AKA "The Writing Woman"
I attended my first author event in November 2024 and had so much fun I made this new activity a huge part of 2025. Beginning in May, I took part in seven author events and two flea markets, including: The Brighton District Library Local Author Showcase in April and October The 2 Dandelion’s Book Shop…
ALTERNATE REALITY In some lovely other universe I awoke today in bed And these pillows piled up next to me Were really you, instead And we chatted over breakfast Then we set about our day Both happy we’re retired now With more time to chill and play We planned our next vacation To the cabin…
I love creating all the handouts for author events. Today’s delivery included my new business cards (I haven’t had one as an author) and two rack card designs. The first is the handout for those who buy my third Writing Widow book. It has a QR code to a Spotify playlist with the songs mentioned…
As a writer, I spend a lot of time alone, and a lot of time thinking – mostly contemplating life. Tonight, the holiday dinner is over, the kids and grandkids are all off on their merry way, and I sit here pondering how it feels to be alone again in my quiet home. It feels…
Five years ago, I published a book of essays and poetry I wrote during the year after my husband died. The book, A Widow’s Words: Grief, Reflection, Prose, and Poetry is available on Amazon.com. Although seven years have passed in my grief journey, I continue to receive emails from new widows who are reading my…
THE LOST PIECE When a soul mate dies It leaves a hole with a ragged edge An empty space, too difficult to patch Although I try to find another piece that fits, The shape is never quite right And the hole remains empty Sometimes, I set the puzzle aside And pretend my life is complete…
As the sixth anniversary of Rick’s death approaches, I realize I’ve had many shifts in my attitude about how I view my life here alone. For about the first two years, my whole identity was that of a widow. I was still part of a couple, one of us just wasn’t living. I continued to…
The impact of Rick’s death has lessened as the years go by. That’s only natural. I’ve always been a firm believer that time really does heal all wounds, although not as quickly as we would like (and I definitely formed that opinion before experiencing widowhood). But certainly the enormous and raw pain I felt daily…
I attended a writers’ conference two weeks ago. I’m still working (reworking) my plans for life without Rick after retirement. We had big plans. We started our web design business in 2001 with the goal of having plenty of work that we could enjoy doing together remotely from our favorite spot in Florida half the…
The first year or two after losing Rick, every memory that popped into my mind was an emotional trigger that sometimes made me sob, and other times just brought on some quiet tears. The trick was learning to handle these moments because you never knew where or when they were going to hit. It wasn’t…