My Body, My Life: Sizing It Up

My kids and I hit the ice cream hard this summer. After a year in lockdown during which I consumed way too many bottles of wine, adding ice cream into the mix meant that I added a few more pounds to my frame. So many pounds, in fact, that my normally loose-fitting clothes started pinching … Continue reading My Body, My Life: Sizing It Up

The Flow of Our Experience: Interrupted

We ran out of soap for the dishwasher. There was no way I was going out into this COVID nightmare to buy more. At least not today. So I did the dishes by hand this morning. While doing so, I was reminded of something I read somewhere that Agatha Christie (the old mystery writer, remember … Continue reading The Flow of Our Experience: Interrupted

On Quitting: Empowering our Daughters to Make Tough Decisions

She looks up at me and says, “Mom, I just don’t want to do it anymore.” My sixth-grader wants to quit orchestra. And you know what? I’m going to support her. After bribing her to continue in orchestra last year (her second year), I’ve decided it’s time for her to feel confident making decisions for … Continue reading On Quitting: Empowering our Daughters to Make Tough Decisions

How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying

Stop trying. Seriously. Stop. It’s freeing. Once you let go of the constant anxiety, the constant force of society weighing down on you, it really is freeing. This pandemic has given me one amazing thing (and I know I’m speaking from an incredibly privileged perspective)—time. It has given me the time to step back and … Continue reading How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying

A Secretary of State and a Trip to an Arctic Oil Rig (A chapter from my current WIP)

U.S. Secretary of State Joe Imperio wrapped his thick, red parka around his thick body as he stepped out of the Arctic transport vehicle. The inside of his nostrils froze solid as he inhaled. When he exhaled, his breath met the icy air with a white mist that hung heavy in front of his face. … Continue reading A Secretary of State and a Trip to an Arctic Oil Rig (A chapter from my current WIP)

On Books (Why I Read)

I read because there are things I need to know. I always feel I need to know what I’m talking about. I read because if I didn’t have the knowledge and the facts to back up what I’m saying, people won’t listen, won’t care. I read because I’m always wondering. I can never know too … Continue reading On Books (Why I Read)

Author’s Note

When you write a book with ballet as the backdrop it seems a large number of people think you will be writing it from the perspective of an adult who has been emotionally arrested at the age of 12 years old, with all the hopes and dreams of a novice dancer intact and without any … Continue reading Author’s Note

The Birthday Flibbertigibbet

Once upon a time, there were two small children who often found themselves tip-toeing through tiny magical doorways in the walls of doctors’ offices and waiting rooms. Those magical doorways took them to imaginary worlds full of glitter and clouds, unicorns and rainbows, and Abraham Lincoln.  Those kids were my twin son and daughter. How … Continue reading The Birthday Flibbertigibbet

SATIRE: “You Need Coal. Why? Two Words: Climate and Change”

(Taps mic. Clears throat. Speaks loud.) "Members of the City Council, on behalf of South Side Coal Energy I would like to thank you all for allowing us to speak about opening up a brand new coal-fired power plant in your city. (A screeching sound rings out from the sound system). "As you know, a coal-fired … Continue reading SATIRE: “You Need Coal. Why? Two Words: Climate and Change”