Blog

A Racing Fable There once was a race car driver who tore up the track and won every race he entered. He left dust in his trail, along with every other car that challenged him. He was quite the champion. He was all fire and strength and speed with a touch of magic behind the […]

A fable for grown-ups and kids, alike. Once upon a time there lived a magnificent magical king. He came from a long line of them and no one could quite remember when this royal line had acquired their magic. But it was there, nonetheless, after several generations. This magnificent, magical king ruled his happy kingdom […]

Those of you who know me, know how much I take note of my dreams. They are a specific source of encouragement and inspiration. I love dreaming, whether while I sleep at night or during my sacred nap time. I let my mind and my imagination take flight in ways that the laws of physics […]

The importance of creating connection and common ground to inspire, encourage, and comfort others I’ve been writing stories just about my whole life. When I can’t sleep, I’ll work out dialogue or a chapter in my head and it busies that part of my brain enough so I can drift off. Every once in a […]

A fable...about our inner critic. I once knew a girl, not thin and not tall. How she’ll be remembered—not that way, at all. Janet McJudgerson, with her lemony face. All pinched up and pious and with nary a trace of love or compassion but I’ll never tell since all of my life I knew her […]

A truism about the foundation for a lasting partnership in love and life. When I was a much younger “me,” I was blessed by a wise woman; a mentor and friend, named “Becky.”* We met on a summer evening at one of our community concerts and I think we just recognized a kindred spirit in […]

Recovering after the sudden death of your soulmate. In my travels and my career, I’ve been blessed to be alongside a strange fraternity of souls.  Membership is by initiation, only, and that is by losing a beloved, in a shocking, sudden, and catastrophic event.  The wisest among them, a parent who lost a child in […]

Confidence -- Courage -- Compassion. One woman's journey:  A cancer diagnosis during the COVID pandemic Rhiannon* is a beaut’ from New Jersey; she’s another friend I was blessed to meet via social media during the COVID pandemic.  It’s true that birds of a feather flock together, even virtually.  One of our twin interests brought us […]

Several years ago, author and pastor, Gary Chapman, released his book and teaching series, The Five Love Languages.  It was all the rage. I took the quiz, read the book, and tried like crazy to fit myself into one or another category. The closest I came was to finally throw my hands up and decide […]

The more I thought of Rose Nicovich and her hundreds of whisky barrels, the more I wondered what life in Puget Sound was like during the waning days of Prohibition just as the Great Depression got underway. I’d never written a historical fiction and romance before, so I figured I better figure it out.  Historical […]

Speaking from personal experience, caring for someone you love who is living with a devastating injury or illness is both personally fulfilling and exhausting. At no other time in your life is it more important to figure out what honors yourself and your important role as a caregiver. For me, my caregiver role at the […]

Once upon a time, a man woke to find himself in a dark and squalid place. It was a dreadful prison. How he got there and what happened before, the man did not know. When sorrowful wailing from the other prisoners quelled, sometimes he dreamt of blue skies and fair, salty sea breezes on his […]

While I was growing up, my father was completely at a loss of how to handle my more-than-a-little crazy mother.  So, when I was five years old, he dropped us at mom’s childhood home along the shore of Dyes Inlet in Puget Sound.  Then he became a super commuter. To-and-from Chicago, Illinois.  In the 1970’s. […]

Samuel's Excursions... ...were what the words said in the sign reading "Pilut 4 hyr." "I'll show you adventure, I'll show you the world. You see, I'm a top-rated flyer. First, we'll see jungles, the Congo and more, We'll have tea with Gorillas I know. Then, next the savannah, a safari and tour. On the necks […]

Chelsea... I was once blessed to be loved completely and totally by a brown-eyed, bear-faced, honey-headed dog named Chelsea. She was a husky mix of dubious parentage and our unlikely love story began before I actually became her dog mom. When she died, I was so broken-hearted that I wrote a tribute to her that […]

The Hunt... A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they […]

The gravel made a companionable, earthy crunch as Rose walked from Cottage Bay’s library in the early spring twilight. Just before a secluded forest area along her homeward route, she passed the row of small rental cottages.  For the past two weeks, there stood the big man from Chicago.  What was his name?  Tommy, Toby, […]

The Second Black Tuesday of the Year "Set it down wherever Rose says it should go," Sanja Nicovich called down the stairs. Sanja deemed the red velvet sofa too out of place for their front room. Her husband, Sebastijan, usually called "Seb", and her brother-in-law, Tomo, were pressed into service to stow it in the […]