Category Archives: Uncategorized

Seeing a Project Through to the End

I am currently working on finishing a writing project that I began at least nine years ago. Yes, nine years. It was the project I was working on before my trip to England and the inspiration for The Gate House, my first published novel. After that I wrote Lydia’s Story, a follow-up to The GateContinue reading “Seeing a Project Through to the End”

Forward to the Past

Writers never throw anything away, or at least they shouldn’t. This week I pulled out an old “almost novel” that I wrote before my first one, The Gate House, was published. This one, tentatively titled Nara of the Islands, is really the original story of my protagonist who appears in both The Gate House andContinue reading “Forward to the Past”

What have you appreciated lately?

As I was reading a novel set in early twentieth century China, I was struck by a line in which a character and her friends went out into the garden to “appreciate” the plum blossoms. We admire, find joy, look at beautiful things in our world, but how often do we simply appreciate what weContinue reading “What have you appreciated lately?”

Do You Want to Hear about My WIP?

Sometimes people ask me, “What are you working on now? Can you talk about it?” It is always a difficult question to answer. On the one hand, I like talking about writing. And it does help sometimes to bounce ideas off someone else. But on the other hand, it’s kind of like talking about theContinue reading “Do You Want to Hear about My WIP?”

Fiction Meets Real Life

  In my latest novel “Lydia’s Story,” the main character helps a group of Jewish children escape France during World War II. I just came across this website, “Ariege Pyrenees,” that shows the real life route across the Pyrenees that many people — Jews, downed RAF and American airmen, and others in danger from theContinue reading “Fiction Meets Real Life”

When a Book is More than a Story

I just finished reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I have probably read thousands of books during my lifetime, but I don’t ever remember reacting to a book as I did to this one. The Language of Flowers is the story of a young woman who was abandoned as an infant, and livedContinue reading “When a Book is More than a Story”

Killing a Cockroach with Kindness

I was walking through the hallway of a local high school where I sometimes substitute teacher, and encountered a teaching standing in the hallway holding a small spray bottle in her hand and staring into a trash can. “I’m trying to kill a cockroach with essential oils,” she said. She gave it another squirt. “OrContinue reading “Killing a Cockroach with Kindness”

What Makes a Great Book?

Essentially, a great book is one that grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go, not even at the end, because you walk around thinking about it for the next couple of days. A great book also is written with beautiful language. The author knows how to play with words to create sensationsContinue reading “What Makes a Great Book?”