Writing

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event gives you a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from your favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this [...]

What’s cool is finally making your way into a new social media platform (new to me, anyway) and finding that people have been on there talking about your book. An Instagram pic of my book [...]

One of the coolest things about the Riverdale High School book festival is that the students put together video book trailers for THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY (andfor each of the participating [...]

I love high school book festivals. This past week I was fortunate enough to be invited to a well-run, beautifully organized festival in Fort Myers, Florida. From the yummy breakfast we authors [...]

In Naples, Florida. Sand between my toes. Feeling so recharged and happy I could write all day.

Sweet spring Hold me close Kiss away the chafe of a cruel, indifferent winter Love me well Your balmy air on my skin Help me forget the chill I see you close, A wide-eyed moon smiling down A [...]

There are times in a person’s life when things happen that can’t be explained by reason. Paul getting knocked off this horse on the road to Damascus. Lamp oil that should only last [...]

Pleased and honored to announce that TSSOE has been nominated for a Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers! And among some pretty impressive company too. I just finished reading the [...]

I found out that Justice Scalia had died when a liberal friend texted me to say, “Too bad we live in different cities, or we could have a goodbye party for Scalia now.” It was dark [...]

You know that thing you want to do, but which you’re afraid might not turn out well? The thing that scares you? The worst failure is in not going for it. Do it today. Follow your heart. It [...]

Deliberately generic. The painters are almost done!  

I am: Staring in the well, searching for the bottom Asleep in a vale, cheek on a lace-gloved hand, nestled in forget-me-nots. I leave my wishes like offerings atop a roadside altar, somewhere far [...]

It is a strange week, so that could be why it affected me so deeply when I heard that Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, has died. He was a prolific actor with a [...]

Last night, I went on WhiteHouse.gov and queued up the historic remarks the president had made earlier about the simple gun safety measures he was passing by Executive Order in the face of [...]

I have laughed along with my liberal folk about the ill-conceived occupation of the federal lands by the “militia” (who apparently forgot to pack snacks) in Oregon in protest for the [...]

I listened as my two seemingly normal-sounding friends compared their “doomsday stash.” They were telling me mostly to get a rise out of me (apparently both their kits include [...]

You know Skynet. It’s the artificial intelligence that gains self-awareness in the Terminator movies and then sends a cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger back in time to kill the leader of the [...]

Many of us feel the need to make broad proclamations about the year ahead and the year’s start. There shall be weight loss. There shall be spin class. There shall be organized closets and [...]

My friend and fellow author, Lisa Amowitz, posted these wonderful words and I asked her permission to share them here. If you had challenges in 2015, this is for you: Dear 2015, I know you have [...]

WordPress does this cool thing: at the end of the year, it sends you an email with stats about your blog. I find it nice to look back at my year and see what I’ve accomplished. Here is one [...]

  I’m excited to have been invited to participate in the 2016 Riverdale Literacy Festival in Fort Myers, Florida, in March. I have fellow author friends who have participated and just [...]

I have dressed up the blog with its winter look. Now that I’ve taken to playing around with the header, I feel the need to update it more frequently. (It’s been three different things [...]

Okay, here goes: Trump has a point. If I’m to be the honest, free-thinking person I fancy myself to be, I have to admit it. The point in question was raised in a tweet overnight, in which [...]

Do you think that Star Wars is an epic battle between good and evil? Well, let this mom set you straight. I am not a big Star Wars fan. Which is weird, because I love sci-fi and fantasy. I chalk [...]

Early on in my days as a mother, I promised myself I would never say these two words to my children: “Be careful.” And I’ve tried hard not to. The thought first occurred to me [...]

I never thought it would come to this but it has: I don’t want any more gifts for Christmas. I don’t want my Christmas to be about “stuff” anymore. I have always been a [...]

I thought of the piece I wrote the other day, the one about going to the woods and sitting on a rock to find peace, and then I came across this beautiful poem by Wendell Berry called The Peace of [...]

Today marks 16 years since I first crossed your threshold as your “owner.” You have been so good to me, so today I wanted to thank you. It was right before Christmas. My belly was [...]

Maybe this is true. Or maybe this is the story we tell to get out of emptying the dishwasher. In any event, you’ve been warned.                 [...]

I mostly draw a complete blank in trying to understand war. I think it’s because modern war is such a sanitized thing that it’s hard to understand why we rile ourselves up and press [...]