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I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! I’m in Panera’s. Across from me is a mother and daughter. I’m guessing the mom’s in her sixties, the daughter in her thirties. They’re talking loud enough so I can’t concentrate on my writing but soft enough […]

Note: I wrote this piece in August, 2013, about Jenna, my youngest, a few weeks before she moved into her own apartment.  Near tears. I would be in tears, but Jenna, my youngest, will be awake soon, and little girls don’t like to see mommies cry, it throws them off, scares them. But mommies do cry, and though she is still my little girl, she’s soon to be 19. She’s home for the summer and […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! So, there I am, roaming the exhibit hall of the BlogHer conference, my complimentary canvass bag overflowing with … Actually, I don’t know what half the stuff is, other than it’s free. Exhibitors with hopeful faces keep […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! I am not always kind. I can be grouchy and not yield to merging traffic. I don’t call my mother as often as I should and don’t always thank supermarket baggers. I kill ants and find flaws […]

Yesterday I woke with a warm heart. Do you know what I mean? You get out of bed without thinking you’re not good enough, that, yeah, you look in the mirror and your hair’s a mess and you really should exercise, but that you’re okay anyway. One of those days when you lay claim to 80 percent of yourself and say, “Not bad. I can work with this.” When I wake/feel 80 percent, I care […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! My wonderful and very glamorous Aunt Anita passed away on Thanksgiving day. She was in her early 80s. I couldn’t make it out to Las Vegas to say goodbye, but I wrote this letter to her, which […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! So here I am  at the cosmetics store Sephora with my 20-year-old daughter, Jenna, who has brought me here to get a new look. “What’s wrong with my look?” I want to ask, but I know better because she’ll tell me. I’m […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! We cry out from the get-go. It is our very first act of being. We go from fluid warm darkness into a bright, sharp world filled with sounds and smells and warm hands on bodies we do […]

I’m often asked what it’s like to be a writer — how I spend my days, how I experience the world. And so I will be sharing occasional essays from the front lines of my writing life. Enjoy! Guilt. To be a mother is to suffer from it. But how much suffering is enough? Take this quiz and find out. Simply the circle the responses that best apply to you. Question #1 — While shopping at […]