Had a couple of what my husband and I call Nature Experiences this weekend. From the "sanctuary" of my little garden, we swept into this blue trash can a medium-to-large copperhead.  And we're enjoying the once-every-thirteen years arrival of cicadas, hundreds of thousands of them.  I'm not one who is especially bothered by bugs (except millipedes) or snakes (except […] Read More

 Christina Askounis, of the creative writing faculty at Duke, is an extraordinary teacher.  I sometimes give out in my workshops copies of a quote from her about following even the faintest glimmer of an idea: "There is always something: like Blake's golden string, one need only take hold of the end and start to wind it into […] Read More

Update: * I got my two regular writing groups started, something I'd long hesitated to do, and I'm very happy with how they're turning out. Every Wednesday afternoon, three writers come to my office for reading and feedback (and tea.) Then another three come at seven. Both groups are a good combo of people doing […] Read More

My office partner, friend, and landlady  Carrie Knowles has a new novella out this month from Mind Wings Audio.  Shoot Me is an hour-long psychological thriller, just right for short trips or long commutes, or for playing while you're doing office/home chores. She and I and other writers in this office building are accustomed to print book releases.  […] Read More

In "Obsessions Revisited," in the May/June Scientific American Mind,  Melinda Wenner Moyer reports that: *research suggests obsessive-compulsive disorder may not stem from anxiety as has long been thought, but that anxiety may be the result of coping with the burden of the symptoms.  This is a radical change of thinking, as you'll discover if you Google for […] Read More

  Tornadoes and other burrowing animals struck my home turf this weekend, in a strong reminder of the power of what insurance companies call  "acts of God."    I think we (humans) are very gutsy and resourceful to cope as well as we do with forces that are pretty much out of our control. Saturday, I was at home, […] Read More

Flying to New York (from Raleigh, NC) for a book pub party is my idea of a good time.  I did it once before, accompanying writer buddy Dan Wakefield to the celebration at Carnegie Hall of Frank Conroy's novel Body and Soul.  (And then Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church held a reading/reception when my first novel Revelation […] Read More

In my mid-twenties as a news reporter at the NC Legislature, I enjoyed watching   one of my local legislators, a woman about 20 years older than me, with progressive views, a good sense of humor, and deep husky voice. I was in the press section on the day that she, Ruth Cook, stood to speak on […] Read More

Here's a vivid reminder. Read More

I hate dealing with conflict!   I hate dealing with conflict! Can't be avoided.  Must do it anyway. So what's the worst that can happen when I proceed?  *lose connection with the person *lose the good stuff that that person brings *disappoint someone *not be liked *ruffle feathers *be wrong and not realize it (the persistently needling worry) […] Read More