My amazing husband has created his own volunteer job in retirement. Every morning, he visits the large recycle dumpsters near our local fire station and retrieves aluminum cans to donate to the firefighters for their fund to aid needy children. Over time, he’s enlarged his job to include retrieving items that are not supposed to…
Video of Milo bikeriding Spring 2020 When my husband Alan and I were dating, he spent at least as much time courting Ed, my five year old, as he did building a relationship with me. He devoted hours on end to doing artwork with my little boy, not to mention running beside him as he…
Unable to sleep last night, I got up and watched a rerun of an old Murder She Wrote episode. After six best-sellers, the protagonist Jessica is being heralded as the new “Queen of Mystery,” and the old mystery-writing queen doesn’t like it. She travels to Cabot Cove, Maine to steal Jessica’s latest work-in-progress and attempt…
I did not know whether I could write a blog this week. Between the heartbreaking news that we have lost more than 100,000 of our citizens to this deadly global virus and the senseless and brutal murder of George Floyd, it’s been tough for me to focus. And I know I’m not alone. Adding…
My son called me early yesterday morning. “Did you see the video?” he asked. I didn’t have to ask what video he meant. The appalling video of George Floyd, an unarmed black man being ruthlessly murdered by four policemen in Minneapolis, has played over and over on television for days. His name was added to…
I called a dear friend the other day who recently relocated to Iowa to return to school. She lives alone and I wondered how she was faring sheltering in place in a new town. “I’m doing great,” she told me. “I’m working my way through a pile of books I never had time to read,…
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of writing activity for me. Having my life more or less canceled meant that I suddenly had lots more time to work on my writing. I finished up the first draft of a new YA novel, followed by taking an intensive three-week online writing class taught by…
This is the first Mother’s Day when I haven’t gotten to shop for gifts and a card to send to my mom, and when I haven’t been able to talk to her. She died on December 9. After years of dementia, the quality of her life had deteriorated so much that it was a blessing…
On discussion boards, I’ve noticed three different reactions to the pandemic among writers: -I am way too anxious (and/or too busy with children/grandchildren at home) to possibly get any writing done. -I’m writing, but I’m so distracted that it’s really tough. -I’m getting more writing done than usual because the rest of my life is…
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how fortunate I am to be an older working writer. Sure, I’ve suffered from a little cabin fever. Presentations and writing conferences have been put on hold, as has my singing group, volunteer work as a comprehensive sexuality educator, and trips to my favorite hangouts—the library and my neighborhood bookstore.…