It is the midpoint of the year, precisely six* months after we all resolved to better ourselves in some way in 2013. You did do that, right? I always like to spend some time on June 1 checking in on those New Year’s resolutions. Several readers pledged similar goals to the ones I wrote about … Continue reading June 1: Day of Reckoning
From the podium, I looked out into an audience of about 60 people. Their eyes focused on me, and from their facial expressions – a smile in the second row, fascination in the fourth – I saw that they were absorbed. Nobody sipped coffee, or coughed. Nobody shifted position. I continued reading. “The air was … Continue reading Sometimes, pretty is enough
Press release from the New River Valley Voices regarding the reading this Sunday at which I will present “Riding in Boats Through Salt Marshes:” Six local Southwest Virginia authors will present original work at the spring 2013 New River Valley Voices Reading on Sunday, April 21, at 3 PM in the Blacksburg Public Library’s Community … Continue reading Local Authors to Present Works in New River Valley Voices Reading
Having changed dwellings 11 times in the past 15 years, my husband and I have cleaned a lot of houses. We’ve washed baseboards and ovens, shampooed carpets and vacuumed under beds. But we’ve always done it when we move out, when we’re fixing up the place so we can get our deposit back, or making … Continue reading Spring Cleaning Checklist
After doubling our house’s kid population from two to four, and having my husband’s mom and sister here all week, and indulging in our new hobby of cocktail-making every night with them, you would think I’d have plenty of writing material from the past few days. The fact is, though, that the week went by … Continue reading The prize at the bottom of the bottle
I try to make sure [my students] understand that writing, and even getting good at it, and having books and stories and articles published, will not open the doors that most of them hope for. It will not make them well. It will not give them the feeling that the world has finally validated their … Continue reading On being published
Butterfly Mind 