Today my day started late, and I did not finish my morning ritual of three handwritten pages in my notebook, a rare thing in my life. Even when I have no news, no fiction or poetry, words crawl across lines on paper, and I feel a connection between my brain and my right hand and…

I just came home from running errands and buying my favorite drink from my favorite coffee shop. I go on playing with our dogs, driving to the supermarket for fresh cantaloupe and sour cream, knowing that there are food shortages in Ukraine. I could retreat into my office and mull over notes for a new…

How do you feel about lists? I live by them. I have lists of things to do, a list for grocery shopping, a long list of things to write, and a list of deadlines to meet. There are days when I would favor a list of active submissions over a page of prose. Today I…

I am a serious fan of British mystery fiction, and one of my favorite authors in the genre is Charles Finch. I’ve scoured local libraries for his series of Victorian Era novels, so I was surprised to find his diary What Just Happened, Notes on a Long Year. I skimmed enough before checking it out…