Americans are practical people. We think about profit and loss, success and failure, maximizing our utility, avoiding diminished returns. We’re healthy Capitalists. We live for the business model of constant, steady growth. We seek profits at every turn. What if you’re an artist? Or someone for...
Originally published in New Pop Lit SHELTER The party was at Jackson’s place, at the end of an unpaved road, on the eastern tip of the island. In good weather, it was a forty-five-minute drive from town. The weather wasn’t good. The rain had fallen for three days, sometimes turning lighter, even...
Originally published September 5, 2017 in The Caregiver Space Though it has many settings, and spans many decades, my new novel, Women Within, takes place primarily in a retirement home. The three main characters in the book, a ninety-four-year-old woman who slips back and forth through the...
This article originally appeared August 23, 2017 in Book Riot In the middle of my life, I learned that two women I was close to kept deep secrets. At my mother-in-law’s funeral, an old friend of hers approached to tell my husband that he had a...
Find me deep in this cave Dusted with time Pull my bones from the earth Arrange them with care Grant them nakedness beneath the animal hide Despair of their silence, all those secrets withheld Examine my paintings by electric light Dream them by the flicker of fire Look closely at the hand Pressed there...
Clouds converge Suspended Oblivious No rush to rearrange Slow and easy in a Dreamy drift All my talk of storm Ignored Electric words, just noise Now wait And watch the violet sky Fall Crush And grind until Every tender piece Breaks, drifts away Borne aloft by a rush of wind ...
originally published in Squawk Back On Monday it’s about a horse. The eyes are remarkably kind, shy, even flirty under their thick veil of lashes. She looks at Nell from the side, sticking her large soft muzzle over the fence to nudge at her outstretched hand....
Let me take a moment and talk a little bit about genre. This is essentially a marketing idea, a guide to where you might find the books you like to read in your favorite bookstore. What are you drawn to? Mystery? Romance? Historical novels set...
Women Within is a novel in three parts, each devoted to one main character. Part One presents Constance Maynard, currently an elderly resident at the Lindell Retirement home in Upstate New York. She is cared for by Eunice and Sam (short for Samantha). Part Two...
After thirty years of living in our charming, leaning, creaky-floored Victorian, we’re moving on. Seattle has become too crowded for us, too busy and loud. It’s a city for younger people who don’t mind hauling groceries down the block because their parking spot vanished while...