BLOG Archives - Ron Franscell

In defense of Ebenezer Scrooge

I originally wrote this essay as a newspaper column in 1995. It appears here today with a few minor but festive updates because, well, Scrooge is timeless. No businessman in […]

by Ron Franscell

If AI were human for a day, what would it be thankful for?

“If you could be human for just one day,” I asked the robot inside ChatGPT, “what do you think you’d be thankful for?” To be honest, I have a love-hate […]

by Ron Franscell

Better Angels: No veteran should die alone

It was after 2am and the graveyard-shift nurses drifted like ghosts in the hallway, tending to the dead and dying. It wasn’t that Michael* couldn’t sleep, even with meds he […]

by Ron Franscell

We’ll always have mass murder

This essay was originally written just two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in 2012. Yesterday’s tragic shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis makes me want to re-run […]

by Ron Franscell

Everything I need to know, I learned in Little League

Essayist Robert Fulghum once surmised that everything he ever needed to know he learned in kindergarten, but I was a slow learner. Yesterday, the 2025 Little League World Series got […]

by Ron Franscell

Class of ’75: Old friends, young again for one night

Fifty years. Half a century. And yet, if I close my eyes, I can still hear the music drifting down the hallways, feel the sun warming our faces on autumn […]

by Ron Franscell

This boy died far away for a country that wasn’t his

A few years ago, I was contacted by the friend of a friend of a friend. He had a strange request: Could you help this French guy find the descendants […]

by Ron Franscell

The day I planted Dermot Healy’s potatoes

The potato patch behind Dermot Healy’s stone cottage wasn’t much bigger than a parking space, but the Irish winter had left it dog-eared and bedraggled. “The first thing,” Dermot said as […]

by Ron Franscell

52 years ago this week, a different terrorist unleashed himself on New Orleans

This was excerpted from Ron Franscell’s DELIVERED FROM EVIL, a book that explores the lives of 10 ordinary people who survived mass killers. One of those monsters was a racist […]

by Ron Franscell

A new year already? But …

Ready or not, a new year is about to begin, even though it doesn’t seem like that long ago when the “old” year started. An amateur philosopher friend of mine has […]

by Ron Franscell

The Ladder Guy

My son Matt visited over Thanksgiving. He helped me with some little household repairs and improvements that were beyond my skills and reach, then helped us put up our Christmas […]

by Ron Franscell

The day the sun never set

Seventeen years ago, I spent this day with my teenage son in a remote Yukon camp above the Arctic Circle, where the Sun never sets on the longest day of […]

by Ron Franscell

The memory of dirt

“Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be rearranged.” —Law of Conservation of Mass For a long time, I collected dirt. OK, maybe not the coolest collection, […]

by Ron Franscell

How to recognize a toxic narcissist—and survive

According to the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder — related to sociopathy under the umbrella term Antisocial Personality Disorders — is a mental condition in which people have an inflated […]

by Ron Franscell

The Blessing Jar

“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” —SATCHEL PAIGE I lived a hundred lives last year. The curious wanderer, the angry plumber, the heartbroken son who refused to […]

by Ron Franscell

Digging up Lee Harvey Oswald

Sixty years ago today, JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was gunned down by Jack Ruby in Dallas. Here’s an excerpt from my Edgar-nominated true crime MORGUE: A LIFE IN DEATH, which […]

by Ron Franscell

‘Angel Fire’ was published 25 years ago today

“Reminiscent of Charles Frazier’s ‘Cold Mountain’ … Ron Franscell’s themes involve a fresh approach to our rural roots as a font for the elusive American spirit.” — USA Today Twenty-five […]

by Ron Franscell

You might be surprised who’s reading DEAF ROW!

Hollywood actor, comedian, and impressionist Jim Meskimen—the superb narrator on DEAF ROW’s audiobook—offers some insights on some beloved celebrities who might be reading my new mystery.

by Ron Franscell

Book clubs: 10 Questions about ‘Deaf Row’

Does your book club feature a lot of awkward silences? Is the deepest question, “Did you like it?” Tired of meetings that are more about the furniture than the book? […]

by Ron Franscell

Which is harder to write … true crime or crime fiction?

My true crimes like SHADOWMAN and THE DARKEST NIGHT are the product of old-school research and investigation. I’m an old-fashioned reporter who believes in first-hand, up-close sensory experiences that tell […]

by Ron Franscell

I’m gonna miss you, Elsie Mae

I never met Elsie Mae but I wish I had. I don’t know too much more than last week’s obituary tells me: She taught grade school for most of her […]

by Ron Franscell

Hollywood veteran Jim Meskimen breathes life into DEAF ROW

When you read a printed book, you might imagine the different characters’ motivation, feelings, and emotions. You might even envision funny little mannerisms. But when you listen to an audiobook, […]

by Ron Franscell

New book trailer for DEAF ROW!

Get a taste of the new thriller that suspense superstars Anne Hillerman, CJ Box, and John Lescroart are raving about! Then go pre-order DEAF ROW at your favorite bookstore and […]

by Ron Franscell

Miracle on County Road 34

The end of the year always inspires me to put things in order. Last night, I was rearranging the scattered piles of books and papers in my office when I […]