(This blog originally appeared at Roses of Prose, September 2014.) Recently my writing life has taken a definite fall to the wayside. My son has been house/dog-sitting for the past few weeks at a friend’s home at the Chesapeake Bay. I should clarify. Her home is ON THE BEACH. For a transplanted Jersey (Shore) girl,…
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OH in the newsroom: “What’s a foreclosure sale?”
(This blog was originally posted on Tea & Stumpets group blog site.) I work at a news organization that considers shining the light on the actions of local governmental one of its prime responsibilities. So every day in the paper we publish different “Your Right to Know” briefs–things like what budget dollars are allocated for…
9/11: I’m sorry, I still can’t forget
In my fiction, I write a lot about bad guys. It’s fun for me to channel for a few dark moments what it might be like to have hatred in my soul. But then something reminds me that the real world holds real horrors for real people. And that’s not fun. Today is Sept. 11….
OH in the newsroom: Leah’s a food snob
Originally posted on the site of my blogging buddies, Tea N Strumpets, August 25, 2014: It hurt a little to hear one of my colleagues say that about me. Because I am NOT a food snob. I’m not! I’ll eat packaged, repurposed, fresh, stale, food that’s been left out overnight – you name it. Except…
Train ride from … ?
This blog originally appeared at The Roses of Prose where we’ve been exploring movie themes. To check out what my friends are writing, go here. This is a true story. I will use it in fiction some day. Until then, I couldn’t think of a better story to share for this month’s topic. It happened…
Memories of Beach Days
When my sons were of school age, June meant the ending of the school year. In their later grades, I worked full-time, so summertime meant finding activities for them throughout the summer (translation: keep them busy so they wouldn’t maim each other). But in their earlier years, I worked part-time from home (transcribing court depositions…talk…
Just call me “Death to Plants”
Once someone asked me what my Native American name would be. I never could decide, until it struck me recently: Death to Plants. When my boys were young and we lived in New Jersey in a house with a big 100×100 yard, I planted a vegetable garden. I knew next to nothing about growing vegetables,…
Happy May
Happy May! May is my favorite month of the year. It’s usually a perfect temperature in the mid-Atlantic area where I live — not too hot, not too cold. May also means it’s time to plant, and although I don’t have the gift making things grow, I love the colors that blossom on trees, shrubs…
In the company of writers
What a great month this has been so far. The first part of March kicked off with a day at Christopher Newport University’s Writers’ Conference. I was there mostly on official business (namely, researching for my day job which includes writing a weekly column about the writing community), but I had purchased table space to…
You owe me a hug, son
My older son turned 30 today. I looked in the mirror this morning and saw skin crisscrossed with lines that weren’t there yesterday, sections of my face and neck dragging and drooping that, I swear, just yesterday were smooth and, if not firm, at least firmER. I feel ancient, as if his turning this magical…