Yesterday I was finishing an edit on a nonfiction book proposal from my three months in Varanasi, India. (I was there doing research for my novel, Sister India.) In the proposal is a scene from the first time I visited “the burning place,” the riverbank pyres where corpses are burned and ashes placed in the […] Read More

Foreign accents filter through the door from the office next to mine. My friend and colleague Carrie is taking part in a conference call/meeting. I think she’s talking with Australians about some joint arts project. I like hearing this murmur from the other side of the world. It reminds me that the world is large […] Read More

Follow an interest with passion and energy and it becomes very particular. Not just interest in dogs, but deepening interest in particular breeds or particular aspects of dog training or some such. Husband Bob is fascinated by big exotic breeds. Here’s a Boerboel (a South African mastiff type) that we drove several hours to meet, […] Read More

Just back from a 3-day weekend to the NC mountains and then to the Charlotte area with husband Bob. The itinerary was determined by two things he had in mind to do: go to a black-belt testing in Blowing Rock and then see some dogs at the home of a breeder who raises the same […] Read More

“What shall we think of a well-adjusted slave?” –Abraham Maslow The answer to that question is not simple. In some situations, coping and making-the-best-of is all that can be done. And what’s important is to avoid lingering shame at having done no more. Other times, adapting is copping out. How to tell the difference? I […] Read More

Overslept. By two hours! Then forgot I’d had a morning appointment at Autologic about a car problem. Then stumbled around trying to make sense of things. Finally, rolled out toward car shop and the rest of the day. Now it’s just past noon. People at AutoLogic quickly did the necessary check, and I was out […] Read More

“Most people believe only in degrees of jeopardy and live in degrees of greater and lesser anxiety, but never in true relaxation.” quoted on Gaiam from Paul Richards, co-author with Patricia Richards of Wild Attraction, a Ruthlessly Practical Guide to Extraordinary Relationship– a book about the effects of subtle energy on relationships. Note from Peggy: […] Read More

Going to the moon probably requires some boldness. The 40th anniversary of the first moon landing was yesterday. I was twenty when it happened and it still seems unbelievable to me that anyone has done that. I like the idea that something can be permanently amazing. And that anyone has the nerve to visit another […] Read More

“Getting By With Brassiness” was the headline of the story in my local News and Observer yesterday. It pointed out a change that I’m surprised I haven’t noticed: the string of new female lead characters who are gutsy and tough, yet still star. They’re not fallen women, or drugged-out, or whores with hearts of whatever. […] Read More

My elderly husband (67) and I (60) had dinner in a sports bar Friday night, the Salem Street Pub. I never did that before–though I once edited a story that importantly took place in one–and didn’t do it this time on purpose. It looked like a cafe sort of place, and the patty melt had […] Read More