael Embry February 1, 2023

No More Thinking About the End

It may seem odd to many boomers and other old folks, but I don’t fear death.Now in my mid-70s, I’ve reached many of the goals set many years ago. I never expected life to go on forever — and wou…

It may seem odd to m…

It may seem odd to many boomers and other old folks, but I don’t fear death.Now in my mid-70s, I’ve reached many of the goals set many years ago. I never expected life to go on forever — and wouldn’t want it to. After so many trips around the Sun, it can get kinda boring.But have you ever considered a few of the positives about kicking the proverbial bucket?No more filing state and federal income taxes. That means no longer have to keep track of everything you do during the previous years before filing.No more having to replace vehicles, appliances, and other devices.No more grieving o…

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Michael Embry January 30, 2023

Looking Ahead

 Embarking on another year, it's my intention to make it better than the previous one. It's not always the case because most things are beyond my control. So, in that case, I simply try to go with t…

 Embarking on anoth…

 Embarking on another year, it's my intention to make it better than the previous one. It's not always the case because most things are beyond my control. So, in that case, I simply try to go with the flow and encounter things as smoothly as possible, although bumps along the way can snap one out of a stupor. So here are some of my goals, not resolutions, for 2023:Get back to my novel, the sixth book in the John Ross Boomer Lit series. It's been sitting dormant for about eight months. I've written more than 40k words so I need to read and rewrite from the get-go.For many years, I've planned…

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Michael Embry January 1, 2023

Looking Back

 This year wasn't the most productive for me. I reached a few of my personal goals. I don't know if it's age or what. Perhaps I don't have the stamina and motivation. I don't know if that's attribut…

 This year wasn't t…

 This year wasn't the most productive for me. I reached a few of my personal goals. I don't know if it's age or what. Perhaps I don't have the stamina and motivation. I don't know if that's attributable to growing older or simply limited interest in doing things. Only time will tell.On the writing front, I didn't have many posts here, probably the fewest ever. As mentioned before, I don't want to post something for the sake of posting something. It's a waste of my time and of readers as well. I do plan to write more about music and travel. There's such a glut of posts out there about writing…

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Michael Embry December 31, 2022