I gain solace from nature. Every day begins with meditation on the porch. Birds flutter about, deer graze in the lower pasture, alpacas wander in the upper pastures, Cairn Terrier, Kayley, sits at my side. The changing of the leaves, the wind through the fields, a great Blue Heron just landed. I am whole again. […]

We’ve all been there. You have the best intentions of writing something brilliant, however, your brain refuses to cooperate. You’ve got nothing but helium between your ears. You type. You delete. You write. You scratch it out. Airhead. So how do you stop the madness? Ditch the expectation that you have to create something brilliant. […]

“I’ve always wanted to write,” said my talented friend as she analyzed her grilled cheese and tomato sandwich in our favorite cafe. “But I don’t come up with ideas like you do.” And she took a bite and nodded happily at it. I looked at her in disbelief. She’s a natural storyteller and can make […]

Strange and lovely writing prompts show up in the weirdest places. A few years ago I discovered a massive 75-year-old Oxford Dictionary in a thrift store. 7-inches thick, 13 lbs, and for the lovely price of $4.00. I kid you not. I lolloped right out of the store! (Well, as fast as you can lollop […]

I wrote my Amazon bestseller, A Fine Mess, a few months after I’d finished breast cancer treatment. I had bad chemo hair, a new perspective on life, and a burning desire to help people going through their own fine messes. ie/ Divorce, job loss, illness, death, getting left at the altar wearing a dress worth […]

I’m a storm lover. The wilder the storm; the happier I am. Now, I do live in Canada so it isn’t like I have tornadoes barreling down the street. But relentless blizzards dumping millions of pounds of snow? Yep – we get that. Wicked summer thunderstorms with lightning stretching its long arms across the sky? […]

So when was the last time you used the word collywobbles? You probably haven’t used it but I guarantee you’ve felt it. Collywobbles: butterflies in the stomach; bellyache I dare you. Write 2-3 sentences that embrace the collywobbles. *Did you love this? Then check out Scribbly – my quirky writing program that we snail-mail right […]

So you think your life is too ordinary to write about? Forget it. I love writing about all aspects of life and your own life is full of topics for unusual, fun and touching essays. I’ve written about everything from love to liver! I kid you not. Look around you. You’re surrounded by the beautiful […]