For me, death is the hardest chapter to bear in the story of a life.
Recently, my brother asked me to share some good memories about my grandmother, who passed on the fourth of July after a long struggle with … Read more
The husband and I just finished reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, and it has sparked lots of good conversation about our priorities for the food we put onto our–and our son’s–plate. That’s a conversation … Read more
I’m in the middle of living something new: writing hungry.
I’ve always seen the idea of the starving artist as an unnecessary cliché, but I’m as close as I will likely ever be to living it. (I certainly hope this … Read more
A while ago I wrote about how Scrivener was the perfect tool for drafting a novel. I need to revise that statement. Scrivener is the best electronic tool. Why the qualification? Because ordinary paper always, always calls me back.
Scrivener … Read more
After smooth flying and driving, we are finally “home” to the States–Texas for a bit before heading back to Indiana. Husband and I are nostalgic for Paris already, especially when we are eating out (“Look at the size of this … Read more
I am currently flying over the Atlantic (away from Paris and our 9-month adventure here), but in honor of the occasion, I have dredged up a poem I wrote in a writing workshop at Simon’s Rock College when I was … Read more
Last night I stumbled across these entries written in one of my notebooks during a trip to Belfast in 2005. I’ve typed it up for you because I still feel the same way about skies. And gratitude. Turns out I’m … Read more
From thoughts about babies thinking aloud to thoughts about putting children under ground… Random reflections.
Since he was about eight months old, Liam has started his day by talking to himself, often for a good half hour and sometimes even … Read more
Today, our little boy Liam Miguel turns 2. He’s traveled a lot of miles in his short life, and he seemed to enjoy his Paris birthday very well. I made his cake, and you’ll notice the three languages (English, Spanish, … Read more
My most recent writer’s notebook–cute as it is–doesn’t have a pocket for my lists. In the past, I’ve done different things like pasting in envelopes to provide for the necessary expansion space. But supplies are limited in our Paris apartment. … Read more
