Hello Friend, With Valentine’s Day this week, writing about romancing your valentine is appropriate. As a romance author, I know how it feels to be romanced, which inspires my writing. A few years ago, my spouse treated me to a
INSPIRATION
Dear Friend, Some days you’ve got it, some days you don’t! What is inspiration, anyway? For me, it’s a feeling, a positive idea. I’ve written that the entire concept for my Louisa’s Vineyard Series came to me after visiting vineyards
SPAGHETTI
Dear Friend, Why spaghetti? Well, it got your attention, didn’t it? Actually, a long-ago film where the hero strains spaghetti with a tennis racket inspired this blog! (See the film attribution and more details at the end.) I take inspiration
WORD
Dear Friend, Finding just the right word can be important. Or seemingly impossible. Or an imposition. Since I’ve started writing a new book, I’ve pondered every word choice. My husband glanced at the title I’d chosen and the main character’s
ILLNESS
Dear Friend, It took me by surprise. Much like a parent realizes their child is ill, suddenly burning up with fever. Early last week as I was completing my blog, my computer monitor was showing a screen that reversed colors
WHAT IS PERFECT?
Dear Friend, People bandy the word “perfect” around often. I laughed when someone commented in my texts, “PERFRCT,” as an answer to a question. I reviewed the Merriam-Webster definition of perfect. The definition: As good as it is possible to
HURRY UP IT’S TIME!
Dear Friend, Less than twenty-four hours ago, multitudes of people were hovering near a screen, counting down to zero and yelling, “Happy New Year!” We’re used to time, telling time, counting time, knowing what time it is─precisely. In the history
ALL I WANT FOR . . . name holiday . . . IS YOU!
Dear Friend, Besides the way the song ends with─ “You,” I’ve thought of priceless experiences and have them on repeat in my memories. My family background jumbled up the holidays so we celebrated twice. We lit Chanukah candles. But we
A PENNY SAVED?
Dear Friend, The penny is gone! The U.S. Mint produced the last penny on November 12, 2025. I’m sad, because I collected pennies. It was fun to know where the locations for printing the penny were, what pennies might be
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TURKEY
About now, if you haven’t already finished roasting your turkey, you’re regretting not ordering takeout. What kind of takeout? Anything you could find that meant you didn’t need to chop things, cook it, possibly reheat it, serve it to a