I’m so glad you found me. This is your site for news, information, progress on the series, accolades, opinions and rants (yes both Emma and her creator can be snarky at times), whines, and the sharing of important information. Let’s get to know each other better. Stick around and enjoy the ride, and please feel free to contact me by leaving comments on the blog page.
As an author, I love nothing more than to write. But once a book is published, it needs to be shared. Please pre-order your copy of The Man Who Wasn’t There, or catch up on Emma’s adventures in The Difficult Sister” or it’s prequel, “An Unholy Alliance” today. You can order ALL THREE at a discounted price. And, I will be happy to personally inscribe any books ordered here. As always, THANKS for your support.
Every writer has a journey that each of their characters must take.
The State of the State Yesterday was spent on the sorting line of RR Winery. Pinot Noir grapes came in from our original vineyard on Ribbon Ridge–beautiful, plump clusters, sweeter than table grapes, fresh and bright tasting, in compact, tight clusters. For all the years I was involved with helping to start a vineyard and […]
Read MoreThe State of the State Our 4-day trip to Mitchell covered a lot of ground even though temperatures got over 100 degrees. First full day included a trip to the Painted Hills. Then Patrick and Janet showed us pictographs left by local tribes 200-300 years ago, plus a swim in the John Day River at […]
Read MoreThe State of the State Damn, it’s hot. I’m not complaining. I love summer, particularly those long luscious days when sunset doesn’t come until after 9 p.m. Summer is about heat. My lovely daughter and I plan to enjoy it. We have a pool date set for Tuesday that may involve lunch and some Salt […]
Read MoreThe State of the State In western Oregon, summer has arrived with a couple of very warm days followed by some very East Coast thunderstorms. Rest and repeat. Today is the longest day of the year, so happy Solstice everyone! I’ve made Chicken Paprikash twice since we returned from our Grand Tour of the Danube. […]
Read MoreThe State of the State Having enjoyed two weeks in a different world, it has taken a bit of time to get back on my feet. As I wrote my April newsletter, I was headed to Europe and I anticipated I know not what. There would be the river cruise down the Danube, plus time […]
Read MoreThe State of the State Unless I break something between now and Tuesday morning, the die is cast. Long-awaited trip to Parts Unknown–for me at least. Wynne and I are flying out of Portland, taking a nonstop to Amsterdam, from there to Prague. I have never been there, but my late son Ian loved the […]
Read MoreThe State of the State I left y’all last month on the cusp of my trip to Tucson. If I went there to get sunshine, I was sorely disappointed. During my time there, more than two inches of water dumped from the sky–just like home. It was worse in Oregon, where there were snow flurries […]
Read MoreThe State of the State Yes, well, it’s been more like April than early February around here, which is more than a little scary. Trees are budding out, and I saw daffodils blooming today while on a walk. Eagles won the Super Bowl. Robert Mueller continues his silent quest. I head for Tucson in a […]
Read MoreThe State of the State The holidays are past. Thank goodness. They were fine, except for a few last minute glitches from the weather. Nothing serious. A little ice. Lots of good food and a bit of traditional music and bright lights. Significant infusions of butter. For me, looking back on the year that was […]
Read MoreMusings and reviews of theatrical plays.
Abby Binder (Randi Douglas) is a grouch. And it’s no secret that she doesn’t want a roommate. Never has. When she is assigned one at the senior living facility where she resides, she understandably objects. Marilyn Dunne (Anita Sorel) is just too darned cheerful. And she makes noise. This is the setup for Pulitzer Prize […]
Read MorePicture this: Eldest son graduates a good college in Padua, Italy, comes home briefly, and then decides to forsake his fortune and hit the road to find his own “extraordinary”. Sounds like a slacker, right? Only this eldest son is Pippin (Paul Harestad), son of King Charles, or Charlemagne (Dan Murphy), leader of the Christian […]
Read MoreA dingy little break room in a failing Detroit automobile factory is the setting for Skeleton Crew, Dominique Morisseau‘s play about Detroit’s working class now onstage at Artists Repertory Theatre. Skeleton Crew is set in 2008, the beginning of the Great Recession, and is the third in Morisseau’s three-play cycle called “The Detroit Project”. The factory […]
Read MoreA Depression-era musical based on a Depression-era comic strip opened last Friday at Clackamas Repertory Theatre. Annie (book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin). The play opened on Broadway in 1977, enjoyed a six-year run, and won a Tony Award for Best Musical. It also spawned a 1982 movie […]
Read MoreDamon Runyon was one of those hard-living, gritty newspaper reporters of the 1920s and ’30s who liked to get his hands dirty. As a short story writer, he fictionalized some of the colorful characters he met on the streets of New York City. In his stories, gave them memorable monikers–Harry the Horse, Big Jule, Good […]
Read MoreLakewood Theatre has kicked of its 66th season with the musical Chess–a major musical that most of us have never heard of. Written by Richard Nelson, with music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (both of ABBA fame) and lyrics by Tim Rice, this show is a huge surprise on so many levels, and offers a […]
Read MoreIn Kate Hamill‘s stage adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Sense & Sensibility, now onstage at Clackamas Repertory Theatre, the play opens with a corpse. Poor Mr. Dashwood has expired unexpectedly, leaving Mrs. Dashwood (Debbie Hunter Kerns) a widow, and the daughters Marianne (Molly Bowman) and Elinor (Kailey Rhodes), and the much younger Margaret (Holly […]
Read MoreMamma Mia! is one of the most fun musicals to ever grace a stage, so it only makes sense that Broadway Rose Theatre would include it as one of their productions in its 2018 Season of Irresistible Fun. It’s the ultimate feel-good musical, according to director Lyn Cramer. Much of its popularity has to do with […]
Read MoreWe are the secretaries and we do things secretarial And once a month we kill a guy and cut him up for burial It’s a slasher play. It’s a comedy. No, it’s a black and bloody satire. It’s over the top. And it’s dangerous–particularly if one is a lumberjack in Big Bone, Oregon. It’s […]
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