Category: Books
Posts about books — mine and others’. Behind-the-scenes notes on writing them, reviews of the ones that shape my thinking, and reflections on what gets put into print and what doesn’t. Browse the full catalog on the Books page, or read select titles free on-site in the Library.
-
The Grief Book Returns, Expanded
I’m going back through my older non-fiction (and fiction) books that have been off the market for eons, making some minor updates and expansions, including cover changes and reformatting, and getting them back out there. This one was written for writers and creatives trying to work while grieving, but is useful to anyone carrying loss.…
-
When Loud People Pretend to Be Experts
I used to hear strangers who were confident and talkative ramble on about certain subjects in a social setting and be wowed by their expertise, but I have a totally different opinion on that now. Since I retired and don’t have to be at my desk at certain hours, I’m free to enjoy long leisurely…
-
Lost City Tropes and Ireland’s Cill Stuifin
Lost Cities, Lifelong I’ve loved “lost city” tropes for as long as I can remember, but it was probably movies like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Tomb Raider,” “Congo,” and “Jewel of the Nile” (“Romancing the Stone” sequel) that cemented my love for lost city tropes in both fiction and non-fiction. But I think bigger,…
-
Psychic Authors, Climate Change, and Presidential Elections
From portable tech predicted in 1991 to climate change mapped in 1997, intuitive novelist Lorna Tedder has been writing the future into her fiction for decades — and the 2016 election is next.
-
Interview with a Pagan Bookseller: Trends in Spiritual Books
Pagan bookseller Debra Strasser is my go-to person to find out what’s happening with spiritual books, whether Christian, Pagan, or other religions. She blogs at The 5 Things I Need for Pagan Blog Project 2012 and at 200 Books I Own and Haven’t Read. When I asked her if I could use her real name…
-
The Metaphysical Energy of Oil: Earth my Body, Oil my Blood?
I’ve spent so much of the past month concerned about the effects of the Gulf Oil spill on my allergies and asthma that i didn’t notice the shift in the “energy” in the coastal environment where I live. Since I first smelled the wind-driven, gagging, petroleum smell from the controlled burns in the Gulf of…
-
Healing Yourself: Easing Dis-ease and Illness by Listening to How You Feel
One of the most valuable things I’ve learned in the past year is that I can cure myself, that I do have that power. I’ve also learned that it’s not always easy for me to use that power. I’m not new to the mind-body-spirit connection or to the idea that there is a metaphysical reason…
-
Why Romance Novels Are Still So Very Popular
Although book sales in general are way down, the romance genre still holds the lion’s share of the market, and of course, there’s the usual hullabaloo over “image” that’s been going on for the past 20 years of writers trying to get rid of the “bodice-ripper” moniker. The genre evolved from historical bodice-rippers to strong…
-
Modeling Our Fathers
In the past few years, I’ve given a lot of thought to how women look for a reflection of their fathers in their ideal mates. Sometimes it’s not readily seen. So when your father is abusive, controlling, manipulative…are you damned? From the Bookshelf The Book of Heroes — a paranormal thriller where books are alive…
-
Ambivalence Is Good
Six weeks have passed since the vision of the man and the child. I know now that I misunderstood the message. In my vision, the man sits alone in the chair, just his guitar for company. He’s lost in the chords. They’re beautiful and a little discordant and very wistful. From the Bookshelf Unapologetically Happy…
-
Loving Our Abusers to Death
I am holding my breath. It could be tonight or it could be next week or it could be next year. But I know it will come. It comes for all of us, but it feels especially close for him. For Daddy. From the Bookshelf The Book of Heroes — a paranormal thriller where books…
-
…Are My Rituals
I can’t stop thinking about the meditation from last night. The two rituals of healing and love. The extreme detail, right down to the words and the gentle placement of hands and whispers. From the Bookshelf Vertex, Anti-Vertex, and the Fated Path in Astrology — the complete guide to the fated axis of your birth…
