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Even though one day is pretty much the same as another, and an arbitrary line between December 31st and January 1st doesn’t really mean...

Three times a week, she walked the hills around our little town with her friend, Denise, huddled together, two ancient women undaunted by...

I am hunkered down with tea and  a laptop, moving forward on a manuscript that has had its hands around my throat for the past year and...

I recently talked with a friend who is a Jungian analyst and has spent many years collecting fairy tales and myths. “What is the story...

Recently I was given a list of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling. It’s a great list for anyone who writes fiction. Number #14 on the list...

When the Faith and Culture Writers Conference put out a call for original essays to read to the inmates involved in The 7th Step...

You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your...

A pair of well-worn hiking boots sit on a rock somewhere on a trail on a sunny summer’s day. When I went down, I went down hard, the left...

My heart won’t stop aching for the cops shot to death while they were trying to protect the protesters. I think about their families and...

There are certain things that I want to tell my nieces and my grand nieces before I get too old. Maybe they already know. They are all a...

“When you get to the highest point on the roller coaster you can either scream in fear or squeal with delight.” The truth about...

If you are someone who writes by the seat of their pants, this essay is not for you. Stephen King, the grand Pooh-Bah of pantsing is...

For a while I still read at night. Schooled on the principle that one’s writing is a direct reflection of the quality of one’s reading, I...

I kept the teapot and the sugar and creamer, though I lost the lid to the pot during a move. I displayed them on a shelf. The rest of the...

By the time you are working in the long-form format of the novel or the memoir, craft becomes the big thing. Story. Craft is what makes...

Are you more interested in cute kitty videos on Facebook than you are in understanding the policies of our elected officials? Is social...

I find myself looking for moments in which I can take a deep breath and fill my heart with gratitude. And let me tell you they are...

Second Chapters–I know them well. The invention and reinvention of your self, each time trying to get life a little more right than the...

And the problem didn’t start when I got porned on Facebook. A sexually violent picture appeared on my timeline. I was able to report it...

I was a writing student at Naropa University, a Buddhist inspired school, deeply rooted in the traditions of meditation, creative...