Anyone born in the mid 1960s-mid 1970s to a household with a TV and parents who liked to sleep in remembers Schoolhouse Rock. My sister and I would sit on the floor–despite the presence of a perfectly adequate couch–crane our necks up, and watch the familiar cartoon characters bounce up and down on elastic knees and […]

Read more "Three (Thousand) is the Magic Number"

Remember back when you were mired in teenage angst and told your parents about a friend who was “ignoring” you for “some reason” but you didn’t know what or why? Can you recall that feeling of anxiety, almost fear, sitting in your center and possessing your thoughts over what you could have possibly done to […]

Read more "Are You Mad at Me?"

Today is my birthday. I am forty-five. Big deal, right? Not really. Forty was hard. In fact, I wrote a very long novel (220K words) about a woman who had something of a midlife crisis when she marked four decades on the planet. Fifty might be tough. Who knows. Last night, right before I went to […]

Read more "Cheapest Present Ever"

The other day a Facebook friend asked folks to share their favorite music lyric. The question put me into a mind coma. I wanted to play. I wanted to include a few lines from the collection of words set to music which reside in my brain. For far longer than I will admit, I sat, […]

Read more "Who gets the Trophy for Best Lyrics?"

A month ago, I shared an experience of mine where I’d bumped into an old friend from whom I’d gotten the sense, over the last year and a half, didn’t want to continue any sort of friendship. It was awkward. Then two weeks later, in the same public sports complex, I saw her again — […]

Read more "The “Awkward” Mirror"

I have decided to enter some writing competitions. Seventeen to be precise. Last night, I got my submission to the Massachusetts Cultural Council in hours before the deadline. This morning, I’ve been tidying up various excerpts from GINNED UP, DOUBLE DIRTY, and MY PLUS ONE to fit within the requirements of each specific contest. Prize […]

Read more "Game On"

How is it that this is the 93rd post to this blog in ninety-three days and I have yet to express my deep gratitude? Not only for those of you who have been interested from the beginning but also those of you visiting here for the very first time. You are the reason for this blog. The […]

Read more "Thanks Due and Owing"

What happens when one child brings the stomach bug home from his third grade class on a weekend when all six of his family members are together not only because it is winter but also because two of the four children have birthdays that weekend? Vomitfest 2016. As of this moment, four of the six […]

Read more "On the Cusp"

Fifteen years ago, at this very moment, I was holding a baby. He was nine hours old. We named him Asher Steven. “Asher” because Rob’s best man said it sounded like the name of a future great American novelist; “Steven” in honor of my deceased father. Asher’s birth was “uneventful,” if it is possible to […]

Read more "Looking through a Singular Lens"

On this day in 1874, the US Patent Office granted a patent to Samuel W. Francis for this “invention.” Maybe it was less of an “invention” and more of a combination of two things which, prior to Mr Francis’s bright idea, had not been put into one handy utensil. One hundred forty-two years later, I […]

Read more "What’s It Called?"