• Book cover featuring woman standing on a stage with text: When Does Life Begin?
    General Thoughts,  Novels (my writing updates)

    Writing update: When Does Life Begin? publication and sneak peek

    Writing update for When Does Life Begin? I’ve spent the last few months finishing and editing my fifth novel, When Does Life Begin? It’s been a long process from its original draft when I was still a kid to what it is now. As long as everything goes well with the physical proof, the novel will be available on September 23, 2023, in both paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon.com. Read more about my other four novels. History of the story I dreamed up Lydia Dawson (once spelled Dahson) in early 1995 when I was 13 years old. Officially, it was the first novel I started as a teen, but it…

  • General Thoughts

    Television Nostalgia and Other Things

    Recently, a major television star from when I was a child had a stroke. Last Monday he died from the complications. Luke Perry, who played Dylan on Beverly Hills, 90210, was only 52 years old. Back when I watched him on TV, I would have thought 52 was ancient. Now that I’m older, it seems so young. The show originally aired in 1990 when I was nine years old. I started watching it when it aired new episodes during the summer of 1991 at age 10 and caught up on the first season through reruns that aired on a different night if I’m remembering correctly. My son is 10 now,…

  • Essays,  General Thoughts

    A scary topic: suicide

    Netflix just released a series, “Thirteen Reasons Why” based on a book of the same name by Jay Asher. The book was published in 2007 but is still extremely relevant ten years later. It deals with the aftermath of a scary subject: suicide. I read the book, then binge-watched the series over the weekend. I think it should be required reading/viewing for high school students. I am still recovering emotionally after experiencing the raw emotions contained in the novel and internet series. The message: You never know what someone else is going through, even if they try to tell you. You can never truly be in someone else’s shoes. You never…