A different kind of Christmas

With less than two weeks until Christmas 2019, the few presents I’ve bought are still in a drawer, unwrapped. My holiday cards remain in their packaging and apart from a vintage Santa candle and musical angel, my cherished Christmas decorations are still tucked away...

In praise of ‘virtual’ friends

While I’m blessed with many friends in my ‘real’ life (including one who goes back to my high school years and often reads this blog), my author life means I also have many ‘virtual’ friends—people I’ve connected with via social media who, at the click of a mouse,...

Community, connections and crisscrossing a continent

As many of you know, I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico last week attending my first Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) retreat. Held annually, it offers independent writing time, but also includes workshops, discussion and working groups, and social events to...

A time of losses and gains

One of my favourite series of books, loved in childhood and which I still return to as ‘comfort reads’ as an adult, is the Little House stories by American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Those books taught me about resilience, cheerfulness in the face of difficulties,...