This is a post about grief. And apples. Autumn is a time of weighty remembrance. Last year, memories coupled with fresh heartbreak bulldozed me. I remained flat and listless for an unimaginably long time. The year prior, grief played entire symphonies for days and weeks. For months. Now, tender recollections pluck grief’s strings—the song is…

Blowing the cobwebs off this blog after, well, quite a bit of time. Years. Like everyone else, so much has happened. We’ve all endured more than we ever thought possible–chances are, we’re still dealing with the aftermath of something. There was so much, right? But the wonder of this thing called life is what happens…

Maybe it’s because of the time of year, but I’ve been thinking a lot about when I was a kid and my mom would pack up the station wagon for a trip down to the farm. It was only a few hours away by car, but this place in southern Ohio where my grandmother grew…

It’s been one of those weeks in front of the computer. I’m revising a manuscript and there’s this one scene in this one chapter that isn’t cooperating. The words are just loitering there on the page. None of them are getting along. No one’s playing nice. Maybe you can relate? Please tell me you can…

I often joke that when the fiction writing isn’t happening, I take pictures of the pup. Good writing days…well, there’s nothing better. But, let’s face it, sometimes they’re not so good. Sometimes they’re putrid. Some days I struggle to string together a few words and tack on some questionable punctuation at the end. When those…

I thought I’d let the pictures do the talking again today. This morning’s adventure: The pup and I hit the Union Square Greenmarket. Despite the chill in the air, we weren’t the only ones in search of early spring produce. The flowers were vibrant, the pea shoots were verdant, and…wait for it…there were ramps! I…

What exactly does it take to make a Millennium Falcon cake? It being the thought foremost in everyone’s mind, I thought I’d share. It takes two boxes of chocolate cake mix, a vat of homemade chocolate buttercream and a good amount of vanilla frosting. I’m talking an alarming amount of vanilla frosting—like eight tubs of…