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.
This is way too exciting to wait until my next newsletter. Here it is. Ta-DA! Designed by Aaron Yeagle, this is the cover for Blackthorn, my soon-to-be-released gothic novel! The book is written, but it’s not done yet. It’s not baked. At this stage, consider that it is in a warm room, rising. It will […]
Read MoreThe State of the State I write this on New Year’s Day, looking back on a year that has fizzled and looking forward to a fresh new year filled with plans, anticipation, surprises, and Things That Must Be Dealt With. In my life today, it is always good when Christmas is over. My favorite holiday […]
Read MoreThe state of the state Once again, it is past mid-month and I find myself wondering how on earth this happened. The month began with several days spent in the bowels of the Multnomah County Elections Office doing the very necessary and unglamorous business of preparing ballots to be run through counting machines. Democracy isn’t […]
Read MoreThe state of the state Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. –George Eliot I just spent a week with one of my favorite girls–Ginger, the strawberry blond Aussie Cattle Dog. “Now that’s a proper cattle […]
Read MoreThe 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 MoreMusings and reviews of theatrical plays.
I am determined to prove a villain/And hate the idle pleasures of these days. –Richard III, Wm. Shakespeare Richard Glouchester (Christopher Imbrosciano) is a miserable 17-year-old. Smart, angry, disenfranchised, an anomaly among his peers, who moves with unusual gait due to cerebral palsy. And yet he aspires to be king–er, rather, senior class president. Standing […]
Read More“Abundant Acts of Creation” hit stages all over the metropolitan area when the 10th annual Fertile Ground A City-Wide Festival of New Works kicks off on January 24 in venues all over the greater Portland area. Fertile Ground 2019’s myriad of new works span theatre in long and short form, musical theatre, circus arts, sketch […]
Read MoreIt’s a sad day indeed when a man marries a beautiful socialite for her money. Sadder still when he decides to murder her so he doesn’t have to share it. But, if a man learns his wife has been unfaithful…well, that does rather justify the foul act. Doesn’t it? This is the premise of the […]
Read MoreAnyone familiar with the 1946 Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life (starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed) or in need of a feel-good evening of entertainment will love Joe Landry‘s It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which opened last weekend. Artists Repertory Theatre presents this delightful production at Northwest Children’s Theater in the Northwest […]
Read MoreOkay, call me a sucker. I’m a sucker for Christmas stories. Not the ones we see on the Hallmark channel, but real Christmas stories–like that poor couple who travel to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and end up crashing in a stable, and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in its many iterations. Portland Playhouse has presented A Christmas Carol […]
Read MoreWhat does everybody fear most? Why, death, of course. Women may fear childbirth. There is something near-death-like about it. But death? Death happens to everybody. Which is why some may find Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘s play Everybody a bit disquieting. Everybody, now playing at Artists Repertory Theatre, is a play about death. The play opens with the Usher (Sarah Lucht). […]
Read MoreIt’s Thanksgiving Day 2000, and everyone in a certain East Village apartment are up to the task except the hostess, Ellen (Beth Thompson). She is obsessing about the results from the recent Gore vs. Bush Presidential election, which, because of Florida’s sketchy voting system, remain undecided. Not only is Ellen obsessed, in Lisa Kron’s timely […]
Read MoreA funny thing happened at Portland Center Stage the other night. Dorothy and Toto and Little Orphan Annie showed up onstage in a show about Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol. How are such things even allowed? They are allowed because The Second City’s A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens has returned to the Armory’s Main Stage […]
Read MoreTwo small gems grace the stage of Portland Center Stage’s Ellyn Bye Studio now through December 30. One is a vintage Christmas classic by Truman Capote; the second is a new production that is to Portland and of Portland. I would walk miles to see and hear Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. Once I hear […]
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