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One of My Favorite Scenes
*** I’ve been decorating a little bit today for the holidays. I’m feeling terrible, still trying to deal with a chronic health issue, but I’m trying to remain positive and optimistic. Evert time I break out my Christmas decorations, I always think about a particular scene in my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. The scene unfolds at the holidays after ten years, when two former lovers and next door neighbors are reunited. After years of not speaking and feeling anger and guilt over a mistake that was made, the two come face-to-face in the driveway as Annabelle and her family return from getting a Christmas tree. Michael, home from…
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My 5th Novel Has a Name (at least for now)
Today, it’s official. I have a book title. I have a copyrighted ISBN number. I have a “mood” for the cover. And while I am going to seek traditional publishing this time around and solicit an agent to represent me, I still need to go through this process to help move in the right direction and keep me motivated should I venture down the self-publishing road again. The characters in this novel are not only in my head, but in my soul. Each one is a part of me, and a part of you, and a part of everyone we have met along the way. With five main characters, a…
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Capturing Moments
*** Capturing Moments Capturing moments, instead of things—A cloudless sky, a heron’s wingsThe things we loveHave come to passDimming sunshineDarkness, alas—Winter’s moodsBefall us hereWhen days are shortAnd nights are clearThe blackest nightWe’ll soon have metBut days like theseWe’ll not forget.We’ll not forgetThe way it feltWhen bleakness leftAnd hearts did melt. *** In August, my husband totally surprised me on my birthday and bought me a boat. Our friends were selling their boat and upgrading to a new one, so he bought the one they were selling. In the COVID-19 world, I can’t even begin to tell you how much that gift has meant to me. Since August, we have used…
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The 6 a.m Pledge for My Health
To the year 2020—you’ve been a disaster in so many ways. So many of us are tired and feeling the angst that has befallen us during these last many months. We’ve lost sleep, contact with people we love, the ability to move around in society in a normal way, and for many people, pay reductions and loss of jobs and livelihoods. Just this morning, I heard the story of someone who lost their store and is now homeless thanks to the pandemic. Additionally, as a consummate consumer of news, I’ve realized the very nature of this much negative news consumption that I inhale on a daily basis is affecting my…
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Reading, Writing, and an Empath for November
Dear Readers, I hope you are well! It’s hard to believe it’s November 1st, especially after all we’ve collectively been through this year, but alas, here it is, and that means the next couple of months will be filled with family, friends, and love as the holidays approach. While taking care of one another is paramount, it’s also important to care for yourself, as well. That can mean exercising, eating right, meditating, reading, relaxing, and giving way to things that make your heart happy. For me, besides the wonderful gift of a boat that my husband gave me for my birthday in August—one of the greatest surprises of my lifetime—I’ve…
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Letting Go of Perfect
Somewhere along the line, in between running press notes for the media and trying to get better grades in college, this once heavy partier in college flipped and became a sort of perfectionist. This is not to say I am perfect, nor did I ever believe I was perfect. I know I’m quite far from it, and I recognize that. I’ve made mistakes, done stupid things, made bad choices. It’s just that at the time, there was a shift in my thinking, and I became goal oriented and a bit of an over-achiever, always striving for perfection. For years, I’ve tried to do my best at home as a wife…
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FROCKTOBER Fashions Meet Literacy Support for Kids
✨WELCOME TO FROCKTOBER✨The month has arrived, my friends. For the fifth time, I am participating in #FROCKTOBER, an initiative that calls attention to a charity of choice by posting an outfit a day for the month of October. I’m always up for a good challenge, and this year, I’ve decided to blend my love of fashion with my love of books, writing, and reading..As an author, professor, and blogger, I love how creativity comes to us in many different ways, and I think combining FICTION & FASHION is a fun way to spend October! 😘 So, not only will I be sharing my fashion, but I’ll also be sharing and…
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Some Sentiments About 20 Years at Stevenson
*** Last week I received an email from human resources about celebrating 20 years at Stevenson University. And I used to think the 13 years I spent at the Baltimore Orioles was a long time. When I taught my very first semester at Stevenson in January of 2000, I was pregnant with my son, Matthew, and was hired as an adjunct professor. Now, Matthew is a junior in college. When you look at it through that lens, a long time has passed. I moved into full-time teaching in 2008, when Stevenson changed its name from Villa Julie College to Stevenson University. Prior to my time at Stevenson, I began teaching…
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Frocktober begins tomorrow & I’ve picked my charity
FROCKTOBER BEGINS TOMORROW… And I’m announcing the charity I have chosen for the next 31 days. What is FROCKTOBER? It’s a 31-day fashion challenge, whereby you post an outfit a day on Instagram, that calls attention to a charity of choice! As an educator, author, blogger, and reader, I am so happy to support and call attention to another woman of style’s organization that fosters reading: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Dolly’s nonprofit organization is a book gifting program that delivers free books to children from birth to age 5 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Republic of Ireland. The organization was inspired by Dolly’s father’s inability to…
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A Video Representation of my Work in Progess
Last night, I was able to finish reading through all of the chapters I have written so far of my new work in progress, a little more than 60,000 words. This book is a little different from the others I have previously written. And while it is set in the Annapolis area, its characters are all a bit lost and trying to find their way out of their current situations. The glue that brings these people together is a woman who is an empath. Through something she does consciously to help others, the other four characters in the novel find each other. Writing five main characters who all narrate the…
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Some Updates on Some things
As I’ve been a little out of touch, I thought I’d share a few updates, and things that have been happening during quarantine of late, starting with… The Unnamed Boat The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement. On my birthday in mid-August, my husband surprised me by purchasing a boat. Our friends upgraded to a new vessel, and he bought their boat. As I had been out on their boat several times, it was a lovely, and completely out-of-the-blue surprise. Since then, we’ve been spending as much time on the water as we can before the season ends. Growing up, my dad had boats. When I was…
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Anxiety at 3:30 a.m.
I can’t believe I’m sitting her typing this at 3:30 in the morning, but I am. I’m getting angrier by the minute that I can’t fall asleep and that my heart is racing for no good reason. This happens to me a few times a year, and like a dummy, I allow it to get the better of me instead of going with the flow. The worst part of all is that I’m actually exhausted. I suppose I should be thankful because it allows me a few moments to write a blog post, something I haven’t tackled since my birthday because I’ve been too busy. There are many of you…
