For a very long time now, I’ve been an undercover writer. Protected from the outside world, I’ve written middle grade novels, little books and even a young adult novel. Why? I love to write! I scribble on envelopes and paper towels, receipts and concert tickets. Anything laying around has my handwriting on it! My journals, […]

Well, who’d a thunk? China? Really? When I was ten years old, I dreamed about all the places I’d go, maybe inspired by Doctor Seuss’s book, maybe not. But I was darn sure, I was going somewhere someday. I asked my dad if he ever imagined himself back in Ireland, if we’d ever go back

Characters need to act and move, walk, and chew gum! Watch all those around you; how do they move? Collect those tiny ways in your notebook. I like to keep lists. A page for each person I conjure up. For example, Robbie Whitman in my imaginary fourth grade classroom, wore glasses. He would reach his

A great character is one that shows up in your mind’s eye with a little bit of quirkiness and a little bit of something I like to call space. Let me say more about that. I usually rely on the people that have shown up in my life over the years. In one of my

Here in North Carolina right now, music fills the air! Temps are starting to soar, my walks with Reilly, my 95 lb Golden Retriever, are breezy and warm. Robins, chick-a-dees, blue birds and sea birds are singing and soaring. It’s like one big party in the air! Robins are now pecking their broad yellow beaks