It was the end of the eighth-grade school year. I stood in the garage in tears, pleading with my dad while he folded his laundry. Before that day, he’d agreed to let me go on a three-week vacation to Iowa with my best friend and her family. I know, I know—Iowa—for vacation? When you’re fourteen, and your friends invite you…

Recently, I saw a question posted on Facebook that went something like this: When you were a kid, what was something other families had that made you think they were rich? When I was young, I believed that anyone with a two-story house was loaded, and I always got super-excited if I was invited to stay over with someone who…

The day my mom died was the day I stopped believing in God, heaven, and the other nonsense to which so many of my friends subscribed. I was of the opinion that there were only two types of people—the living and the dead. When someone died, that was it. They didn’t go to a better place or become reincarnated. They…

In book clubs and reading circles, there’s a thing people sometimes must admit to, and it’s called “DNF.” This admission often comes with feelings of guilt and shame. I’ve DNF’d many times, and the first few times I did it, I didn’t want to confess my sin simply because I don’t like the stigma of being a quitter. So, for…

When we hear the word accomplishment, we often think of things like certifications, degrees, and job promotions.  I looked up the definition of the word, and the one I like best is the successful completion of a task.  If someone asks me how my weekend was, I immediately think of the things I did (or did not) do.  I feel…

My son’s move into his own place started a chain reaction of cleaning, sorting, organizing, trashing, and donating. I started by going up into the attic each day I was off and bringing down three or four plastic tubs. I’d clean the tubs off (yes, a little OCD over here), go through them, and sort everything out: things for my…

My mom died when I was eleven, and from then on, holidays were different. To be honest, they sucked; but the worst holiday of all was Mother’s Day. For me, it hadn’t turned into ‘just another day’; instead, it was a sad day. It was a day to watch everyone else celebrate something that I was no longer eligible to…

If there’s one thing an author (especially a debut author) needs to know, it’s that not everyone will like your work; in fact, some people may hate it. Sorry, but that’s just the truth. When you take a leap of faith and put your work out for the world, you must do so understanding that you are not only inviting…