Once as a teenager, I was on a trip with my dad in Richmond, Virginia. I don't remember the circumstance, but I do remember the weather. It was raining so hard that people were escaping the deluge in the lobby of the John Marshall Hotel. Shaking his umbrella, a smiling gentleman said to me, "It's …
How the many layers …
For every author, there comes that swallow-hard and grit-your-teeth moment when you open a review of your work. Recently, I was in touch with a reader/reviewer from Ireland who reviewed CAIRNAERIE. Looking over his list of reviewed books, I noticed something that I really liked. His reading choices, like mine, are highly eclectic — and …
To learn what you can teach me …
My niece, a New York City actress with a long list of credentials and accomplishments, never reads her reviews. Many in the theater do not. I read once that the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman never read his own. He believed it would be hard not to fixate on that moment of glory or to rise …
Three little related things I so love …
Three things I love: a blank sheet of paper, an early sunny morning, and a blank calendar. All three hold enormous expectation. Great expectations, you might say. This morning I am delighting in all three. After years of meetings, assignments, appointments, obligations, I'm facing that blank calendar with the excitement of filling it with things …
The gift of life interrupted …
I remember when my children were little and one would fall ill to a fever, a cold, a tummy ache. I would put everything aside and tend to my patient. I loved showering them with special care: checking temperatures, serving popsicles, reading favorite books like Frog and Toad are Friends, or just rocking a somnolent …
To write 1004 …
I am rarely lost for words to write, but this morning I am. Almost. I've hit a milestone, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also wary of tooting my own horn. No one likes braggarts, but here I am about to be one because I feel like I owe it to those who've read …
Be like Muffin …
The early morning before sunrise is magical. When I was a teenager, my dad would tap on our bedroom doors to awaken my sister and me early every morning. We were going running. We would roll out of bed in the dark, pull on shirts and pants, tie our shoes and meet him downstairs. To …
Hello, Mr. Goodreads …
My friend, Andrea, suggested I join Goodreads. I knew something about the book site but not much. Given that it's all about books, though, I took her advice and checked it out. Now I'm a huge fan. Goodreads was intimidating at first—the way just about any social media platform can be—to me at least, as …
Thank you, Southwest Times …
I'll soon be off to my favorite place on earth — Southwest Virginia — to speak to a book club. Today, I'm especially grateful to writer Brooke J. Wood and The Southwest Times for running a great story about my book and the event. With Brooke's permission, I'm reprinting it here: Writer pens novel about historic …
Brown trout beware …
A little departure today: Following is a piece I wrote three years ago. At the time, it was cathartic. I publish it today, Sept. 8, on the third anniversary of the death of a friend who taught me more than I could have ever expected. A month ago, my friend died. And I am diminished because …
