Author’s Muse

Theatre is My Yoga
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,...

Muse of Long Forgotten Mothers
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...

One Benefit of Dreaming? Creativity
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 new study reveals a winning creativity formula (Writers, take note…)
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...

Muse of The Woman Citizen
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,...

Hearing Theresa
“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...

Circe, Goddess of Character Development
“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...

Muse of "That Woman" Ambition
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...

Looking Back to Move Forward: New Jersey Residents: Do You Know About The Sankofa Collaborative?
“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...

Micro New Year’s Resolutions
“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...

Christmas Past
“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...

Schedule C – What Creatives and Other Schedule C-ers Need to Know for The End of Year
“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,...

Why I Love Jane the Virgin’s Inner Critic
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...

Muse of Specificity and Creating the Conditions for Inspiration
“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,...