Tag: writing

I got to do something really cool yesterday. I got to sit down with a friend and see the kids’ chapter book she’s spent the last year putting together. Then I got to help her brainstorm ways to get that book published.

It’s like being part of someone’s childbirth. It’s messy and complicated and there are all ... Read More


I used to make my family very nervous. (Let’s be honest, I probably still do.)

I’d walk in the room and declare, “I’m going to win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes!” Then for about two weeks I’d carry on and speak as if it were already a done deal.

It never was a done deal. I never ... Read More


When people who want to write a book or start a blog come to me for advice, I always tell them the same thing: sit down.

Sit down at your computer or sit down with your favorite notebook, even when you have nothing to say.

Just sit down and wait.

I tell them to give themselves 15 minutes of quiet ... Read More


I like to dream big. Really big. This used to confuse people in my household.

For instance, I went to LA for work last February and weeks before I left, I declared I was going to win a car on The Price is Right. My family reminded me of the odds of getting on stage and then of actually winning a ... Read More


I was sitting in my mini-van when I had this huge idea over-take my heart. Go give her money.

“Her” was the young mom in the shiny gold bikini I had just met at our community pool. The “money” I was being told to give away was mine, and although I didn’t know exactly what I was going to spend it ... Read More


2018. That’s the date (or at least year) set in my mind for the release of my new breast cancer book. This is the book that shows what the process of reconstruction looks like on a real woman’s body — my body.

But I am only one. One voice, one body, one choice of the many reconstruction options. That’s why I ... Read More


Sometimes I look at a beautiful piece of art and think, How did they do that? How did they create something so emotional from a flat piece of paper and a few shades of blue?

Or I’ll stand in the shadow of a building that was constructed hundreds of years ago and wonder, How did they get those heavy bricks way ... Read More


Pain and joy exist simultaneously. I’d say I wish it weren’t true. I’d say I wish I could just have the joy without the pain, but then I guess the reverse would also have to be true.

I’d have to accept the pain without the joy.

Where would that have left me during my breast cancer diagnosis? Where would that leave you ... Read More


I woke up this morning and realized I had nothing to say. The only words I had were for God. Thank you for this, please forgive me for that. I sat with Him and told Him about the help I needed today and asked Him to walk with my friends. And then I was done. Totally out of words.

I did ... Read More


I woke up this morning in Charlotte, North Carolina. I guess that’s a good thing since that’s where I went to bed last night.

It’s a little confusing trying to keep up with myself this summer. During the month of July, I’ve been in New York, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. I have spent six nights in my own bed in Ohio. ... Read More