You Might Be a Writer If…

Stepping through the doors of any library and combing the shelves for treasures qualifies as one of life’s most exciting adventures. Really. Recently, I came across Neil Gaiman’s poignant and humorous Newbery Medal Acceptance speech for his novel, The Graveyard Book (2008). In it, he speaks of his devouring (literally) the books at his local…

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From Dancer to… Writer?

Originally posted on May 21, 2015 After spending decades as a dancer and choreographer, I often get puzzled expressions from folks when I tell them I’m now writing fulltime. “Don’t you get antsy?” they ask. “All that ‘butt-in-chair’ time after years of leaping around?” Well, yes. I’m only too glad to get up from my…

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What Really Matters

Originally posted on December 5, 2014 Dear Friends, Here we are again smack in the middle of the holiday season which seems to have begun … Oh, I don’t know, around August 1st? I admit it. I’m a huge sucker for the holidays. I love getting out the holiday decorations we’ve collected over the years (the…

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There's No Hallmark Card for This

Originally posted on July 26, 2014 My husband teases me that I should own stock in Hallmark. I admit it. I’m a definite schmaltz. I love going to my local Hallmark shop and finding just the right card for a special event in the life of someone I care about. Cards for anniversaries, milestone birthdays,…

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In Praise of Snail Mail

Originally posted on March 14, 2014 No writer is everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve been blessed to have my share of fans for my debut young adult novel, While I Danced. In emails, reviews on the web, and phone calls, folks have told me that reading my story moved them emotionally. They cared about…

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An Early Valentine From My Adult Son

Originally posted on February 16, 2014 When my husband and I decided to incur significant debt to send our 28-year old son to the NOLS School for mountaineering training in the Himalayas for 40 days, the judgments from our friends, family, and co-workers were unanimous. We were right up there with the parenting idiots of…

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Writing

Originally posted on January 19, 2014 The other day, I ran into a friend who told me she’d been reading While I Danced and was amazed to discover that my mother was French! I had to explain that my novel wasn’t autobiographical. My mother was a California girl who played the piano. In fact, the details…

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