
On Writing a Novel
One finished novel, written over 30 years ago with a friend, sits on a shelf somewhere in my overcrowded, too messy office. The co-author told me to do with it what I wanted. I guess I wanted to store it on a shelf. My second novel is now in the hands of someone who has never edited a novel. She is bright, a reader, in college, and I trust her. She is part of my clan, my tribe. That novel took over 10 years to write from first line to the end and now I’m thinking of changing

Toeing an invisible line
On Toeing the line between private and public. A friend asked me why I sometimes say I long to be anonymous. She thought that did not go with being a writer, publishing personal poetry, having a website and an author page. I have no answer for that. I do know I am slowly getting better at managing to have privacy and yet being public. Part of it is my way of telling my story especially in a conversation. I have always tended to be a legend in my own time, telling tales, sad,

Thoughts on the Pledge to our Flag
It is Flag Day, June 14, 2017 and we don’t have a flag hanging from our flag pole. Haven’t had since we took it down before a hurricane last fall. It was frayed and in need of replacement. The Florida sun is hard on flags. They fade, they fray, they lose that look of crispness. Weeks went by, then months and still no flag replacement. I finally added it to my Mother’s Day gift request list. I got the flag but somehow it is still not hung. Days in May slipped away. Then we wer

Doing the Right Thing
My much loved nephew, Garth Callaghan, author of Napkin Notes, posted a quote by C. S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors. But after finding myself once again at the crossroads of doing what my heart, my conscience said was right, I amended that saying. C.S. Lewis in a quote advised, “Do the right thing when no one is looking.” I say do the right thing when the whole world, or your closest friends are watching. Or maybe when some of your enemies are watching, hoping you will c

On Being Congruent
This long blog post is not an easy read. It is about truth, about being honest, about earning the respect of much loved grandchildren. There are two pictures of flowers with this post. I was told one was not real and after I posted this blog article, I found out both are real so I am updating and correcting. One features real flowers. One looked fake but it was real. Both look lovely. But it matters that we know the difference between the two. Both require soil, water, and w