My Blog
Sharing my thoughts and providing real life stories for my readers to think about.
New Year’s Resolutions and Other Obsessions
It would be safe to say that I am a self-motivated person, not needing a heck of a lot of prodding to start a new project or activity or even get daily, routine things accomplished. While I can procrastinate with the best of them if the task at hand is dull, I am...
Sunday Funday – the Day of Rest
The last thing I want to do on a Sunday morning is to sit down and write my monthly blog. After all, it is Sunday, the Day of Rest—or more aptly put, Monday Eve—and the mere thought of Monday makes me lose hours of valuable time projecting about what little time left...
Stumbling, Fumbling Words
I have never felt comfortable speaking in public. I still don’t. Whether it was back in school when a teacher called on me to answer a question or at work when asked to give a presentation. Public speaking created such anxiety in me that I wanted to crawl into a hole...
Fall and Other F Words
Fall is finally here. Thank God. The heat of summer is less and less appealing to me the older I get. I shudder to think I used to find it fabulous to drive to Palm Springs in the middle of summer to lie by the pool all day. Fall is fabulous. Fall ushers in—not in any...
My Active Brain
I have a secret to reveal. My brain never shuts off, even when I sleep. Day and night my brain churns out thoughts after digesting events and facts garnered from the day or week before. I used to think I was the only person in the world with this problem, but I have...
Revelations
I discovered a new quality about myself this week. Something I always knew I possessed but never specifically defined or acknowledged: I absorb and catalogue life stories from everyone I meet. Interestingly, most of the time I’m not even consciously aware that I’m...
Storytelling
It should come as no surprise to those who know me that I love to write. So, when I was asked recently why I love to write, I simply answered, “I love telling stories.” But as soon those words left my lips, I realized why I love telling stories. I learned the art from...
Killing Me Softly
If you’ve read my novels, you will have noticed I like to incorporate murder into all of them. Indeed, killing a character—whether a protagonist or an antagonist—is a form of psychotherapy for me. It is subconsciously cathartic. In fact, each “killing” probably equals...
What a Character!
Choosing what I like better—creating characters for my novels or developing the actual storyline—is akin to a asking a mother to pick her favorite child. No doubt, she would likely say it depends on the day and her mood. Clearly, gripping characters drive a novel’s...
Reading Hiatuses
A friend of mine I will call “Sam,” who is an avid reader, confessed to me the other day that she hadn’t read a book in quite some time. In fact, she’d completely lost interest in reading. What??? She’d always have novels lined up, reading one after the other. She’d...
My Covid Comfort Zone
Lockdowns can bring out the best and the worst in a person. Take me for example. I had no problem hunkering down and writing for a least an hour each day. I also had no problem hunkering down and snacking every evening. Orville Redenbacher’s Movie Theater Butter...
Churning of ideas gets creative process going, and the writing just flows
I’m often asked by friends and acquaintances how I create the characters in my novels and where my ideas come from. Well, it’s complicated. But, simply put, my brain never stops working. No vacations or sick days. No pauses whatsoever in processing thoughts and ideas....