The sun was just starting to rise over Ahwatukee, casting that perfect golden glow across the desert. It was early June, one of those rare mornings in Phoenix when you could actually enjoy being outside without feeling like you’d stepped into an oven set to broil. My twin Havanese dogs, Barry and Jasper, were already […]
Black Market Monkeys Read More »
The Sedona Room is my writing oasis. An artist hand-painted a sunrise over Cathedral Rock in Sedona across the walls and ceiling, wrapping the room in warm desert hues. The reds, oranges, blues, and purples stretch across the sky, giving me the feeling of being immersed in nature while still sitting comfortably inside the air
Let the Readers Feel the Fight Read More »
The following is an excerpt from, The Dog Story: How Faith, Family, and a Puppy Helped Me Rediscover Hope by Matt Cavallo. The photo is Anthony and I aboard the USS Cole circa 1996. The USS Cole cut through the churning Atlantic, slicing past the Frying Pan Shoals buoy near Cape Fear, North Carolina. The
Into the Storm: Surviving Hurricane Bertha on the USS Cole Read More »
It was late September, 1999, and the Phoenix heat pressed against my skin as I slid into my Jeep Cherokee, which had recently lost its AC. Every commute to downtown felt like a slow roast. As I wiped sweat from my brow, I found myself wondering—for the hundredth time—had I made the right choice moving
Be Careful Whose Advice You Buy Read More »
It was February 1999, and I had just returned to Hingham, Massachusetts, from Phoenix, where my uncle Matt—my namesake—had gotten married. The sun-drenched desert felt like another world. While I had spent the past few days basking in 80-degree temperatures, Massachusetts had other plans. A late-season snowstorm loomed, and I was back to the grind
How The Blizzard of ’99 Changed Everything Read More »
I woke up to another rejection email today. It was polite, almost too polite: Thank you for responding to us. We appreciate your platform and mission. However, after delving a bit more into the market, we could see this project isn’t quite a fit for us. We decline with the greatest respect and deepest regret.
Rejection, Walt Disney’s Swamp, and My Own Crossroads Read More »
The following is an excerpt from, The Dog Story: How Faith, Family, and a Puppy Helped Me Rediscover Hope by Matt Cavallo It was July 15, 1982—my 6th birthday. The past year had been busy, even for a five-year-old. My dad had just finished building our new home in Hingham, and my sister had been
Footprints in the Sand Read More »
On a flight home from Boston, I found myself watching Bill & Ted Face the Music. It was Thanksgiving, and Jocelyn and I had just spent the holiday with my family, catching up with old friends and reminiscing about the past. As I settled into my seat and let the movie play, something about Bill
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Lesson in Collaboration Read More »
The conference room buzzed with tension. Five round tables filled the space, each packed with five team members hunched over stacks of documents, their voices rising over one another in an unproductive back-and-forth. Papers rustled, pens tapped against notepads, and someone let out an audible sigh of frustration. I stood at the front of the
There’s No Such Thing as Good Writing—Only Good Editing Read More »
When I first encountered Spalding Gray’s Monster in a Box, I was struck by the absurd yet deeply relatable concept of wrestling with an unfinished manuscript. For Gray, the “monster” was a daunting novel he couldn’t seem to finish. For me, it wasn’t just one manuscript—it was a scattered web of digital and physical fragments:
Monster in a Box: Taming the Digital Dilemma of Unfinished Work Read More »