More Things to Be Thankful for In 2013 -Saint Louis and Simple Pleasures

Fall is full of simple pleasures here in Saint Louis, even when the Cards aren’t World Series champions. After all, Cardinals fans still got almost a full month of playoff baseball and, judging from history and statistics, can likely look forward to enjoying October games well before Cubs fans again experience the glory of post-season […]

My Latest in WOW! Women On Writing – Writing for Trade Publications

For those looking to balance their day jobs with writing time, trade publications can offer an opportunity to learn more about their industry and make new connections while writing, often for extra cash on the side. Some industries, such as nursing and publishing, offer hundreds of online and print outlets seeking submissions. Others have a […]

WOW! Women On Writing Blog Tour Guest: An Inteview with Sharon Simons, Author of Mom at Last

I’m excited to be participating in my first WOW! Women On Writing Blog Tour by interviewing first-time author Sharon Simons, whose memoir, Mom at Last, hits shelves August 1. Here, I ask her a few questions about her long journey to motherhood and the even-more-challenging task of penning her first book. In addition to making […]

Book Review – Mom at Last

Here’s a copy of a book review I posted on Amazon and Goodreads. I’m also interviewing Sharon Simons, author of Mom at Last, later this month and posting that interview here as part of her WOW! Women On Writing Blog Tour. I’ll be setting up the interview soon and would love some comments and ideas […]

The Greatest All-Star Game of All Time

Spring training may have just started but, here in Cardinals Nation, baseball has no beginning or end. For Redbirds fans, it is a sport with an infinite season, or at least one hopes so when it comes to Stan Musial, who died January 19. Musial — depending on your pronunciation particularities and preferences — it […]

More Things to Be Thankful for in 2013

In a continuation of my post on extending my thirty days of thankfulness into the new year, here are a few more reasons to give thanks. I am thankful for my friends. Since I moved away from my family to attend graduate school in 1997, an ever-changing cast of characters has become my second family. […]

Billy Bob Thornton and Barry Markowitz on Picturing the South

Highbrow Magazine published the first in what might be a few stories from my interview with Billy Bob Thornton. Appropriately enough, I am in a hotel in Arkansas right now. And I will keep my cursing to a minimum because there are definitely some church ladies around: Hollywood Cinematographer Barry Markowitz Discusses Capturing the Soul […]

More Than Thirty Days of Thankfulness

I didn’t participate in 30 days of thankfulness during the month of November, but began composing a list in my head as I read friends’ Facebook posts and blog entries about the many good things in their lives. While I was thinking of the things and people who should be on my own list, I […]

Promoting Books on Pinterest

Here’s a link to my latest article in WOW! Women On Writing about how authors and others in the publishing industry are using Pinterest to promote their work. Now, all I need to do is write my own prose to pin.

The Dreaded Letter of Introduction

As a follower of freelancing guru Kelly James-Enger, I have been trying to heed her advice by writing a query letter almost every day, following up on queries after they’ve been sitting in cyberspace for a month or more, and responding to rejections, which she calls “bongs” not by wallowing in self pity, but by […]