I love my home state of Kentucky: rolling bluegrass, four-board fences, magnificent thoroughbreds galloping along the horizon—what’s not to love? For the most part, folks here are friendly and polite. Men still open doors for ladies, and call us “ma’am” or “sugar” or “honey”—I am not offended by this; I am charmed. Women gladly… Continue Reading
Category Archives: blog
Grrrrrrrrr.
One of the symptoms of my unbalanced life is that I tend to get worn down and sick. I also tend to try treating/ healing myself first, before I allow my doctor to have a go at it. Which means that I have usually gotten a lot sicker by the time I call my doctor’s… Continue Reading
Glass Friendships
Life is a juggling act. I think we can all agree on that. We all struggle to juggle careers, finances, households, and personal relationships. Author James Patterson took this analogy a step further, explaining that careers, finances, and households are the rubber balls in our juggling act: If we drop them, they’ll bounce back—eventually. But… Continue Reading
There’s No Crying in Writing!
Tom Hanks once famously said, “There’s no crying in baseball!” And he was right. Professional baseball players don’t cry about baseball, because 1.) They’re tough, disciplined, seasoned athletes, and 2.) For those who choose it as their life’s work, baseball is sheer joy. Just as there is no crying in baseball, there is no crying… Continue Reading
A New Dawn
It’s a new dawn, a new day, a new year, and time for me to make a new start. I have realized, now that I’m about a third of the way through my newest middle grade novel—my fourth—that it just isn’t working. I have to start all over again. Back to page one. It happens.… Continue Reading
The Write Reason
To my way of thinking, there is only one reason to write, just as there is only one reason to breathe: because you have to. That’s why I write. Honestly, I can’t think of any other reason that anyone in the world would ever write. In the first place, you sacrifice and work hard for… Continue Reading
December Rush
Winter has officially arrived in Kentucky. There was a little snow this morning. I think my dogs were as surprised as I was—they did their business immediately and came running back to the house like something had bitten them on their behinds—it was the cold, of course, that bit them. But why am I surprised?… Continue Reading
A November to Remember
At the heart of November is Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful for, the whole year through: Good health, a wonderful loving family, caring friends and neighbors, the two best dogs in the world, our new home—in Kentucky!—, food on the table, a job that I’m passionate about doing, and opportunities to… Continue Reading
Ooooh! Aaaaah! October!
October is my favorite month in Kentucky. One can still enjoy the warm feeling of sun on skin in the afternoons, yet the mornings and evenings are crisp and cool—perfect for soft sweaters and mulled apple cider. Meanwhile, the trees offer an ever-changing show of blazing color. There are times, in October, when I spot… Continue Reading
September Song
By September, every box was unpacked, every item properly placed or put away. And just as I began itching to write again, I was given an excellent reason to do so: An editor at a Big Important Publishing House asked me to revise my second middle grade novel, Let it Shine!, (aka: the un-publishable one)… Continue Reading