Writing

One of the unhappy and unexpected consequences of having dedicated myself to a writing life is that, for the most part, I enjoy books less now than I used to. I very rarely read just for fun. Oh, [...]

This is quite an important week for book releases. I have not one but two friends with new books out in the world today. New York Times bestselling and RWA Rita-Best-First-Book-award-winning [...]

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event is a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome [...]

There is much that’s beautiful in Jewish culture and religion, and we are currently living part of it. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which started Sunday, are called [...]

I don’t do nearly enough of this… today I am happy to share with you a guest post from one of my favorite writer friends. Yvonne Ventresca has turned into a real friend since the [...]

Nothing is more depressing about hanging out with other writers on social media than the #amwriting hashtag. Kind of like “#AmSpendingMillionsofDollars” or #AmInTahiti”, the [...]

So I’m watching CNN, and an ad comes on for a show “CNN Heroes,” in which they celebrate a do-gooder helping the world in some way. This particular episode they were advertising [...]

About my first time. Yep, I made a video.

My favorite thing I’ve seen today. Such a fun image. And so true! The interwebs can be a magical place.      

There she was, imposing, although she was clear across the room. Her skin was luminous. The angle of her head gave her a somewhat haughty air, her dress stunning, as if she was about to go out [...]

Yep, it’s that time of year again… the YA Scavenger Hunt is getting under way on October 4th. If you’ve never participated before, it’s a fun blog hop that gives you a [...]

Had to click, didn’t you? Curiosity is perhaps our greatest asset as humans. We think that weapons and military might make us strong, but, really, it’s ideas that give us power. [...]

I watched every Republican and Democratic primary debate this election season. Every one. Yes, even the ones where it seemed like the Republicans had unloaded a clown car onstage and everyone [...]

It was my pleasure to be MC at the annual CoFiA fundraiser this past Friday. I was humbled to be among so many people doing such important work to improve the lives of immigrants in our [...]

I have a complicated cultural background. Born in Spain to parents who were also born in Spain but raised in Argentina, I was never sure what to bring to my school’s “We Are All [...]

Every two weeks, my town’s DPW comes along collecting “Big Trash.” It’s a day in which you could put out a circus clown car full of wiggling eels and they’d [...]

When I was a junior in high school, I convinced my English teacher to let me do my big year-end paper on Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. I can’t remember where I first found the book [...]

I’m a big believer that if you’re trying to force something to happen, it’s probably not meant to be. So it was when my kids were away and I wanted to surprise them upon their [...]

The breeze coming in through the window of my office is spectacular. I’ve worked downstairs a lot during the summer, a thing I tell myself is for comfort, but can sometimes result in me [...]

It’s actually a teensie bit late in the season, but I’ve been crazy busy and I’m only now getting to it: iris buying season! For those of you following along at home, [...]

I had a one-and-a-half-year-old and a newborn on the day that the World Trade Center fell. I had taken the latter part of the summer off to take care of my baby, but was trying to motivate to get [...]

News just broke that Huma Abedin is finally dropping Anthony Weiner like the horny little hot potato that he is. Damn, that took so much longer than it should have. But, yes, she is finally [...]

I don’t like working out under the best of circumstances, but CrossFit is a special kind of hell. Designed with the idea that lifting ridiculous amounts of weight lots and lots of times is [...]

When I was a kid I used to love to sit on the rickety stairs of our old rental house at night, look up at stars and wonder who was out there. Years before I heard the old Carl Sagan line, [...]

Do I write an inordinate amount about my bed? I seem to recall several posts about it already. The thing is I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It is a haven and a place of peace and quiet joy. A have spent a [...]

I remember when it became apparent I could no longer eat gluten: spring of 2014. My book had just come out and every time I went to a new book tour stop, I got violently ill. At first I thought I [...]

I love clever ideas, and if they’re bookish to boot, they make me really happy. So I was delighted to discover Blind Date with a Book, which gives you the blind date experience… with [...]

Perhaps one of the best things about the internet is how democratizing it is and how it helps us discover things without having to go through gate keepers. I discovered one such gem on Instagram [...]

I don’t jump into things. I haven’t jumped into a pool since the Reagan Administration. I used to love counting how many steps I could clear on my best friend’s stoop, climbing [...]

I missed you! Did you miss me? I had an absolutely amazing time on my beach vacation. Didja notice I was gone? Apologies, but I know you’ll understand when I tell you that I had a [...]