It’s Suddenly September…

The world has changed since I last posted. At the time, I was gearing up for traveling to Virginia, Maryland, and the Chicago area in June and and July. And I was still (naively) hopeful that I could get back into a writing routine (as is always the case) before an auspicious date in August. […]

My Newest and Greatest Adventure Yet

One of the first things that struck me about Dan was the catchphrase “Are you ready for the next adventure?” The adventure in question could be a new flavor of latte (often involving lavender), getting lost in a state park, or even just the next leg of a long car journey in the blowing snow. […]

A Memorial: Gramma

Today would have been my grandmother Marie’s 100th birthday. She passed away on January 19, 2006 and was buried a few days later in the blistering cold. Born in 1920, her mother Theresa died when she was six years old of a brain aneurysm. She grew up in her Aunt Ida and Uncle Andrew’s home […]

October Birthday

My birthday was yesterday! It’s the little things, little (and big) discoveries that amount to joy in life. Here are 34, in no particular order: 1. I’m not old. It was in vogue (but not actually funny) to lament about it when I was 23, but I’m over it now. This isn’t the 18th century; […]

Advent Doings

Until a few weeks ago, my writing life looked like this: I could feel the end coming. I could see it in those tiny numbers: 57, 87, 102 words cut. Weeks earlier it had been in the hundreds; if I was especially diligent, a thousand. When you’re trying to condense a novel down by several […]