Friends have had enviable summer vacations to Italy, Myrtle Beach, Ireland, L.A., and Hilton Head. On the eve of my husband’s retirement, we took an overnight trip to Saltville, Virginia. Don’t rush to the map—I’ll tell you how to get to this fabulous place. Drive down I-81, following the mountainous spine of Virginia until you
Though summer is fast coming to an end, I’m cramming in as many thrillers and other “beach” reads as I can. At the beginning of this month, Bookology published a short essay of mine about children’s summer reading. I’m one of the magazine’s many contributors, happy to be among writers like Avi, Virginia Euwer Wolff,
We heard their piping, excited voices as soon as we walked through the door. My friend Donna and I had planned a Friday morning pause between exercise and errands. After meeting at a downtown coffee shop to talk shop, we’d sandwich in a gallery-hop at Liberty Town Arts Center. And now there were kids. We
It was a place I often thought about. I located a lot of my imaginings in it. ~~ Wendell Berry As I cruised through my neighborhood last Thursday afternoon, I felt like an extra in a Charlton Heston sci-fi movie, “Soylent Green,” perhaps, or maybe “The Omega Man.” When I left for Hollins University back
The trees welcomed him. The bushes made way for him. George Macdonald, The Golden Key Years ago my career and I had a big falling out. I pouted for a while, then decided to leave children’s books and turn to writing adult mysteries. It was not an unfounded decision— seven of my books were canceled
Yes, you read that right. I’m taking a typewriter to Hollins University. Not a display piece to hold photographs, but a working Smith-Corona Super Sterling in its original case. Its walking papers state it was purchased new in December, 1967. Now it’s mine. Two things spurred me to buy another typewriter. One, a vague unease
Is there anything worse than being flattened by sickness in summer? An eighteen-wheeler virus Jake-braked through our house and left both me and my husband in the ditch. During conscious moments, feet snugged under a hubcap of a cat, I read the latest issue of Orion. The magazine subtitled Nature, Culture, Place invites the finest
Sometimes we’re not ready to leave home, go on a business trip, or even go to the grocery store. We’re that involved with spring chores or our work. But sometimes we feel misaligned, out of plumb, ripping out rows of work to get back on track. Those times we’re eager to get away, breathe different
Sunday arrives and I remind myself, lugging a basket of laundry as dust mice scuttle ahead of me, Must post to blog. On Sundays I often grocery shop, do laundry, vacuum, go out for lunch with my husband, and try to sort out the coming week. Thinking of a pithy blog post is often at
Life is a child at play, moving pieces in a game; the kingdom belongs to the child. Heraclitus Saturday. A beautiful day to drive to a library event. My GPS guided me to a highway I hadn’t been on in over 25 years, Rt. 28 between Manassas and Centreville. Good thing I had GPS because
When I was 18, the man I was falling for took me to New York. We went one whirlwind day, driving five hours up and back in his new 1970 midnight blue Mercury Marquis convertible. Because I was going to be a writer, I was certain I belonged in New York. (I was also certain
I became a writer because of one book. I was home sick from school one day in fourth grade. Mama let me build a reading cave in the living room, a bedspread draped over the card table, furnished with a quilt and my bed pillow. Bored, I investigated the bookcase behind the red glider rocker.