Those are the words my daughter volleyed back when I asked if we might want to cut down on her theatre (yes, passive-aggressively) and what I learned prompted my latest article for Your Teen for Parents.  It was so reassuring to see the hearts,...

In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, May 12th, I turn this week's post to novelist Janet Benton, author of Lilli de Jong, a work of historical fiction I recommend. I ran an interview with Janet for my series upholding women who carve brave paths...

If you ask many a writing coach, they will usually steer scribblers far away from writing about their dreams in any final published form.  And, it's true that it can be dangerous to slip into a self-referential blur of abstract prose.  That said,...

A teacher of mine used to look over my shoulder while I was doing my homework and ask with a grin: “Working hard or hardly working?” Haha, I’d laugh (kinda sorta). But is working hard--alone--enough? For me, sometimes the fuel-key-ignition of idea...

In continuing my coverage of Women's History month, my muse this week is a family picture. My great grandmother on my mother’s side, Frances Nelson Tillman (1880-1957), with whom I share my August birthday, was an ardent suffragette. And like me,...

“Our archives are treasure troves - a testament to many lives lived and the complexity of the way we move forward. They contain clues to the real concerns of day-to-day life that bring the past alive.” ― Sara Sheridan I now think of my great...

“I definitely have a thing for character development” whispered my 15-year old daughter, who has been performing on (or watching) various stages since she was five. We were both drying our eyes on a Sunday afternoon in a post-theatre trance where...

This week my muse is a question. Will a woman ever be elected president in the U.S.? Is it true that the same assertiveness we applaud in men, we often cringe at in women as political journalist Maggie Astor suggested last week in “A Woman, Just...

“I see the Sankofa Collaborative growing to be the “go to” resource for educators, museums, historic sites, historic societies, libraries and other institutions who not only want to improve awareness of African American history but to learn how to...

“Resolutions are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” - Oscar Wilde Call me cynical, but this snarky Wilde quote mocking the futility of resolutions did my heart good during this ride around the New Year’s merry go...

“I will live in the past, the present, and the future.”  - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol is a performance my daughter and I see every year in the rushed month of December.  Sure, we know every scene and all of the songs by...

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” - Gertrude Stein, American author I love language.  Messaging and mission statements.  Annotated outlines. Long manuscripts, etc.  Count me in. However, ahem,...

Jane the Virgin binging sessions are the go-to bonding spots for my teenage daughter and me. On Sunday nights, you will find us excitedly balancing our dinners after homework is done and the house is kinda sorta cleaned for the weekend. I love...

“Our galaxy is but one of an estimated several hundred billion such structures in the observable universe— a volume that now stretches in all directions from us for more than 270,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (2.7 × 1023) miles.” Caleb Scharf,...