What if People Don’t Like My Book? (And What if They Attack Me?!) Maybe you’re afraid of what your friends or neighbors will think of your book. Or maybe you’re worried about your family’s reaction. And what about those mean girls from your past, the ones you’re “friends” with on FB but don’t actually see in real life? Ack! I get it. Putting a book out can be a vulnerable experience, regardless of your book’s topic. Memoirs tend to expose the writer in ways both large and small, but so do all sorts of other books, including non-fiction and fiction. Even a seemingly “staid” book on a professional topic can send the best of us into a panic. Because we’re stepping out of our comfort zone. We’re being seen. And that can stop us in our tracks. When a situation doesn’t feel safe, […]

A great big welcome to all of the new folks in our wonderful little community! Thank you for being here. I treasure each and every one of you—truly. In the past few years, I’ve spoken with SO many people who’ve told me that they’ve always wanted to write a book, but haven’t quite been able to do it. Maybe they weren’t sure where to start, or they didn’t have time, or they were afraid of how their book would be received. Good lord, do I get it! It took me nearly 20 years to get my first book into the world, and during that time I stopped and started multiple projects, worried about what would happen once my book finally made it into the world and, like most of us, struggled to find the time to write. But once I finally published my […]

The other day, my son complained about feeling left out as the youngest kiddo in the group. I found myself commiserating, telling him that I’d always been the youngest, too, and had also felt left out. As soon as I had that thought, a part of me stepped back and asked if that was really true. Have I really always been the youngest? Have I always felt left out? True, I am the youngest in my family, and growing up, I was the youngest kid on the block. But was that the whole of the story? It wasn’t until I sat down to write about it that I saw just how much I’d allowed this old, unexamined story to inform my life choices. After all, Ken’s a few years older than me, as are most of my closest friends. But I also have friends who […]

As Mother’s Day approaches, I feel an old, familiar dread. My mother died two years ago and no, I’m not over it yet. Worse still, I may never be.   After the second anniversary of her death, I assumed I’d finally be all right. At least I’d be over the worst of the grief.   But the grief continued to rise and fall in unpredictable patterns. At first, I blamed it on external events: another holiday season, the 22nd anniversary of my father’s death, my 45thbirthday. Or perhaps it was perimenopause, I told myself. As if the peaks and valleys of my grief were simply a side effect of my hormones.   Then I found myself thinking about acceptance and surrender after reading about a man struggling with the news that he might lose his leg. Instead of acknowledging the severity of his situation, […]