The Turning of the Year
My family spent New Year’s afternoon gathered around a bonfire with the cold at our backs and cheery warmth on our faces. I had a chance to reflect on the highlights of the past year and try to look ahead into 2019.
Whenever I pause, I’m filled with gratitude for my healthy, happy family and the bonds that keep us close. I loved being surrounded by a tumble of four generations over the holidays, and last week included my niece’s wedding, too. Such an overabundance of laughter and joy!
For… Continue reading
Alert to the Voices
Late November brings a different sort of beauty to New England, with a subtle palette marked by grays. With the foliage gone, new distances emerge in the forests, and exposed branches tangle against the flat sky. We taste the cold air and watch the weather reports for warnings of bad roads. Random snowflakes can appear out of nowhere. You might think we’re inclined to hibernate, but in fact, we’re more alert, not less. We’re thankful, and watchful, and eager to get home safe to our families.
I’m writing, as always.… Continue reading
Happy Halloween!
How soon does one begin eating candy on Halloween? Do we wait until after breakfast? We all know the candy’s in the kitchen, ready to go in a bowl later tonight. Just sitting there. In nice foil wrappers. Chocolate and peanut-buttery goodness.
We get a modest number of Trick-or-Treaters here in our neighborhood. It’s not like the 300+ people my sister in Tulsa gets on her doorstep every year, but we get enough to notice. I have a partly gnawed pumpkin (thanks, squirrel) to carve later, and a couple of… Continue reading
Apple Season
When I went apple picking lately with my family, we were told by the woman who sold us two empty half-bushel bags that the farther we went up the hill, the more apples we would find. This advice, though worthy of a life maxim, turned out not to be true. We hardly found enough Cortlands, Macouns and Jonagolds to fill our bags, but the dearth didn’t matter. Three generation strong, we had a sweet time tromping through the long grass and searching the trees for perfection.
It’s helpful to recall… Continue reading
Feedback
My agent sent me notes on my latest novel yesterday, and they’re solid. They make sense. They help me see things about the novel I couldn’t see myself, and though the questions don’t show me any answers yet, they outline my challenges for how to go forward.
I feel lucky to have Kirby in my corner. He recognizes the potential in my draft and respects that writing a novel includes many evolutions. Furthermore, it’s nice to have affirmation that I’ve been working on something worthwhile all these months, something aiming… Continue reading
Limbo
We’re all waiting for Hurricane Florence to make landfall, even those of us who live far away. With friends and relatives in the Carolinas, we’re braced for disaster with both a thrill at the power of nature and a gnawing, anticipatory helplessness.
The weather mirrors my own restless limbo while I wait to hear back from my agent about my new YA novel. He tells me he’ll have notes for me next week, which is soon, and I trust he likes the book, but I won’t know for sure until… Continue reading
Ari & Milo, my serial novel, is now up on Wattpad! I drew illustrations to go with each chapter, and best of all, it’s free! Because of problematic themes, this novel is for mature readers age 17+.
Book Trailer for Promised