Essays and Random Thoughts

Where Fantasy and Reality Collide: One Novelist’s Happy Coincidences

I came downstairs just as my husband returned from our local liquor store, where he'd gone to buy wine for dinner. He brandished a bottle of rum at

How Do You Write a Novel? Learn the Rules. Then Break Them.

It's tempting to believe that novelists who have already published books know “the secret.” But every novel, whether it's your first or

On Horses, My New Book Cover, and Coming Full Circle

My dad was a Navy officer, yet he was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas when I was eleven years old. Yes, Kansas: not exactly a seafaring

Stranger than Fiction: Men in Kilts and Firemen on My Lawn

I live in a small town, in the sort of neighborhood with sidewalks and dog walkers and kids on bikes. In other words: not much happens. Then, a

In Praise of Great Coaches: How One Out-of-Shape Older Mom Ran Her First 5K

On Mother's Day, I ran my first 5K. After two decades of cheering on my kids at sports events, I wasn't on the sidelines. I was an

I Wrote for 17 Minutes Yesterday!

Last weekend, I participated on two different author panels during the 2016 Newburyport Literary Festival, an event packed with

Everything Is Fine, Until It’s Not

You know how it is: you get up in the morning and grumble because there's too much to do. The dog wants a walk. You have to crowbar the kids

How One Coach Got Me Off the Couch—and Inspired My Writing

I'm the mother of three champion long distance runners. I honestly don't know how that happened, since I was never a runner. But I showed up at almost

When Writing, Sometimes All You Can Do Is Jump

The most important thing every writer has to do is take a leap of faith. What does that mean, exactly? That, no matter how stuck you are at the

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Essays and Random Thoughts