For today's stop on the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour, I'm visiting Mom Loves 2 Read, to talk about grief recovery - an important skill for mortals. Sooner or later we all lose someone we love. How do we move forward after loss? It’s been 21 years since my...
My daughter’s friends called her “Barbie” because of her platinum blond hair. Maya was lean and willowy, with deep brown eyes and a winning smile. But she was no dumb blonde. She appeared in her first play at the age of nine, portraying one of the “no neck monsters”...
Most authors tour virtually now. While I miss the face to face contact with readers, a virtual tour allows me to reach many more people, and connect with some wonderful bloggers and websites. Stop number 2 on my Women on Writing (WOW) blog tour is the Books I Think...
Monday, October 14 @ The Muffin Stop by for an interview and book giveaway! http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/ When Crystal Otto asked if I would do a Q & A to kick off my Women on Writing blog tour, I thought "Well how hard can that be?" Little did I know...
Miracles can be small gifts – the monarch butterfly that drifts over the hollyhock in your garden then pauses for you to admire. Or they can be big, life-changing events that grab you by the shoulders. The birth of a child. Or the rebirth of a book. I’ve experienced...
My book is up against mega-sellers like Wild, The Glass Castle, and Bossypants – and that’s just in the memoir category. Yet at this moment, Swimming with Maya has claimed the number one spot in women’s memoirs in the Kindle store. How is this David vs. Goliath story...
Are you lonely? If you’re a writer, chances are you answered yes. Writing is a solitary occupation. It demands long hours of concentrated effort. Alone time feeds the muse like nothing else. Yet even writers are social creatures who need and rely on friends. Last week...
I’m throwing a party for the rebirth of Swimming with Maya. Thanks to the power of networking, it has a new life as a paperback and eBook. But in 2010, the future of my book did not look bright. Capital Books, the independent publisher that issued the hardback in...
I am blessed by wonderful friends. A number of them are women young enough to be my daughters. Today, I opened my mailbox to find a letter from one of them, Kelli Jones. It was a fan letter, a love letter, a blast of encouragement strong enough to make me vow to write...
Let me count the ways. In reverse order of importance, they are: 5. The Food. OMG. My friend Karen Hester makes the most amazing pies, including a crumbly topped apple pie and yummy pumpkin with whipped cream. This year, I made a yam, pineapple, and apple casserole....