I was recently in a chain store in the middle of Manhattan with a long line of customers waiting to check out. When the person paying had finished gathering their belongings and left the register, the clerk called, “The following customer?” Woah! I thought. Don’t we say,’next customer’ in English? I thought perhaps this was just an…
Too bad… It’s likely that no one else wants your furniture, china, or collectibles. At a presentation called “Keep the best and get rid of the rest” sponsored by the Arlington County, VA 55+ program, presenter Matthew Quinn of Quinn’s Auction Galleries gave a “State of the stuff” status report. Shift happens The 20th century Great…
Last night it was Ossining Historical Society Museum. Last week the venue was Scattered Books Bookstore in Chappaqua. I’m on a roll — meeting fans of history and avid readers in two of my haunts close to home. THANK YOU to all friends and fans who joined me in celebrating my book launch last week.…
The antidote is grace; the action is prayer; the solution is community Do you crave an experience of the sacred? Are you aware of a God-shaped hole that you spend your life trying to fill? There’s much that we don’t understand, which draws us to people or organizations that can guide us. Religions are institutions…
Come to a Wine and Cheese ReceptionPlease join me to celebrate the launch of my book! Scattered Books in Chappaqua New York is the first bookstore to carry the paperback version! I know the book is selling well already online. Thank you readers for contacting me and telling me how much you enjoyed it! Come…
I get eye exams conscientiously. Apparently, I’m at risk for glaucoma and retinal detachment. I’d rather monitor my eye health than wait for a problem to ambush me. So, each year, I go through a comprehensive exam with visual fields screening and dilation. The visual fields test diagrams each eye’s blind spot, a segment without…
Wow! I just got another great review, and I am In the Spotlight at Feathered Quill. After biting my nails to nubs over endless hours of editing, I cannot tell you how great this feels! I have always wanted to write. I just knew I had to wait until I had something to say! Now I do.…
I never know what I’ll encounter during my morning walks. First thing after coffee, I walk. It is usually dark, except for near the summer solstice. The peace and solitude makes it a meditative experience, which is a nice way to start the day. Yesterday, a fox scurried across the street carrying a plastic-wrapped copy of the newspaper in its mouth.…
I have been immersed in researching The Oregon Trail and life on the prairie in the U.S. in the mid 1800s for my next book, Pioneer Passage, coming out in December. I have been working hard, creating stories based on diaries of women traveling westward, patiently honing my tale, embroidering it with details, lost in the arduous…
After I heard a presentation by Abigail Disney [yes, a member of that Disney family], I watched a documentary she produced. Pray the Devil Back to Hell tells the story of Christian and Muslim women of Liberia who collaborated across faith traditions to pray and protest. They obtained a meeting with Charles Taylor, a warlord who was elected President of…
Then this is the book for you! Yup! 1850s English was a very different language from today’s conversational English. Maybe it is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but I wrote my character’s dialogue as they would truly have spoken in 1850-slowly, deliberately and eloquently! It has become a truism, but the fact can’t be overstated:…
These are hot times we live in, only partially attributable to soaring temperatures. If people disagree, it’s not just a difference of opinion, they react like it’s a personal affront, spewing venom, fury, and hatred towards perceived enemies. There is more incite than insight, generating heat and anger, but not warmth or light. Reading an…
