• Promotional graphic for the novel, "The Whole Enchilada features the front cover of the book. To the right, the text reads: "The stars may hold secrets, but the past holds the truth." November 1, 2025 "If you've ever wanted to get in the car and drive for 9 hours to figure out your life, this story is for you. Aliens, nostalgia, and Texas references had me the whole time."
    The Whole Enchilada - Writing

    Novel Update – June 2025

    It’s been almost a year since my last update on The Novel and many, many things have happened since then – including me traveling to Japan and breaking my foot (requiring surgery), and my husband’s surprise open-heart surgery. The timeline for publishing my novel was obviously effected, but the good news is… … it’s with a copywriter RIGHT NOW! After five drafts, countless hours, ten beta-readers’ feedback, and several million moments of self-doubt, the manuscript is currently being combed over by a professional copywriter. Once I get it back from her, I’ll do a final spit-polish, add a couple small…

  • Writing

    Writing is Life, and Life is Writing

    Well, friends. It’s September. We’re on the downhill slope for 2024, which means I start looking forward to 2025 and pondering what kinds of goals I might want to accomplish next year. It usually takes a couple months of ‘back-burner’ thinking for me to come up with these goals, but right now, there’s one very bold, bright one at the top of my list: publishing my novel. I’ve spent the past year writing this thing, agonizing over it, wrestling with it, loathing it…and myself. I’ve received a ton of feedback from my writing partners, which I’ve dutifully tried to incorporate (even…

  • Writing - Zen

    Escaping Creative Samsara

    If you’re familiar at all with Buddhism, you’ve no doubt encountered the concept of Samsara. Basically, it’s life, as we experience it, over endless cycles of rebirth. According to Buddhist teachings, we are trapped here, living in these ‘realms’ of existence until after many lifetimes of dedication and practice, we are able to reach Nirvana – true liberation. There are six realms within the cycle of Samsara, and they exist on a wheel, meaning that we don’t travel through them in a linear fashion toward a goal. Heaven and Hell are both part of Samsara and not attached to western…

  • The Bizniz

    What’s the Real Value Proposition for Writers Using Social Media?

    The idea that if you want to make an impact in any endeavor you must dedicate hours a day to using social media is, by now, axiomatic. This isn’t just true for writers and other creatives, of course. Practically every industry and sector of public life holds this narrative. If a bear approaches a woman in a forest and no one is there to tweet about it, did it even happen? There’s still a belief, despite copious evidence to the contrary, that social media is a meritocratic environment that allows ‘the best and brightest’ to naturally emerge; that those who…

  • Writing

    I have no idea what the hell I’m even doing… and it’s great

    I’m known for doing things that I have no business doing. This goes beyond ‘liking a challenge’ and actually borders on folly. Ergo, I’ve decided (at the age of 50) that it’s time to write my first novel. I always knew I was going to write novels… someday. Like many aspiring authors, I was obsessed with reading in my youth and I wrote often, though always privately, sharing with maybe one or two people. I didn’t have relationships with adults who taught me how to value my creativity and pursue it with discipline and rigor. If I’d been mentored early,…