I’m sure you’ve heard that old adage: “Write about what you know about.” And that’s exactly what I did when I set my Whiskey Sisters series in the fictional town of Mayhem, Minnesota. Now, I’m a New Yorker by birth but I spent nearly eight years living in St. Paul. To say that it was a culture shock is huge understatement. But I was embraced by the locals and, in turn, came to embrace some of their customs such as hotdish, the polka mass, ice sculptures and the Minnesota State Fair. That last one was, by far, the most fun to explore—especially as a girl from Long Island who was used to small f ..read more

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak about how I speak about music. Or, more precisely, how I write about it. I assembled this awesome Power Point presentation with video clips and audio and all kinds of cool graphics—only to have my tech setup fail miserably, leaving me with no choice but to wing-it. Lessons learned: Come with your own gear because you can’t assume the “house” equipment will behave itself AND be prepared to tap-dance if all else fails. While it was far from the spectacular multi-media extravaganza I’d anticipated, I didn’t embarrass myself—and that’s something. Still, I w ..read more

William F. Buckley, Jr. spoke at my undergrad commencement ceremony. At the time, I didn’t really know who he was or why he was important and it didn’t help that I couldn’t understand a word he was saying through the crappy PA system. Fast forward more than twenty-five-years later, and there he is in black and white in my den, courtesy of a 2015 documentary called “The Best of Enemies.” It chronicles the 1968 debates between Mr. Buckley and another “great thinker” of our time, Gore Vidal. The tagline of the film reads like this: 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television would never be the same. And it w ..read more

I’ve made some really amazing new friends lately. I don’t know why that should surprise me, but it does. Maybe it has something to do with being an adult. I mean, as children, we’re surrounded by a constantly shifting landscape of other kids. Classrooms, sports teams, camp, neighborhoods—there’s always someone new to play with. Maybe that’s a factor, too…all that playtime! The entire day would come to a screeching halt so that we could go outside and swing or play kickball or tag. Sure, recess was also a hunting ground for bullies, but that’s another post. Anyway, playtime isn’t a luxury we ha ..read more

I’m what they call a “hybrid” author, meaning I publish traditionally as well as independently. As a result, I’m often asked which I prefer, which I recommend, and which is more lucrative. But there are no black and white answers to any of these questions because each of them has had its perks and drawbacks. For instance, as an indie, I pay for my book covers…but I have sole control over which cover ends up on my book. As a traditionally published author, I have a little input but, in the end, my publisher has the final say—even if I strongly object to the design. Which, on occasion, I ha ..read more

Recently, I had the pleasure of doing a presentation on how I write about music—and how music is so hard to actually put into words. I mean, think about it…without using the title or saying any lyrics or humming any tunes, try and describe a song or a piece of music. Now, if you happen to be a musician or musicologist, you *might* be able to use enough musicological terminology to get another person with similar education to figure out which song you’re talking about…but it’s not very likely. For instance, check out this description of a VERY famous piece of classical music—one that I’m sure y ..read more

There are many things that kinda suck about hitting middle age… like, I don’t have as much energy as I used to… my vision gets continually worse…and I routinely “lose” words—sometimes entire trains of thought—from one second to the next. Yeah, it can be frustrating. But, then again, there are the benefits of hitting middle age. I feel as if I get smarter and smarter with each year that passes…mainly because I learn better. I’m more curious and better equipped to absorb and process knowledge. And then there’s my favorite perk of being in my forties…self-confidence. I think it has to do with exp ..read more

They’re on TV and in the papers—giving statements to magazines and joining the twitter storm. Scratch that—they’re MAKING the twitter storm. It seems as if every day someone else is standing up and taking back their power and their dignity. Their lives. Which is absolutely as it should be. But, it seems to me, there are others who have been victimized by this very process of justice and catharsis. I first made note of it when I heard a story on NPR about exceptional films that didn’t stand a chance of receiving an Academy Award nomination—let alone an Oscar—because Harvey Weinstein had been in ..read more

  Five years is a magical number to a cancer survivor. So much so, that it’s actually a thing—“The five-year survival rate.” As per the American Cancer Society: Survival rates tell you what portion of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding about how likely it is that your treatment will be successful. Right. They can’t tell you how long you will live. But they can tell you how likely it is that you’ll sti ..read more

Joining my “Personal Insights,” “Words & Music” and “Behind the Book” blog segments this month is the catch-all category of “Wildcard.” That is to say, whatever I can scare-up to post on the fourth Tuesday of the month. This time around, a little something for the three people reading who aren’t related to me…some info about me. Did you know…? I lived in Monterrey, Mexico for two years as a teenager. At the time my father died, my grandfather was working for a Mexican company in collaboration with K-Mart. My mom saw it as a chance for me to get away from the grief and have a change of scen ..read more