Re-remembering Mothers
I never met a book by Ruth Reichl I haven’t loved, and my adoration continued with this book. Where others were hearty meals, Not Becoming My Mother was a deceptively simple snack.
May 11, 2013
Are Writers Pushing Too Hard?
When I was a reader, I spoke as a reader, I understood as a reader. When I became a writer, I read as a writer, I understood as a writer.
April 15, 2013
Why Book Review Equality Matters
The first time I looked for a job, Help Wanted was divided into three sections: Men, Women, and General. If memory serves me (I doubt it) men’s jobs were the
March 23, 2013
If It Seems Too Good To Be True: THE WIZARD OF LIES
  Motivations behind some choices seem so impenetrable that even squinting close enough to crash into the subject you won’t find a mental foothold. That’s how I felt about Bernie
February 21, 2013
Back in Baby’s Arms?
I had a visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future this year—but unlike Scrooge’s rattling guys, my spirits crept in on the first night of Hanukkah. They
December 10, 2012
Stupid Book Clubs, Depressing Libraries & Horrible Bookstores
Recently I listened to Joe Queenan—author of a book about his love of books and reading—on NPR (the soundtrack of my life) eager for the pleasure of hearing someone who reads
November 26, 2012
Reading Without Borders
About when I turned ten I began crafting my library checkouts, hoping I’d look smart. I’d balance my Nancy Drew with a biography of Abraham Lincoln, so the librarian thought
November 8, 2012
More Than Sticks and Stones: Words Hurt
Here’s a big fat lie: Stick and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Words slice to the bone. When we explode, we’re not out of
October 12, 2012
First Lines; Last Lines: A Fine Balance in Books
The perfect first line. How we chase it, scrambling phrases and our brains, seeking magic words to pop open our stories like magic keys.( Sometimes I want to create
September 17, 2012
The Bobbsey Twins, Anomie, Schadenfreude, and Growing up in Brooklyn
I suppose they were meant to teach me reading skills. And the goodness of clean living. But what The Bobbsey Twins taught me was needle sharp envy. Freddie and Flossie
September 9, 2012
Talismanic Objects
My dear friend and neighbor, Linda, sent me this rubber duck, which she made into a duck reading my book. Reading Duck oversees the bathroom and cannot be moved. If
September 2, 2012
Writing the Motherhood Uglies
“At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you’ve left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your
August 22, 2012
Pushed out of the Age Closet
In the weeks before my debut novel released, I resembled a child anticipating her jump from single digit birthdays to the doubles: 10! I could barely sleep—my husband groaned as
August 13, 2012
Beauty By The Book (or how I learned to put on some damn blush)
Everyone has something that keeps them going when nothing else will do. For some it’s cupcakes. Others choose wine. My husband has football. I have beauty magazines. I’m not exactly
August 6, 2012
Avoiding The Yada, Yada, Yada (in books)
I’m wiggling back into my new novel, and like many complicated tasks—knitting a sweater for an elephant, cooking a gluten-free banquet for four hundred vegans—I need to regain my rhythm
July 29, 2012
No Villains, No Heroes
“In the airport, coming home from vacation, he stops at a kiosk and buys grapefruits, which he arranges to have sent to his daughters. They will stumble over the crates
July 24, 2012
Romantic or Realistic: The Bad Boy Quiz
Awhile ago I wrote my warning about falling for the ‘bad boy.’ Now it’s time to figure out if you have one lying next to you. And what kind. You
July 4, 2012
Real Life: What I Keep & What I Leave Behind When I Write.
“But it really happened.” I was in an adult-ed writer’s group when I first heard this. I’d watched the woman speaking become tenser and grimmer as members of the group—gently
June 6, 2012
Book Trailers: Do They Work?
Do book trailers sell books? Is that the question, or should you ask which book trailer could help sell my book? Trailers aren’t monolithic products that work or don’t. Like books,
April 27, 2012
Writing (and Reading) About Sex
I tried to think of a, um, sexier title for this post, but they all sounded, um, icky, and the last thing I want when I’m writing about sex is
April 13, 2012
Why I Write
When I was a kid, nothing was better than listening to my Aunt Thelma’s stories. She’d take humiliating awful situations and transform them into eye-popping, comic-tragic tales. Her pain was
April 9, 2012
Contraception & The VIDA COUNT: The Nightmare Connection
I woke up (just moments ago) with the proverbial pounding three am heart. I had a nightmare about trying to convince unresponsive authorities about young girls being attacked. The specifics
March 6, 2012
Sad Songs? Yo-yo love? Love to love ya, baby? What kind of Valentine do you have?
These are the many types of relationships I’ve had: Sad. Obsessive. Pathetic. Boring. Are you kidding me? “Do you think he has a drinking problem?” Liar, liar, pant’s on fire.
February 14, 2012
How Things Can Change: Looking Forward to Valentine’s Day
It’s sure nice to have love where it’s not the sad songs that provide the theme. Thank you, Jeff.
February 9, 2012