Just add coffee..and sigh! I'm happy to share that I finally managed to upload a full-color version of my second book, "Heck on Heels," to Amazon's Kindle Store, where I've priced it at $2.99.  The paperback sells for $14.95. Here's the link to check out a free preview, some… Read full post »

While my family situation and concerns haven't changed since I first posted my "Health Care Manifesto" essay in August, I found it very interesting this morning to find that the same essay, posted on my "Running with Stilettos" website, has picked up a half-dozen views in the last day or so… Read full post »

Just a short note here this morning to share that my third essay collection, "Fabulous in Flats," made the list of finalists in ForeWord Reviews' annual Book of the Year Awards!  This book is doing pretty well (crossing my fingers here that my luck holds), it was named "Published Book of… Read full post »

I am still finding my sea legs in the world of appreciating audio books.

I  came late to the table on this new-fangled phenomenon, but that's pretty much par for the course for me.  Now that I've finally mastered the art of burning a song to a CD...music has long since evolve… Read full post »

I've laughed over the years--and been laughed at too, usually by one man or another--at the thought that I've got what I call "emergency makeup kits" stockpiled around. They're filled mostly with tiny makeup samples from bonus times at cosmetic counters--and bagged in one of the myriad colorful littl… Read full post »

I remember my Easter ornaments.  Not just ornaments that I bought, but ornaments that I MADE BY HAND.  From real Grade A large eggs whose insides I scrambled with a needle and then blew out through a small hole in the bottom, then painted a solid color, then p… Read full post »

From "The ghost of Christmas past" files... 

Imagination stood in for Christmas wrap this year.

“Sit down,” I instructed my various children and my new son-in-law, “and shut your eyes!”

Then I exited stage left, grabbed their bundles of unwrapped presents from the spar… Read full post »

I am counting on Bugs Bunny to get me back into shape.

I recently took stock of the past year, which has seen my weight hover consistently at far above a comfortable number where my wardrobe is concerned, and realized that in that time I've barely gotten any exercise at all. … Read full post »

     The breeze off the Atlantic on Sea Island, Georgia at sunset carried the sound of bagpipes, a local tradition.  In front of me, a lush green lawn fell away to the shore as Old Glory fluttered nearby and then was retired for the evening.  I was sitting in an Adironda… Read full post »

Just a quite note here to share, my third collection of essays, "Fabulous in Flats," was just named "Book of the Year" in the Royal Palm Literary Awards contest.  Viva self-publishing!

http://runningwithstilettos.blogspot.com/2011/10/florida-book-of-year.html Read full post »

This is a story of a bottle of liqueur. 

It is also an Italian story of love and loss, romance, hope and dashed expectations, creative splendor and artistry denied, and the totally nutty times we live in.  The saga began with me on a sunny day on the Isle of/… Read full post »

I hit 365 "tweets" this morning, pretty darn close to a year after I started my 2010 resolution of "a twitter a day." Not every resolution has to start on January 1.

As usual, I'm a few epochs behind current fads. In fact, I still occasionally ponder a return to using… Read full post »

It took years for me to finally bite the bullet and get an audio version of a book out of the library.  There were several hindrances, one of which happened to be that I'd misplaced my library card several years ago in my household clutter.

And balked at getting a new… Read full post »

As the mother of three adult children with serious pre-existing medical conditions—one case of cancer and two of Crohn’s disease—I’d like to add my voice to the current health care debate. After years of emergency room visits, consults, surgeries and medications, all are curre… Read full post »

I am besieged, bothered and bewildered.  A victim of “mission creep.”  There are barbarians at the castle gate.

The sunflowers are taking over.  When I step out on to the front stoop and look to the right, I’m greeted not by the sight of miniature roses and floribunda… Read full post »

I came home from work tonight under darkening skies, the air humid and close, heralding a coming storm.  The daylilies, nearing the end of their growing season, seemed to sway lightly in the breeze, as if to say "come take our pictures ... before we are just a memory!"

www.running… Read full post »

With apologies to Will Shakespeare, I come today not to bury Bones, but to praise them.

Oh lord, that was a cheap attempt at a pun but… I am still seized by the impulse to describe just why I’ve become a devoted (or rabid) fan of the TV series “Bones.”… Read full post »

My potato salad recipe has become semi-famous, posted on the website of a Milwaukee morning FM radio show WJZI, found at www.b933fm.com.

My morning commute to work is fifty miles, so I listen to the radio a LOT! And I happened to tune in to a serious debate the other day… Read full post »

I often play up my "expatriate Chicagoan" side with my writing, since much springs from that, and I've made a bunch of literary connections down there in the past few years.  Still, I'm happy to share a review of "Fabulous in Flats" which celebrates my current status as a Cheesehead!

http://wisc… Read full post »

I will be the first to admit that I lead a cluttered--though creative--life.

I grew up surrounded by chaos, both physical and mental, and the apple never fell far from the tree. While I pride myself on the fact that I can usually find both my cell phone and my… Read full post »