In the course of writing and editing any novel, a lot is cut. Numerous reasons lie behind the cutting. The material might be unnecessary or repetitive; the sentences may be lackluster or too showy; the writing might be downright boring. Often...
Nothing Like a Baby–Week #1 Blog Pause
Today is the first day when I am officially on my self-declared blog pause. But, as I promised, I am not going to be completely silent. My sister is visiting now with her daughter, and her daughter’s daughter (my grandniece—who happens to be the...
A Brief Pause
Dear Readers, The time has come for me to make a temporary change in this weekly forum. In order to focus more fully on completing my novel-in-progress before my hands give out, the nature of my posts will be shifting for a couple of months...
Normalizing (As Much As Possible)
A few years ago I attended the wedding of a former boyfriend. Shortly after we split up, he came out and, following a brief rift, we became close friends. I was delighted to be celebrating his union with the wonderful man he was marrying. As the...
On Death and Publication
Today, Tuesday September 27th 2022, is the official publication date of my new novel, Livid. This is the second of two novels of mine that have come out this month. The first was Unleashed, which was published on September 6th. Needless to say, I...
What to Read (and How) When You’re Dying
All my life, I’ve enjoyed reading. As a kid, after I learned to read to myself, I would close the door to my room, and lie on my side on the bed, elbow propping up my head, lost in a book for hours. Though reading was encouraged by my family, the...
Finding The Humor in Death and Dying
https://www.today.com/health/essay/als-fatal-diagnosis-humor-rcna47370 I hope you enjoy today’s post which is an essay I wrote for Today.com about humor and death!
The Necklace (and Coffee for Cops)
This week’s post is two-pronged. Before I launch into “The Necklace,” I wanted to add an addendum to last week’s post, “When A Woman Can’t Make Nice.” I remembered this incident shortly after I posted and it seemed too late to add it then. But it...
When A Woman Can’t Make Nice
For about a year I haven’t been able to speak—something I have written about extensively in this blog—and for a year and a half before that my speech was compromised, slow and increasingly garbled. Needless to say, this has presented some...
Why I Love Being Naked
For a couple of years after college I lived with a communal group. We were upstanding people with respectable jobs as therapists, teachers, and architects, but we were free spirits, too, people who liked to do things that pushed boundaries. One...