Writing

Much is said about people moving from one country to another, or about people of one race living among those of a different race. But not as much is said about people crossing class barriers. As [...]

The fastest way to get sick of yourself is to get into a relationship. I’m in a relationship now and, frankly, I can barely stand myself. Here’s the thing: when you’re alone, [...]

I don’t feel like rising. I can manage on my side, breath in and out, the black sheep cat nestled in the crook of my arm. In and out. I can do this, but not much more. I’m not sad. [...]

Last night, at around 11:00 pm, I finished writing a first draft of a novel. It is the third I’ve finished since the one I published. The tale of why none of the three have made it out in [...]

I wish I could write about more things. I’ve often lamented to myself that my blog goes like this: finding that you’ve somehow become the adult is weird, men and relationships are [...]

It’s probably because this is the week that The Handmaid’s Tale debuts on Hulu, but I’ve been thinking a lot about male/female relations lately. And I have a confession to make: [...]

Yesterday, I was going through my early-morning ritual of watching some CNN before getting my day started. They turned their attention to a discussion of the Bill O’Reilly ouster from Fox. [...]

I often held back from doing things in my teens and twenties because I was inexperienced, lacked the savvy and connections. I felt “too young.” I had two kids, blinked, and suddenly [...]

“Are you asleep?” he asked softly from my bedroom door. “No,” I lied. Even though he could see I was, and I knew he knew I was. He wouldn’t be asking if he didn’t need me to be awake. He came [...]

Imagine my delight to see this great list on the prestigious and widely-read B&N Teen Blog, and then imagine it doubling when I realized my book is on it! Immigration stories are so important [...]

I hope to see you at the Maplewood/South Orange Book Festival on June 9th and 10th. It’s a book-festival-ish weekend with not one but TWO wonderful book events (I may need to get my ruby [...]

Hello, sugarplums! I’m delighted and honored to have been chosen for my second turn at BooksNJ, the big and wonderful book festival that happens on the grounds of the Paramus Library. This [...]

A friend posted about a writing book she was reading. The quote was this: “I believe that we don’t choose our stories,’ she began, leaning forward. ‘Our stories choose [...]

This weekend I went to see the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast. I’d been looking forward to it for months, luminous Emma Watson starting as Belle, the book nerd heroine that so [...]

I grew up Catholic AND Hispanic. That means that I got a whole lot of guilt and “shoulds” right out of the womb. What will people think? If you do that, what will happen? When I was [...]

I often ask the question during my book talks: What does “undocumented” look like? Of course most people conjure up an image pretty readily: dark-skinned, work boots, a certain set of [...]

Yesterday, I went to do a trade show for work. It was a small, regional show, and so I went alone instead of with a colleague. Walking into the university gym converted into an exhibitors’ [...]

I have just received a notice from my internet service provider that they will no longer be supporting email as of April 7th. When I switched email addresses from Earthlink, back in the neolithic [...]

I’m seeing lots of “phenomenal women” t-shirts popping up on my Twitter feed. Lots of “women are great” sentiments. It’s International Woman’s Day, you [...]

This morning, I stared at my Facebook status bar for a full five minutes, trying to come up with something non-political to share. I have noticed so many of my progressive friends post about [...]

I’ve been an Amazon customer since 1999. Recently, I checked out my purchase history, and it was like a diary of my life. Natural birth guides. Books about surviving the toddler years. That [...]

I have spent a lifetime looking for the other side of evil, the human side, the one I could understand. I may have finally come to the conclusion that evil does, in fact, exist. It is a sad day. [...]

I was honored to learn that THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY was one of the books discussed in a recent scholarly article entitled “Refugees and Immigrants in Children’s Literature: New Books [...]

The “official” anthem of the Women’s March came into my consciousness when the songwriter and an a cappella choir sang it on Full Frontal with Samanatha Bee. I looked up the [...]

I hate lines. Imaginary lines on the ground, where “borders” are. Lines of divide between people, the “you like country/I like rock” ways in which we choose to separate [...]

I was, perhaps, an unexpected attendee at the Women’s March this past Saturday. I’m politically engaged, but protest makes me nervous. With a long history of fear of police and [...]

Lovies… two more days until Christmas! Yes, yes, I know, you all probably think it’s three, but my people do the big shindig on the 24th, then kind of hang out in our pajamas and [...]

I am reading the most exquisite book, The Little Paris Bookshop. It is about a man who has been missing the woman he loves but who left him twenty-one years before. Finally, he finds a letter [...]

There is nothing in the world, neither man nor Devil nor any thing, that I hold as suspect as love, for it penetrates the soul more than any other thing. Nothing exists that so fills and binds [...]