The Kitchen House and Beyond
As most writers do, I read all the time, magazines, internet articles, newspapers, whatever is handy. But nothing is as satisfying as finding a really great book I can dive into and remain submerged in for days. I'm not picky about genre, but I prefer historical...
Tall Ships and Research
Recently I was revising and editing a portion of my book. When I read the section where one of my characters ends up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina by way of a ship wreck, I realized the details were thin. I don't know much about the Outer Banks, but I know...
Running and The Writing Life
Each summer I run. I run to lose the winter pounds, to deal with my migraine headaches, to still my mind when life becomes hectic, but most of all I run to take care of Stella, my silver Labrador. You see, she has a problem. She's an adrenaline junkie. She must run...
In the Midsummer Garden
"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." --Gertrude Jekyll Summer in the Midwest is fleeting. Here it is, July 25, 2016, and...
Farewell, My Son
Our nest is empty. That reality seems so very final. I knew I would face this moment at some point, but it happened "slowly and then all at once," as John Green says. After living with us for about a year after college, my youngest son has taken a job in the big city...
Just Folks
When I was a little girl, I lived in a small town in Georgia. Everyone who lived there knew their neighbors. Not just the ones right next door, but up and down each street. It was a homey place to grow up in, a safe place where people looked out for one another and...
Proud American Moment
Over the last few days I've heard stories on the radio and on Facebook of people sharing their proud moments of being an American. Not a day goes by that I don't experience more than one moment like that, but I wanted to share one moment worth remembering. Twenty five...
Gratitude
The past seven and a half years have been both the longest and the shortest years I can remember. My husband lost his job in early February of 2009. Our lives have changed drastically over the years since then, but we had no idea the lessons we would learn over those...
Nature Feeds the Muse
“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” ― Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There My life this week has been...
My Writer Birthday
Last Tuesday was my writer birthday. It was the first day of investing in myself in pursuit of a full-time writing life! Mind you, I'm still in the throes of post school year fatigue and would like to do little other than sleep, but my "sea legs" are...