I Was Not Born to Floss

Not long ago, 14-year-old Russell Horning, a.k.a. “The Backpack Kid”, originated a dance called “The Floss.” It’s a catchy little move sequence in which your straightened arms swing back and forth across your body while your hips move in a quick pendulum motion. When the dance first got popular, I asked my daughter to teach...

A Message from My Future Self

Recently, a slight medical scare left me facing my mortality again. Truthfully, it doesn’t take much to scare me when it comes to medical tests. I know enough about medicine not to worry about every little  lump, scratch, or tickle, but if a doctor shows concern, I head into a tailspin. I’m not sure why...

The Art of Change

A friend of mine was telling me she’d heard that creativity was one of the great casualties of the pandemic (my words, not hers). She noted how she’d stopped doing any of the creative things she’d previously loved to do, like quilting, and even now was struggling to find the energy to return to those...

What Is Your Worth?

When I first started writing for a living, I worked for several local newspapers and small magazines. I wrote mostly feature articles, often history related. It was not uncommon for me to spend 8 hours on an article for which I was paid $25-50. $75 if I was lucky. At the time, I knew the...

You Be You, and I’ll Be Me

I just finished a World War II novel called Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Then I started watching the Masterpiece show Atlantic Crossing. People ask me often how after 30 years of researching, writing, and speaking about World War II, I could still be so interested in the subject. “Don’t you get tired...