RYE LANEMOVIE REVIEW Last week, we invited friends over for dinner and a movie. I had dinner under control but couldn’t decide on a movie. I knew I didn’t want a thriller or tear-jerker or anything artsy that would tax my tired brain cells. So, I decided to look for a rom-com. While driving […]
RYE LANE–MOVIE REVIEW Read More »
WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIMEBOOK REVIEW The question on the book cover sums up this mystery beautifully: How do you stop a murder after it’s happened? The novel opens to a placid domestic scene, one that succinctly and deftly depicts the two main characters in the story, Jen, a lawyer, and her husband, Kelly, a
WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME BY GILLIAN MCALLISTER BOOK REVIEW Read More »
THE SENTENCEBOOK REVIEW Many years ago, I lived in Hanover, NH as the same time as Louise Erdrich. We shared the same midwife, a fact I learned from her autobiographical book The Blue Jay’s Dance. I knew about her existence in the community because her early writing was already gaining attention and great acclaim. (She
Book Review: THE SENTENCE BY LOUISE ERDRICH Read More »
DEAR EDWARDREVIEW OF APPLE TV SERIES I’ve just finished watching the tenth and final episode of Dear Edward, a drama series you can stream on Apple TV. I loved this show, great writing, gorgeous cinematography, lovely music and wonderful acting, even down to the most minor of characters. The series is one of the best
DEAR EDWARD–TV SERIES REVIEW Read More »
INTO THE MESSBOOK REVIEW Into the Mess by Debie Thomas is a well-written exploration of familiar Bible passages. Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I find myself automatically re-writing sentences as I go, adjusting for clarity or word order. The writing in this book is so lively, humorous, and engaging that I instantly shut off
INTO THE MESS BY DEBIE THOMAS–A BOOK REVIEW Read More »
FOSTER CAREBOOK REVIEW Edna wastes no time drawing a hot bath for the child then scraping grime out from under nails, washing her hair, cleaning her ears. The girl describes the bath: “Then she makes me stand and soaps me all over with a cloth. Her hands are like my mother’s hand but there is
FOSTER BY CLAIRE KEEGAN–A BOOK REVIEW Read More »
BRUSSELS SPROUTSA CAUTIONARY TALE Photo Courtesy of Jodi Pender 0:00 / 0:00 Brussels Sprouts I used to have impossibly high hopes for family holiday dinners. I blame Norman Rockwell. Remember his painting of a well-dressed family gathered around a flawlessly set table? The children, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents sit shoulder-to-shoulder, admiring an unpardoned turkey
BRUSSELS SPROUTS–A CAUTIONARY CHRISTMAS TALE Read More »
THE CELESTIAL VAULT Photo Courtesy of Unsplash Years ago, I read a book that animated and forever changed my creative process. In The Mind of the Maker, Dorothy Sayers says, “It is a universal experience that a work of art has no existence apart from its translation into material form.” That is, people think a
THE CELESTIAL VAULT Read More »
KILLER ANGELS Our first Christmas tree was a pine branch stuck into a white plastic milk jug. That year, we’d been married for only two months when I came down with meningitis in mid-November. Distracted by my potential imminent demise, my husband, Bruce, did not attempt to decorate. So, on Christmas Eve, a friend
KILLER CHRISTMAS ANGELS Read More »
DREAMING BIGGER 0:00 / 0:00 Dreaming Bigger MEDIUM just published this essay. You can read it below. A while ago, a video made the rounds on Face Book. In it, a virtual Santa on a large screen greeted passengers in an airport lobby. As the folks had their tickets scanned, the Santa asked what