Meet Clara: Songwriter for the Angels

Meet Clara: Songwriter for the Angels

Four years ago. Western North Carolina. “Clara* liked your books and wants to write to you.” My writer friend Jenna* from Colorado tells me this with a smile on her face. We’ve met up again on our last day at a writing conference in North Carolina. I’m touched....
How to Get Stabbed in the Front

How to Get Stabbed in the Front

I’m rocking with my friend, Becca*. By “rocking” I don’t mean ‘girls gone wild’. What we’re doing is a more satisfying (and maybe age-revealing?) undertaking at this early morning hour: sitting in rocking chairs on my front porch. We face east. The dawning sun is a...
Stories They Just Gotta Tell Someone…

Stories They Just Gotta Tell Someone…

…and I’m Always Happy to Listen These are other people’s stories. I’m telling them anyway. Because I’m a storyteller. And, my first book included ghosts. People assume I’m fascinated with the topic. The owners of each of these stories swear they are true. First...
No Do-Overs for the Pivotal Moments

No Do-Overs for the Pivotal Moments

He slumped into the crowded barbecue like he had arrived at his own funeral. Early twenties. Medium height. Wrinkled pants. Scuffed shoes. Glazed eyes. Scowl that stood out stronger than the colorful tattoo peeking out from his sloppily cuffed sleeves. Another guy...
Movers and Shakers Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Movers and Shakers Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Our local small town. A map dot in coastal Georgia. In a county with an average of 6.6739 acres of pine trees per person. (Seriously, a statistician counted.) Early morning. My favorite time of the day. Around me, movers and shakers chug coffee and clamber to action....
That Time on the Mountain

That Time on the Mountain

They say life is made of special moments. I don’t know who “they” are, but I’ve lived enough to know their thinking is correct. One of my favorite moments occurred on Cadillac Mountain near Bar Harbor, Maine. For about twenty years of my professional life, I lectured...