Welcome!

Welcome to my new web site! I’m so glad you’re visiting, and I hope you’ll visit often. I’ve been writing a weekly blog for a few years now (would love for you to check out my Archives), but this is the first blog I’ve written for my new site. I don’t know about you, but…

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Things Could Be Worse

In many ways, this has been a wonderful year for me. I’m so excited about my new YA novel coming out in January, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, and I continue to be crazy

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Students Say the Darndest Things

Don’t get me wrong. In years of teaching dance, writing, public speaking, and sociology, I’ve had some fabulous students and some deeply appreciative ones. In May, I got a note from one of my writing students that didn’t just make my day. It made my year. 

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LAST STOP: THE MEMORY CARE UNIT

As my mother grew older, she regularly scoffed at the suggestion that she should consider purchasing nursing home insurance. Indeed, the thought of my powerhouse mom shut away in a long care facility seemed preposterous.

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What’s In a Name?

I’d barely unpacked my bags for my first grad school residency when I heard about one of the most revered teachers and mentors in the program, an accomplished horror author. “He’s brutal in his critiques,” an upperclassman informed me, “but if you survive, he’ll help you become a really good writer.”  He paused and said, “You’ll never get…

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