Come to Orange Beach!

It’s going to be a fun day at Wisdom Harbour Studios in Orange Beach, Alabama.  Located in the exciting Wharf where there is plenty of shopping, food and a fabulous Ferris Wheel, I’ll be spending time with New York Times best selling author, Andy Andrews to celebrate the addition of my books to his store.…

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Rain Gauges and Lozenges

This story previously appeared in Lagnappe News. You can see a video version by subscribing to Andy Andrew’s Wisdom Harbour. I’ve finally figured out why old people love to keep rain gauges and giant thermometers in their yards. It’s so they don’t have to talk about politics.  The greatest generation and those who came just…

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Really Good Banned Books

In these days of sensitivity, some of my favorite childhood books seem like they would be banned.. However, when I checked online library collections, most remain in circulation.  ***Instert heavy hearted thoughts on banning books (I don’t approve) and what taxpayer’s money should be used for here (it’s loaded) and that’s a column for another…

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Doll Club

While writing a true story about my husband’s grandmother, I needed to mention a doll she received as a child. I knew from experience that if I got even one tiny detail wrong, the antique doll-loving crowd would run me out of town with pitchforks because you know how strict those doll lovers are. To…

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Star Chart

For crying out loud, I was only nine years old and didn’t need the world’s weight on my shoulders.  I was halfway up the Sweet Gum tree in my summertime happy place. From there, I had a shaded spot for snuggling on a wide branch with a perfectly shaped crook for reclining. It was a…

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Where are my pickle forks?

Allow me to reassure all mothers of young children that you aren’t going crazy. There isn’t a ghostly haint pilfering your silverware. The disappearing Oneida isn’t being sucked into a dark vortex for use at alien dinner parties.  The vanishing utensil phenomenon is real, yet the cause is hard to believe. As a seasoned mother…

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Elmo asks, “How’s your mama?”

Elmo, the red shag rug Muppet from Sesame Street, inadvertently set off a firestorm by asking an innocent question; “How is everybody doing?”  The puppet’s social media account on “X” formerly known as Twitter, was inundated with hundreds of responses from people who admitted to feeling anxious, gloomy, and full of despair. Too bad Elmo…

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Book Delay

Like Fred Flintstone planting his big feet on the ground from the driver’s seat of his stone-wheeled car, my latest book plans have come to a screeching halt. WILMA!!!! It was all going so well, and writing makes me as happy as applying mascara made Tammy Faye Baker. “La-la-la, life is so good. La-la-la, this…

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When someone copies you

When I first taught school, the director of our flagship Early Childhood Intervention program told us we would be fired if she ever caught us giving our students a “ditto,” which is an old-fashioned thing to call a pre-printed coloring book type of page. We could use blank paper only. If we wanted the children…

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Gathering Leaves

It is the tale of a tough, determined woman from the Civil War who isn’t named Scarlett.  “Gathering Leaves,” by Ron Meszaros is a love story, a history lesson, the tale of a strong woman, a war story, a dog lover’s story, and an example of faith that is sprinkled with curse words — all…

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