2018 was another great year for reading! I set my Goodreads Challenge goal to only 52 books to give myself more time to get my own writing done (I just finished the first draft of my novel, and am now entering the revising and editing stage — exciting, but overwhelming!), but wound up reading 65 books in total. It is always so hard to choose my favorites, but there were some definite stand outs. So [...]
Last fall, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the new American Writers Museum in Chicago. The museum opened to the public in May 2017, and I visited in October 2017, only five months later. What a treat! I was accompanied by my writer friend and co-member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Nancy Johnson, who lives in Chicago. It was wonderful to spend time with Nancy and in such an inspiring place for writers! [...]
2017 was a great year of reading! I set my Goodreads Challenge goal to 52 books, but managed to read 71 books in total. And I loved every minute of it! It is always so hard to choose my favorites because I almost always find something wonderful, or at least redeeming, in every book I finish. But there were some stand outs. So without further adieu, here are my Top 21 Books. Perhaps you loved [...]
Happiness is finding out that you have been given a shout out by one of your favorite authors who has become a writer friend that you had the pleasure of spending time with in person a few months ago. I am incredibly honored to be mentioned in the acknowledgments of Camille Di Maio's newest book to be released. I absolutely loved her first book, The Memory of Us, and am getting ready to read her [...]
The books we first pick up and read can have a profound effect on us -- as readers, writers, and people. For me that book is The Diary of Anne Frank. I always loved to read. Years before I picked up this particular book, I was a voracious reader with an appetite that was hearty. I loved books. The feel of them, their smell, and their promise to introduce you to new people and places. [...]
2016 was a banner year of reading in my world! I read many debut novels, discovered writers that were new to me, and revisited writers from my past that I knew I loved. I wound up reading and reviewing 84 books total! People started asking me for my favorites of the year or which ones stood out. And there were so many good ones last year that it's hard to choose! But alas, I went [...]
I know it is June, so it may seem strange to bring up New Year’s resolutions. But in some ways, it is perfect. What’s the point of setting a New Year’s Resolution if you don’t commit to it? So I thought I’d share mine with you in case you want to try it yourself at any point in the year, or perhaps as inspiration to get back to your own New Year’s Resolution. And the [...]
We all have labels. Some of them we are born into, some of them others give us, and some of them we give ourselves. There are the ones that we are born into. For me, those include human, female, Italian American, New Yorker, and native English speaker. There are the personal labels that define our relationships to others. Wife, daughter, sister, savvy auntie, friend, furry baby mama. These are the labels that I wear in [...]
