*** Summer is around the corner, and it’s time to think about getting yourself that perfect hat. Whether it’s a straw one, cotton one, or a ball cap, you will want to protect your face from the harmful rays of the sun. Along with getting yourself a good pair of sunglasses, you will want to… Read More Saturday Style: Women in Hats
In the laundry room on Pointer Ridge Drive in Bowie, Maryland, where I grew up, my parents hung my large blackboard I got for Christmas. The laundry room was a good size, and the perfect place for me to set up my schoolroom. My aunt had given me a grade book she used when she… Read More In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week & A Thank You to My Students
My husband and I were sitting in a restaurant in London one night trying to get in touch with his Italian cousin who is a surgeon in the city. We were there for vacation, but we had promised Massimo and his wife that we would get together during our stay for dinner. In our effort… Read More Meeting People Makes Travel Magical
(This is part two of my travel piece about Napa Valley and San Francisco. To read part one, click here). Besides the incredible number of wineries, there are some picturesque towns that are definitely worthy of a visit. Napa was our first stop. Perched on the Napa River, the town offers adorable shopping, great… Read More Breathing In the Air and Tasting the Wines in Napa Valley | Part Two
First, there was the air, consistently devoid of humidity according the locals, and as fresh and crisp as you would imagine the hills and unspoiled land of Northern California to be. Puffs of soft clouds decorated the blue sky as temperatures hovered in the high sixties. Then, there was the scenery. The rolling greens of… Read More Breathing in the Air and Tasting The Wines in Napa Valley
I’m excited to talk to students tonight about the self-publishing world. Faculty in the Halls, a program at Stevenson University, has asked me to speak to students about the path of publishing your own book. As I’ve published two novels this way, I’m excited to share my knowledge of the growing arm of publishing, how… Read More Campus Book Talk Tonight and Some Monday Inspiration
On April 6, the notice above popped up in my notifications on my blogging platform, WordPress. I was thankful for the reminder because I wouldn’t have remembered the anniversary of the first day I began the blogging journey. I am too busy tackling the challenge of deciding on what I will write about next. What… Read More Recounting Five Years of My Life As a Blogger
There is much debate in the fictional writing world as to whether or not your story should begin with a prologue. The last three books I have read–all mainstream fictional novels–have started with a prologue. I found the prologue of Me Before You particularly effective. The discussion of the prologue is a relatively simple one:… Read More Friday Fiction: Writing the Prologue & Baseball Girl
The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it. ~ Esther Williams There they are before me. A large clock in the dining room, an even larger one in the living room, and a most gargantuan one on our porch. They always say, “the bigger the better.” I’m… Read More Why I Probably Shouldn’t Have Ridiculously Large Clocks in the House
I’m about to finish Adriana Trigiani’s touching and inspiring novel entitled The Shoemaker’s Wife. I’ve enjoyed reading this sweeping story of Italian immigrants loosely based on the history of the author’s own grandparents. From the mountains of the Italian Alps to New York City to a small town in Minnesota, the characters and sights covered… Read More A Good Book Will Never Let You Down
*** Just for a minute, I’m going to take you back with me to typing class in 8th grade at Severn River Middle School. We sat in rows, typewriters in front of us. We did the drills. “A, A, A…S, S, S…D, D, D…” We typed this sentence over and over again: “The quick brown… Read More A Royal Lesson: Typing Class Came in Handy
My husband and I have been updating our home since we bought it in June of 2013. Little by little we have tackled the project of making our home something we love. In our previous residence, we did the same thing, though on a much smaller scale. I think we both enjoy watching our projects… Read More Inspired by Joanna Gaines and Fixer Upper on HGTV
