Kids, Chaos, and Puppy Love

No joke.  I truly thought when my children left the nest I’d fly away, too.  If I didn’t make it as far as Italy or Ecuador, I’d migrate south to Seagrove or west to Big Sur.  I’d park my vintage camper (circa 1959) and chase seagulls, collect shells, and make a mermaid my muse.  I’d bake pies like Sylvia Plath and burn rubber if…

Finding an Old Love in New Venue…Italian Lights

Last weekend was full. Saturday at lunch I caught up with Andrew, a former student who graduated almost a decade ago and wants me to read Replay by Ken Grimwood. That night I danced with friends at Jonathan and Pablo’s, the guys who invited Kim and me into the salsa world in March of 2008. Sunday night I ended the weekend with the usual…

Weekend in New Orleans: Lesson One

Reentry into reality is rough after a NOLA weekend. Maybe that’s why my first day back I tried to sustain the sugar high, having a praline before bed last night and another for breakfast this morning. My Café du Monde bag is on the kitchen table, and if I weren’t so tired I’d bust out the beinget mix for tomorrow’s buzz.

Nashville Latin Dancing Examiner: Dance etiquette…salsa and beyond

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Girls’ Night In–Happy Valentine’s Day!

My Hopeful Romantic Valentine’s Eve Party theme was “Celebrating the Many While Waiting for the One.”  I wanted to honor the women in my life with a Girls’ Night In. How and why I started these parties to survive…even thrive on V-Day is here and here. Keep the menu simple: “Let ’em Eat Cupcakes.”  Cupcakes stacked on crystal cake plates makes an elegant centerpiece. …

Valentine’s Day Survival Guide–Pt 2

As I said in Part One yesterday, 2007 I had a new plan and a new attitude for surviving Valentine’s Day. When I was married, it never occurred to me how much I needed women in my life.   I was too buried beneath diapers to change, birthday parties to plan, coupons to clip, papers to grade, and a house to clean.  My husband…

Valentine’s Day Survival Guide–Part 1

My best friend Kim always inadvertently refers to Valentine’s Day as Halloween. Some sort of brain switch she says. Given the terrifying nature of February 14th for many singles, I get it. Just when a girl survives New Year’s Eve, she is stalked by that little hood, Cupid. At least Father Time, a gentleman, plays fair. He confines his Love Fest to one night…

Starbucks in Reality: Final Chapter of “Imposter”

Or maybe you’re the female Charlie Brown…it’s Halloween and you’re left holding a bag of rocks.

The Great Escape to Starbucks: Part 5

Playing Author- at -Starbucks would jumpstart my writing career! Not to mention it would prevent me from “going Edna.”  Unlike the mom in The Awakening, I wouldn’t walk into the sea (or worse, jump off the dam at Percy Priest Lake.) To be less dramatic… if I gave writing my best shot, I’d at least avoid sinking in the proverbial pool of regret. So…

Imposter (Pt 4): I’ll Take One Muse Please

I’d found the key to my success.  For years I had read books there,  graded papers there, even people –watched, hoping to meet Mr. Right there. Many a weekend when my children were with their dad, I had treated myself for an hour or two at Starbucks, sinking into a deep purple velvet chair and sipping on a White Chocolate Mocha.   I’d peruse (ok,…

Imposter (Pt 3): Pleading My Case

Since my first book was a call to a Classics Coup,  exhorting readers to put away their fluff fiction and pick up their Shakespeare, I appealed to Oprah as a fellow lover of great works.  Hailing her as the Most Powerful Woman in the World who loves to make wishes come true, I threw myself on the mercy of her court. I sent her…

Imposter (Part 2): Great Expectations

A couple of times before I had tried living the dream. As it turned out, I was only living in a dream world. I decided Christmas 2003 I would claim my book deal. I was, after all, on a winning streak… one for one. In 1991 upon submitting my first-ever manuscript, a riveting piece called, “Creating Camelots,” I was published in The English Journal….