The road to publication has never been easy for me. None of my manuscripts were eagerly awaited by the publishing industry. I’ve never been wooed by excited agents, nor have I experienced book auctions where editors try to top each other’s offers in an effort to win publishing rights. Each of my three published novels…
You Could Be Dancing
One July day in 1518, Frau Troffea left her Strasbourg house and started to dance. She didn’t want to; it just happened. She danced frantically in the street, finally collapsing from exhaustion. Then, after a rest, she got up and danced some more. By the end of the week, at least thirty people had joined…
Sleep WHERE?
In 2017, 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, NY went on the market. Built in 1890, the house had been converted into a three-family dwelling with an owner’s duplex on the first two levels and an apartment on each of the two floors above. Although it needed some updates, it still included charming original details….
I just celebrated a milestone birthday. I can sum it up in four words: “How did this happen?” I respect birthdays, and I always give myself permission to spend them doing whatever I want. This year, however, pinpointing that was hard. Nothing felt worth the effort. It took a while to realize that what I…
Happy New Year
Happy New Year … although nearly a week-and-a-half after making an entrance, 2023 is already starting to feel a little worn. That shiny newness attached to incoming years has a short shelf life. There are still a few holiday clearance shelves left in stores. They’re fairly plucked over by now, mostly littered with ornaments packed…
Books
October is the month when I finally emerge from the hot, humid stupor of summer. Yes, I’ve heard about September; these days it comes littered with too many family death anniversaries to feel like the fresh start it once was. October is when I can breathe again. To me, “renewal” = “project.” This year I…
William McKinley and Dinosaurs
Here’s what I can tell you about my recent visit to the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in Canton, Ohio: I didn’t visit the dinosaur exhibit, but I did see the planetarium. I know. I didn’t connect that stuff with the twenty-fifth president of the United States, either. Every president since Herbert Hoover has…
Extra!
We are so far behind on movies that we should be embarrassed (we aren’t). You’d think we’d have caught up during nearly two years of semi-isolation, but we were too busy watching Friends for the first time. At least this means that there are always “new” titles out there for us to enjoy. This explains…
