Yesterday, I sat down in the midst of a circle of women at the retirement center.  Mine had been a long day and I was inwardly chortling about an email I’d  received from a young woman. Laughter is best when shared, so I told my companions about my invitation to a writer to appear

I saw several references to PewDiePie on Facebook, recently, and also in the gossip area of my Yahoo page.  Whether the name belonged to a person or a dessert, I didn’t know and didn’t much care.  But the buzz grew until it piqued my curiosity.  For my readers, many of whom are

A Facebook friend put up a snapshot of me attending a writer friend’s book signing.  I had braved a dark and stormy night to get there so when I spied my picture on social media, I wrote, “It looks like Albert Einstein and I have the same hairdresser.”  Yes, at my age, I can l

A while ago, a theater critic wrote of a performance he’d endured, “Those of us who have witnessed the play… last night will undoubtedly hold periodic reunions In the noble tradition of survivors of the Titanic.” (“Manners & Misdemeanors,” by Pete Wells, Town&Count

In 2014, I wrote about the Intentional Fallacy, a term of literary criticism. (6/5/14)   The theory states that to understand a work of art, nothing is relevant except the piece itself.  Knowledge of the artist’s childhood or what he or she ate for breakfast has no bearing on int

Recently, Susan Stoner, my co-host, and I taped a few book discussions with our guests for the next season of Just Read It. (Click)  Our shows are 10 minutes long, as we know people are busy.  But after the camera stops rolling, conversation continues, especially if we had differing

I opened an email the other day from my publisher.  Their note said they’d submitted my novel, Heart Land, for some book award.  If they’d had asked me, I’d have told them not to bother.  I don’t have much faith in awards.  Wherever people gather, politics is likely to fol

Recently, I was a guest on a radio program, Labor Hour, where, with co-hosts Susan Stoner and Lane Poncy, we discussed the future of the labor movement. (Click)  When asked what I thought was the single most important issue facing the workplace, I answered, “robotics” and the thr

My friend and colleague, Susan Stoner, Sage Adair mystery series writer, sent me an article the other day with an “I told you so,” message.  Stoner self publishes her work and uses a distributor to make her series available in bookstore.  For some time, she’s encouraged me to

A friend sent me an announcement, recently, about a lecture on self-publishing offered by two women purported to be experts.  One of the speakers wrote “epic” medieval fantasies and the other  had authored tips for selling  used books on Amazon.  The latter claimed to have ear