CRAFT: Happy Birthday Book (And Me) - hippocampus magazine

A year ago, I was turning 65 and sending my debut memoir out into the world at the same time. I had a party, and a book event to plan. I bought a new outfit. Sixty-five looked pretty good when I had accomplished my life-long dream of writing and publishing a book.

Role Models - The Bucket

When I turned 65 last spring, I was pumped. My Medicare was secure, I was healthy, and… my debut memoir was being released the day after my birthday. What more could I have asked for? I felt young, revitalized and looking forward to what would come next.

This is how you say goodbye to your much loved dog — motherwell mag

Pull your collapsed old dog, as gently as possible, from the warm back porch where he crumbled into a pile of black fur. Put him in the TV room, where four years earlier, your second dog gave birth to ten puppies. Slide a dog bed he never used under him so he’s comfortable. Call the new vet you’ve started to know and like. She took over the practice from your old vet where the ten puppies had been vaccinated and microchipped before they moved to forever homes. That vet saw you through a cat, marriage, two kids and then one dog, two dogs and puppies. He won’t meet your fourth or fifth dogs who arrive when you’re an empty-nester. 

When a house is no longer home to the grown children — motherwell mag

The vacation is over, and the adult children have returned to what is now their real lives—the oldest and her new husband back to California and the youngest back to her apartment on the other side of town. My house will be clean again—no more make-up in my bathroom, shoes lying in the living room, gloves on the dining room table, or parkas tipping the coat tree over. But my stomach lurches when I realize there are no more opportunities to play cards or Bananagrams and I wonder when will there be a next time. Did we talk enough about movies and books, and how cold it was? Did I find out what they want to do with the next phase of their lives?

SPRAY’S LESSON — THE DOG’S LIFE

On a cold January morning, I watched Spray, our 2-year-old Portuguese Water Dog, lie on the gray carpet in our TV room, and birth ten puppies for more than eight hours. I admired her no fuss, no muss business. She didn’t scream or moan. She didn’t seem to be in distress or discomfort.

How ‘The Family Stone’ Found Its Way Back Into Our Christmas Lineup — GROWN AND FLOWN

Weeks before Christmas, my family starts bingeing Hallmark movies and any other holiday movie we can find. Last year, we added Your Christmas or Mine and a Boy Called Christmas to our must-watch list that already includes It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf and Arthur Christmas.

book promotion 101 — writing it real

My first “real” job out of college was with an ad agency for several years, but that did not make me a marketer. I am a writer and a teacher, but in today’s world of publishing, more often than not, marketing your book, whether fiction or memoir, will come down to what you can do. Publishers of all sizes have small budgets, if any, for marketing and publicity.

I spent New Year’s Eve sitting on a rolling stool in a curtained-off cubicle in the Emergency Room with my 27-year-old daughter. She lay in the bed hooked up to monitors and drips. I’d like to say this was an unusual event, but that would be a lie. 

how FLASHDANCE sarted my writing career— Brevity

When I heard the news that Irene Cara of Flashdance died recently, the butterflies in my stomach twirled around and sank. Not only did her death bring up the issue of my mortality as she was only a year younger than me, it also brought me back to an empty movie theater on Tremont Street in Boston, where I watched Flashdance for the first time.

The Other Side of the River — Brevity

I’m at an impasse. I’ve carved out time to write in a beautiful setting with a pond and ocean before me. Just me and my two dogs. I walk them almost every morning on the beach before towels and coolers cover the sand and people run in and out of the sea.

Co-Writing Works — Brevity

When I went to the florist to get some holiday cheer for my house—white hydrangeas and some greenery—I was on the clock. I had a standing appointment at 12:30 I couldn’t miss. Several times a week, I log on to Zoom in Boston and write with friends I’ve made: from Dubai and Amsterdam, British Columbia and Seattle.

A Bookstore Tour Across the United States

I thought being stuck in a small car with my husband might get irritating, but we actually made a good team

I was more than hesitant when my husband, Matt, suggested we drive across the continental United States after a year in Hawaii. I thought being stuck in a small car with him would become irritating, and I was angry about leaving Oahu after I had worked so hard to make a life for myself there.

Cringing, Crying, and Celebrating — Brevity

I recently reread my memoir-in-progress, about my oldest daughter leaving for college and my subsequent collapse in despair. My daughter is now 11 years out of college and has been married for four. I am older too, and have recovered from that depression. But as I read it, I squirmed in my chair with anxiety.

The Benefits of Being a Student — Brevity

Standing at the baseline, ready to serve my first tennis game since forever, I panicked. I’d had a strong serve through my 40s, but somewhere in my 50s, I’d lost it. No more aces. No more getting it over the net or even into the serving box. My friends on the opposite side of the net shared advice.

Ripping the Seams: On Writing and Quilting — Brevity

I  looked over the quilt on my sewing table and sighed. Just as I thought. The rows of squares and rectangles didn’t line up. Time for the seam ripper. With the quilt in my lap, I tore out the stitches I had carefully made a few minutes earlier.

I’ve loved putting down roots in one welcoming Cambridge neighborhood — The Boston Globe

When my daughter Maggie got engaged, I ran into the shops and restaurants on the two-block section of Huron Avenue in my Cambridge neighborhood to share the news with the merchants who had watched her grow up.

They Hated My Orange Dress — Brevity

“Oh my god,” I said. “Look at this.” I handed my laptop to my daughter, Ellie. We were in our TV room. After many unsuccessful submissions, the Boston Globe Magazine had just published my essay and I was ecstatic. For their Connections vertical, I’d written about how stores and restaurants in my neighborhood were closing and what that meant to my family. Not only were we regular customers, my daughters had worked in these establishments. We had become friends with the store owners. I thought this was a piece about change and loss, something I’ve encountered a lot in my life.