It’s About Time

You know the most precious asset you have? Not money, nor stocks, nor IRAs nor houses. Your most valuable asset and mine is time! Every one of us, no matter how rich nor how poor has the same number of hours in the day. We can’t hoard those hours for later, can’t save them in […]

Every Day Is a New Beginning

Every Day Is a New Beginning

In the stillness of early morning, not a breeze stirs the trees. A small white moth drifts through the leaves of the crepe myrtle, maybe looking for a place to hide since morning caught her unaware. The light in my fountain glows on wet rocks. Sunday morning slips in quietly, no fanfare, no trumpets announcing the sunrise. It’s a […]

Saying Thank You

Saying Thank You

How can I write about Memorial Day and the importance of honoring those valiant young people (yes, for the most part, they were young) who stood between their beloved homes and freedom? A simple thank you to these courageous men and women seems completely inadequate. If I knew nothing at all about freedom, if I […]

Aromatherapy and Earthworms

Want a sure-fire, cost-free cure for the blues? Try weeding your herb garden. This spring I’ve been kept out of the garden by frequent rains (I’m thankful for them) and writing mysteries (I’m thankful for them too). Yesterday, however, I grabbed gloves, trowel, and kneeling pad and dug in the dirt. Mint, as you know, […]

The Happy Medium

The Happy Medium

No, I’m not talking about a gleeful seer, but striking the right balance between using good rules of writing (grammatical guidelines) and presenting a well-thought out and interesting story. A writer, unless she has some patient and understanding editors and first readers, must write with a lot of things on her mind. Should I put […]

Looking Back

Looking Back

Many years ago, I wrote a weekly column for my hometown newspaper, The Tahlequah Daily Press, called Looking Back.  In it, I included articles on Tahlequah’s historic homes, businesses that flourished in the past, and, most importantly, the people of Cherokee County. Articles on my mother’s family, Levi and Edna Latty, were the basis for […]