Novelist, Playwright, Doodle-ist
2020 was tough. It has justifiably become our first numeric cuss word. For my family 2020 began a few weeks early when we lost my grandson just before Christmas. He was a beautiful young man who made everybody smile, but he was experimenting. A huge risk took him away from his life and from us. …
Two really good things happened in 2020—and that’s saying a lot. I’m so excited. My website has gone through a complete overhaul. It’s new and updated and beautiful. (Thank you, Erica.) If you haven’t seen it, please take a few minutes to look it over. Or, get a cup of coffee or tea, maybe a…
I used to sing. Years ago. But when I decided to have kids, I willingly gave it up. I wanted to be home with my girls. But I missed it. So sometimes I’d get the kids settled down (nap time, color time, Sesame Street) and I would go into my room, close the door and…
I was driving home tonight. It was already dark. I imagine the Super Bowl was still going on but, I’m not sure. I didn’t watch it. I had a writing project to work on. I turned a corner and caught movement in my peripheral. It was a boy, probably between five and seven. He was…
Mr. Rogers died. Then came the story about how he was a Navy Seal and a sniper in Vietnam with 25 confirmed kills to his credit. And . . . the reason he always wore a sweater was to cover up his tattoos. I was shocked. I always saw him as a sort of bland…
Marie Curie said: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” So . . . that’s why I spend my spare time writing, editing and,…
Mama used to tell this story about how I came home from first grade in hysterics. The teacher said we were going to read the next day and I was horrified. How was I supposed to read? I didn’t know how. I insisted Mama teach me that very night so I’d be ready. She tried…
Robert Dugoni opened the Surrey conference I just attended. “On this day, I write,” was the ending phrase of his speech. If you’d like to hear it, please click here. It is inspirational. Thanks to Robert Dugoni, I began the conference reminded of why I write. Thanks to Robert McCammon, and Robynn Sheahan, and Russell…
We all do what we feel we have to at any given moment and those actions we cannot justify, we rationalize. Notice I didn’t say we always do what we feel is right. There’s a big difference. BESIDES . . . what’s right for you could easily wrong someone else (see my post What’s your…
The door squeaked opened. Footsteps approached. “Someone else is in here,” I thought, scrambling up from the cool tile, clunking my head against the bottom of the stall wall. Mama would have been mortified had she seen my pale face resting against that bathroom floor. But where else could I calm my stomach? I wasn’t…