Edith Sloan
The protagonist of my 2022 novel, An Open Door and its sequel, The Hedgerow, Edith Sloan is a young woman with some interesting traits and ambitions. When An Open Door begins, it’s the summer of 1948 and Edith works as a secretary at the recently established United Nations in New York City. She has run […]
What If My Book?
We all want our work to be loved, admired, or even cited. Some authors may write only for this purpose, with only this in mind as they pen the next chapter and the one after that. It’s natural to have an ego and to want that ego fed. I, too, have yearned for exactly that. […]
The Hedgerow – Chapter One
Edith didn’t have to read the return address to know the letter was from Walter. They’d been coming all summer, always on a Wednesday. The first paragraph would be about his law job and the cases he was assigned. The second paragraph would talk about his parents, or his sister, Kathleen, and the wild things […]
A Summer Morning, Chapter One
The solstice was tomorrow, and the twilight stretched on and on. Even if you stood and watched it closely, gauging the gradual loss of color from the sky, you never saw the final coming of night. The day just disappeared. Timothy had lived in upstate New York all his life and hated summer. As a […]
blue obsidian
originally published in Full House Literary Magazine blue obsidian things of beauty please the eye paperweights & polished blocks of lapis & malachite a small crystal vase with silk roses—pink my favorite, though i don’t care for fake flowers this place isn’t for me he puts a silver giraffe in […]
My Father Wanted Sons
MY FATHER WANTED SONS My feminism began with my father, who wanted sons. Had I been one he’d have named me Paul after my mother’s father, or Bruce, after no one he knew. He must have liked the sound alone, the angry strength of it, harking back to a long-lost Scots-Irish ancestor with an oblique […]
Call Yourself A Writer
originally published in Women Writers, Women’s Books I recently took part in a virtual author event with two other women writers. Let me say how much I have come to appreciate the magic of Zoom video conferencing, aside from not having a paid account which meant getting dumped off the call after forty minutes. […]
a winter night – chapter one
Chapter One It’s all about family, Angie tells the Greens. An elderly dementia patient can experience significant anxiety on their bad days. Love and support go a long way. The staff at Lindell is wonderful, in fact, they were given an award by the National Alzheimer’s association just last year for their work in memory […]
Preview of WOMEN WITHIN, releasing in September, 2017
Women Within is a novel in three parts, each devoted to one main character. Part One presents Constance Maynard, currently an elderly resident at the Lindell Retirement home in Upstate New York. She is cared for by Eunice and Sam (short for Samantha). Part Two tells Eunice’s story; Part Three tells Sam’s. Here is a […]
Moving Out & Moving On
After thirty years of living in our charming, leaning, creaky-floored Victorian, we’re moving on. Seattle has become too crowded for us, too busy and loud. It’s a city for younger people who don’t mind hauling groceries down the block because their parking spot vanished while they were at the store. We fell in love with […]