1 May, 2023

I can’t believe I’ve neglected you for so long, and I have so much to tell you!

Most important: I will be hosting a table at the Burlington County Book Festival on Saturday, June 3, from 11am to 4pm! And I am so stoked! I’ll have copies of Small Miracle for sale at a slightly discounted price. If you already have a copy, please bring it by so I can sign it!

On April 22, I attended the second Zenwise Writers workshop: this one was a full-day retreat at historic Paulsdale, the family home of suffragette and human rights hero Alice Paul in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Once again, it was a very engaging and fruitful session, as I got the makings of two poems out of it, along with the motivation to start editing and putting together all of my old (and new) poems into a collection. And to read more poetry (again). Once their website is up and running, I’ll supply y’all with a link to what Donna and Joanne are up to. Delaware Valley area writing friends, you really want to check this out.

Lastly, to the current Works In Progress. I use the plural because my novel about conscientious objectors in World War Two is back in front of me. The Scotland Novel is stalled, but the energy to write is back, so it needs to be channeled somewhere. So it’s all good.

Just need to get going.

1 March, 2023

Jumpin’ Jesus on a pogo stick, where the hell did February disappear to?

So that very short story I mentioned last time? It’s out in the world now. I submitted it to Philadelphia Stories, a nifty online publication that focuses on work by Delaware Valley area writers. It’s always weird putting your work out into the world, but I don’t have the anxiety that I once had when sending out a submission. They’ll like it or they won’t, and there are a LOT of places out there now that are looking for stories. Just working on it, editing it, getting someone to read it and provide feedback (thanks, Michelle!), preparing the submission: all of that was really motivating for me.

Time to do more.

22 February, 2023

I woke up before five o’clock this morning with a complete story in my head. Just a wee little thing: apparently it qualifies as “flash fiction,” just under 400 words – complete with dialogue. The whole thing was right there. Got up, showered, ate, stretched, and quick got it written down and saved before it had a chance to escape.

Not sure what if anything will come of it, but I like the experience. I hope it keeps happening.

21 February, 2023

NEW WEB DOMAIN FINALLY HERE! And you found me. Thanks for stopping by.

Our visit with the kiddos in Pemberton last week went REALLY well. Charles was really on. The kids posed some great questions, and as usual, Charles was his usual, charming self.

Today: Got my hands on the latest selection for Philadelphia’s One Book, One Philadelphia program, courtesy of our local socialist public library. This year’s selection is Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, which is a novel written in the form of a screenplay. Looks like a fun read. While I was there, one of the librarians told me about a conversation she had with a patron last week. This woman was returning a copy of Small Miracle to the library (SOMEONE CHECKED OUT THE BOOK, Y’ALL!) and asked her if she’d read it. The librarian said she knew the author (we worked together in another life) and the patron proceeded to tell her that she HAD to read it, how good it was, how much she liked the way it was written, etc. So, day made.

Actually spent some time editing The Scottish Manuscript this afternoon. Maybe some new complete sentences will show up tomorrow…

16 February, 2023

Charles is doing well. We are scheduled to do a Zoom presentation together tomorrow afternoon with students from Helen Fort Middle School in Pemberton, New Jersey. We actually got to do an IN-PERSON presentation for some high school kids in Cherry Hill last month, and Charles was really stoked about getting out and seeing the kids again.

Meanwhile, my writing drought continues. Here’s hoping building this website will rekindle a spark and get me going again. Stay tuned.