I write at a desk next to windows that overlook the Mystic River. I can see the changing colors of water and sky, as well as the rock ledge that caps our backyard. It’s a nice setup. The only issue is that my desk also abuts our kitchen, the heart of the house, a...

Euphemisms — soft terms used to replace something that is unpleasant or offensive — pepper our conversations about everything from using the bathroom (“powder my nose”) to illness (the “Big C”) and death (“passed away”). Such disguises and deceptive language can be...

Last September, I flew to Omaha on a research trip for my next book, a novel, Valentine, Nebraska, the story of homesteaders based on my grandmother’s life. At Alamo car rental they said I could choose any Dodge Challenger I wanted. I picked the white one with Texas...

I am the queen of datebooks, calendars, and organizers. You need a list? Call me. I even carry a small reporter’s notebook in my purse. When inspiration strikes, I scribble it down. I have multiple day planners and various systems to boost my productivity, make me a...

When Women’s History Month rolled around this March, stories of women’s achievements were everywhere; I even read one profile on a small, digital screen at a gas pump. Instead of feeling cynical that this celebration was a form of tokenism, or being frustrated by the...

It’s easy at 62 to look backward. Most of my life is behind me. And wistfulness seems to increase with age. As a younger person, I used to be amused by my older relatives who talked about a loaf of bread costing a nickel and the good, clean fun of a high school sock...

I have been thinking a lot about perspiration, inspiration and the maddening ebb and flow of passion in my writing life. The first line of this post came into my head this morning at 5:30 AM after six weeks capturing vague thoughts on yellow sticky notes. At her book...

Writing a good lede is like meeting an angry drunk in a dark parking lot. You have to hit him over the head right away to get his attention. At least, that’s what an editor told me early in my career. While the comparison is a bit violent for my taste, it is...

Not long ago in a writing workshop, a colleague offered to read a personal essay I had written about a difficult life experience. My kind friend reported back that he felt as if I were dragging him, sad and depressed, to the abysmal end of the story. “I don’t want to...

“How do you choose a book?” Washington Post book critic Michael Dirda asked and answered recently, which naturally led me and other Mystic Writers, all avid readers, to have our say. Dirda’s advice to consult book lists by famous writers works only occasionally for...