I first met Sue Koehler when I was living in Seattle in the mid-1980s. We’d both been in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp—sort of a Catholic City Year—and had jobs working in homeless shelters. Both in need of a roommate, we shared an apartment for 2 years.I soon learned that Sue’s m … [Read more...]
Writing from the Heart of My Discomfort Zone
I’m a huge baby about anything scary. I have no idea why people go to horror movies or read violent stories. Honestly, it’s like someone telling me they enjoy eating dirt and offering me a spoonful. Seriously? Whatever for?Clearly there is a part of the human psyche that enj … [Read more...]
A Book in The Drawer … Right Where It Should Be
I have a book in the drawer. Okay, it’s not in an actual drawer. It’s in a box with old tax documentation under my fax/scanner. I also have electronic copies stashed in several places. Not that it matters. It will never see the light of day.The Book in the Drawer is a phrase I … [Read more...]
Miss Prepared Takes Off Without a Flight Plan
I did something a little crazy recently.Okay, not very crazy for most people, but pretty crazy for me. As a minivan-driving mother of four who doesn’t go anywhere without a first aid kit, an umbrella, snacks, jumper cables, water bottles, ibuprofen, Benadryl and some kind of r … [Read more...]
When Bad Meditation Inspires Better Writing
I’ve tried meditation off and on since my twenties, and I love the concept: quieting the mental noise, clearing away the chatter for a period of time, inviting stillness. With four kids and their friends coming and going from our house like it’s a train station on the Green Line, … [Read more...]
Letting Her Go: A Daughter Leaves the Nest
In the week after my first child, a daughter, was born, my hormones took me on one heck of a thrill ride. Up, down, exuberant, weeping, weirdly angry with my husband for not understanding. And who could blame him? I didn’t understand it myself. Yet every feeling was so deeply r … [Read more...]
Temporarily Kid-less, I Somehow Forget to Write
I’d fantasized about it for months: the week when all three of my boys, ages 16, 12 and 10, would be at overnight camp. My 18-year-old daughter would be home, but this barely counts, since she’s gainfully employed, self-sufficient, and has a busy social life. I love my kids, but l … [Read more...]
He Wrote, She Said: The Interpretive Dance of Audio Book Narrating
How do your words sound when someone else speaks them? Okay, how about words that you agonized over?Personally, I can blow an entire morning thinking and rethinking an absurdly small detail of text. Should the character say, “Thank God” or “Thank goodness!” And how will that e … [Read more...]
Audio Appreciation: An Interview with Narrator Michael Boatman
Of all the roles you’ve seen Michael Boatman play, Italian female anarchist and Irish cop from Boston aren’t among them. And unless you’ve been living a television-free life for the past twenty some-odd years, you’ve definitely seen Michael Boatman. With feature roles in series li … [Read more...]