As with many Americans, because my family came here as immigrants—as did everyone else in the world to their respective countries however long ago that was—I have an interest in my roots. Over time, roots get buried so deep that digging one up disrupts everything you thought you knew about yourself and who you thought […]
Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dogs’ Tails
We know the counterpart to the title of this blog, starting with sugar but enough is said about the Spice and Nice. About twenty years ago, I learned the counterpoint regarding boys from a book titled, Bringing Up Boys. I have three. Variously known as “the mother of those three” and “so you’re the one […]
Preview: Nights Before: The Novel
On the Night Before Labor Day, a preview of my latest novel: Opening chapter of first story. New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection and change. Jocelyn has more changes coming at her from all directions beginning on a Portland, Maine winter day than she’s faced since her mother’s death. None of it bodes well for […]
After the Contest Is Over
Tonight, one of the most prestigious contests for writers of romantic fiction, The RITA, has just come to its conclusion; the winners have been announced and the prizes have been awarded. With the coming year end too fast approaching (as always), for some of us the time is right to begin planning for 2016 and our […]
Civility in the Age of Rage
When I first started writing This Can’t Be Love, my focus was exclusively on the relationship between Mike Argent and Jakki Hunter. Once the antagonist, Gavin Andrews, hit the stage, one of the ideas driving my characterization of the ‘bad guy’ was his arrogance and his presumption that he could do whatever he liked, with impunity, because […]
What’s Law Got to Do with It?
We have a love/hate relationship with the law. We must have rules to build a society. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding gives us the story of lost boys forming their own laws in an imperfect society to control their fear and desperation, a social order based on the example set by their experience of […]
Review: The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton My rating: 5 of 5 stars The House of Mirth is an exquisite, classic tragedy. Wharton’s creation, Lily Bart, is among the truly honest, tragic heroines – driven by her best instincts and her highest ideals to make choices that lead to sink further into the mire of […]
Don’t Blame the Pilgrims – Repost
Since writing this article, I have had the opportunity to read more about the War Between the States. I now caution anyone setting a work of fiction during this period to research both sides of this tragic conflict. This post was written a few days before it was scheduled to appear. The fourth blessing mentioned below made […]
How ‘This Can’t Be Love’ Happened
What can I say about my own most recent novel? I loved writing it and the hero, Mike Argent, is now my favorite grumpy construction worker. I first entertained the idea of writing a novel set during the Fringe when I was part of a small group of Welsh theater folk performing a Jeeves and […]
New Release: January 29, 2015
I am proud to announce the publication of my fourth novel, This Can’t Be Love, set in Edinburgh during the summer Fringe Festival. What happens in Edinburgh, stays in Edinburgh — if Mike Argent has anything to say about it. Not every woman drops into Mike Argent’s life the way Jakki Hunter has, at his […]