About
I am an engima…shrouded in mystery,
wrapped in a question, sprinkled with suspicion,
and topped with the cherry of denial.
My 23-year-old daughter and I came up with that.
Actually, I’m a humorist, author, speaker, wife, mom, and first-time grandmother. I’m also a vintage jewerly wearer, amazing listener, and lousy dancer.
(“Humorist” means my inner smartypants has leapt from the inner time-out chair and is running amok out here with the rest of us, lobbing puns, wisecracks and bon mots at will.)
I’m also a lousy singer. I could be successful, though, on a street corner with a cardboard sign: “Will stop singing for food.”
I am a crusader against dated hair styles. And eyeglasses. Clothes and shoes, not so much.
Categories on my blog
- Books on My Nightstand Besides my cell phone and a coffee carafe, my nightstand has an ever-changing tower of books. This category is about what I’m reading that might interest you. Or, read my review as fodder for book talk at parties when you’ve been spending all your leisure time on Facebook instead of literary enrichment.
- Coffee: Love in a Cup If there’s a clinical dependency on coffee, then I’ve got one. And I don’t care. Read The 12 Sounds of Coffee to see just how deeply the addiction goes.
- Random If I have to explain what this is, then you’re not old enough to read it.
- Then It Hit Me These blogs capture those “ba-bing!” moments when an issue and an answer collide, resulting in a sweet insight worth waving in the air for others to see. Almost always the answers come from Scripture because (get this) God is smarter than me. (BTW, I know that it should read, “smarter than I,” but writing it incorrectly just proves my point.)
How I got started writing
As a preschooler, I dictated elaborate stories to my mom, then demanded she read them back to me word perfect. Throughout my school years, I was less class clown and more word nerd. I edited newspapers and yearbooks in high school. After I graduated from college, I worked in public relations and radio, ran an editorial service for about 10 years and then edited a magazine for about 3 years. Two books are published under my name, and others I ghostwrote or contributed to. I lost track of how many articles I’ve had published, but it’s 100s. What can I say? I’m an unabashed wordaholic. Even after a full day of writing or speaking, my idea of relaxation is to read or do word games. But mostly read.
Who influenced me
My literary tastes leapfrogged from Dr. Seuss to Nancy Drew to Charles Dickens in short order. Comedy-wise, I grew up idolizing Carol Burnett and Phyllis Diller, and had crushes on comics like David Brenner, David Steinberg and the Smothers Brothers. There’s a comedic undercurrent in my all material as a writer and as a speaker, but it always blends with empowering insight for a practical need — rest, hope, endurance, faith, forgiveness and more. Otherwise it’s just laughs. Sure, laughter is essential, but come on! If you fall down a well during a thunderstorm and Lassie isn’t around to go for help, jokes alone aren’t going to get you through the night.
For more “About Me,” I dare you to click here.
Samples of my writing
- Dancing Queen A humorous essay about my first time to disco dance in public
- Through the Eyes of Grace A deeply personal essay about the power of love
