The Season of Giving Thanks
In an hour one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions begins. Our local public broadcasting radio station will gift local listeners with the Festival of Carols from Kings College in Cambridge. I’m thankful that I will be able to enjoy this lovely choir right here in my own home. In fifteen minutes I will stop for…
Read MoreFiction Friday: A Kidnapped Santa Claus
Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends and colleagues. Today we have a special holiday treat, an excerpt from a short story written in 1904 by L. Frank Baum (beloved author of the Oz books). It’s a sequel to…
Read MoreWe Wish You A Merry Christmas: Booklover Carols Part Six
Booklover Carols have become a tradition here. Okay, stop groaning. You knew this was coming. Every year I create a new carol or two about the publishing world. This year is no exception. You’ll find links to my previous years’ tongue-in-cheek carols at the bottom. How drastically publishing has changed since I began this tradition.…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Each night a child is born is a holy night.”
For so the children come and so they have been coming. Always the same way they come, born of the seed of a man and a woman. No angels herald their beginnings. No prophets predict their future courses. No wise men see a star to show where to find the babe that will save humankind.…
Read MoreFiction Friday: Buttoned Up
Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends and colleagues. Kylie Logan agreed to return this week after I begged. Her newest Button Box mystery, Buttoned Up, just came out, and with all the quilters who read my blog, I…
Read MoreA Goddesses Anonymous Christmas
This time of year I love to reflect on the past twelve months. A little soul-searching is usually in order, and the holiday season is a wonderful time to do it. After all, with the hustle and commercial bustle surrounding us, either we need spiritual sustenance more than usual, or we’re already more receptive to…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “No one is born hating another person…”
Nelson Mandela not only changed the world, but he changed human hearts. He taught us that love can conquer hatred and nonviolence can defeat the terror of violence. I hope we never forget the man or his message.
Read MoreFiction Friday: Sign On to Sign Off
Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends and colleagues. Today’s excerpt is from my good friend and former neighbor, Patricia McLinn, who convinced me some years ago that her neighborhood in Arlington, VA was a wonderful place to live.…
Read MoreWave Hello As I Drive By
Today I’m traveling home from a family Thanksgiving celebration in Virginia, but Southern Exposure will be back next Tuesday. Meantime, I want to congratulate the winners of my 5 in 2013 giveaway. Sharon, Chelsea and Lynn all won and received autographed copies of my five books that came out in paperback this year, Wedding Ring,…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Unplug the Christmas Machine”
The Christmas Machine has this power over us because it knows how to woo us; it speaks to the deepest, profoundest, and most sacred desires of the human heart. If it appeared as a monster, we would rise up and stop it. But the commercial messages of Christmas appear as promises that bring tears to…
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