-
Book Launch! The Letters in the Books Now Available
Good morning, sunshines! I have been waiting for weeks to be able to say that The Letters in the Books is now available. It’s also probably fair to say that I worked harder on this book than any of the previous ones. After two and a half years, I can finally say this project is done. Writing from the perspectives of five main characters–two men and three women–was cumbersome and a lot of fun. Setting the novel in Annapolis once again was a thrill. I can honestly say I don’t do this for the money, for any recognition, or for any other reason except that it fills a creative niche…
-
Thoughts on Missing Working in Baseball
It’s a question I get asked a lot. “Do you miss working in baseball?” Students ask me this often; then they ask what it was like to work in baseball, in sports, for a Major League baseball team. I have often blogged about how working in baseball changed my life in so many ways. I became a serious student when I got my job with the Orioles as a sophomore in college. I learned how to budget my time and work long hours. I loved every minute of it. I even roped my best friend and college roommate into working there during my second year when I supervised a small…
-
Fiction Friday | A Not-So-Happy Story of Love
For this week’s Fiction Friday, I used a prompt that asked us to write something we don’t normally write. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I’m a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic. I usually write stuff that ends happily. However, today I didn’t. Today’s prompt asked me to write something about two people that doesn’t end well–that they do not end up together. I have to admit, I just wrote this, and I’m depressed now. It’s like I want to go back and and change the ending, but I’m not allowing myself to. This time I’m allowing the characters who have been married for a while to…
-
Sentimental Teacups: My Bridal Shower was Paradise in a Teacup
The reason you become sentimental about certain gifts is because the gifts were given to you by people you love. Okay, wait. Rewind. First we have to go back in time. I’m writing this post today because I just displayed some sentimental treasures that were given to me 18 years ago when my husband and I married. My friends hosted a bridal shower—a high tea—at a cute little place called Paradise in a Teacup. What was so special about that afternoon was that each friend, cousin, and mom and mom-in-law-to-be gave me a teacup as a remembrance of the day. Today, I unboxed them, dusted them off, washed them, and…
-
Motherhood, Marriage, and Making Lunches
I was wrong, and I admit it. Years ago, when I was a mostly stay-at-home mom, working part-time, I admit to sometimes sitting in my Ivory Tower and judging other women who were working full-time but who didn’t participate in extracurricular women’s functions. Things like neighborhood groups, book clubs, and womens’ circles were often dropped by these women for reasons I couldn’t understand. As I’m now in my fifth full-time year at Stevenson, I have a completely different view of the full-time working woman. And what I think is this: They’re amazing. It takes a certain amount of skill to juggle the demands of today’s society on women. Yes, some…
-
Official Date Night is Just What the Doctor Ordered
I’d been editing my book all day on Saturday, trying to work through my final draft to get it ready for self-publication. It takes forever, so for those of you who are asking when my novel will be officially done, I’m not sure yet. The process takes much longer than anyone can imagine. However, when I called it quits for the day and could no longer look at a computer screen, my husband and I went out for an official date night. Our children were spending the weekend at their grandparents, and we had the evening to ourselves. We ate delicious food at Sushi Sono (hands down the best sushi…
-
Marriage and The Blues
* I’ve been catching up on some reading and movie watching this summer, as you can tell by some of my posts. My husband attended a dinner last night, and I plunked myself down in front of the television alone and watched a movie I’ve wanted to see ever since this year’s Oscar nominations came out—“Blue Valentine”—starring Ryan Gosling (Dean) and Michelle Williams (Cindy). While I’ve decided not to do a full movie review, I’ll tell you that I liked it and found it thought provoking, hence the nature of this post. It was raw, depressing, and chock full of emotions. One of my former students, Jordan, loved this film,…
