Inspiration
2015 TBBCA Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships
Tampa Bay pals, do you know a talented young writer? I’m thrilled to be judging the Literary Arts entries for the 2015 TBBCA Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships. Charlie was a dear friend and I love being able to honor him by helping a young writer follow his or her dreams.
Read MoreThe Long Kiss Goodnight
The bedroom is quiet, the ceiling a field of green and blue stars projected from a turtle nightlight. Chopin’s Nocturne’s are playing from the iPod speakers. My daughter is lying on her bed, staring at me. And I am lying on the floor reading. It is the end of our bedtime ritual, known in our…
Read MoreBrookwood Florida – Through poetry, young women find their voice
Some Tampa Bay Times love for the poets at Brookwood Florida and their moving anthology! Read the article
Read MorePoetry is Power
Last year, I wrote a guest blog about Brookwood, a St. Petersburg, Florida group home for abused adolescent girls. I visited with the poetry group (started by a wonderful, giving woman by the name of Jeanne Chase) and had a truly remarkable night talking with these young writers. That visit led to Jeanne Chase…
Read MoreDrawn To The Dark
I was drawn to dark and frightening books — much to my parents’ dismay. I loved to be scared. And my parents never sought to censor what I read; if I could reach a book on their shelf, and decipher the words within, it was mine. So I read (avidly, voraciously) books wildly inappropriate…
Read MoreThe Power of Story
The power of story. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit with some terrific young writers who live at Brookwood Florida, a group home for girls, in St. Petersburg. It was an amazing evening, and an honor to spend time with this funny, smart and talented group of girls. Today, I have shared my…
Read MoreRead Women
Before writers are anything, we are readers. Those early books we held in our hands, the ones our parents read to us, they formed us. And I often think about that as my husband and I, both readers, read each night to our daughter. Books are such a gift, doorways into other worlds, other minds. …
Read MoreIn Memory of David Thompson
There is a misconception that the writing life is a lonely one. While it’s true that we write in solitude, the business of publishing is foremost a business of relationships. Over the years, our colleagues become our friends. Maybe this is true of all businesses, but none so much as publishing. Most of us come…
Read MoreBook Groups and Pajamas
I love book groups. What could be better than a gathering of smart, funny, engaged woman (well, it usually is all woman, and maybe a husband or two) talking about books? Generally, wine and snacks are involved. And I’m usually in my pajamas. It’s true — a couple of times a month, sometimes every week, I join in book group…
Read MoreBarbara Parker
On the desk in my office is a photograph of Ocean and me, when O was just eleven months old. It is truly one of my favorite photographs. The woman who snapped it, acclaimed and bestselling author Barbara Parker, did so in a very casual moment at the Miami Book Fair in 2006. We were…
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