Category Archives: anxiety memoir

My Awkward Moment & Fruitcake

I’m laughing. Ha, ha, heh, heh.

She’s not.

Silence.

Uh. Hullo?

Lull of silence continues at the other end of the line.

I often feel like these reindeer, trying to fly but falling flat on my face.

I often feel like these reindeer, trying to fly but falling flat on my face.

I’m interviewing nationally-known author Debbie Macomber (pronounced like cucumber her publicist informed me).  I’m writing a feature article for our local newspaper about an annual festival held in Port Orchard, Washington, which is the real-life setting for Macomber’s novels. At the time of the phone interview, six or seven years ago, Macomber had sold over sixty-million books.  A fact the city of Port Orchard celebrates. Thus, the festival. Although I personally hadn’t read Macomber’s books, I had read of her determination to make it as a writer. In the face of financial hardship, she persevered until she sold her first book. I recall her telling me during the interview that it took her twenty years to become an overnight success. read more

I’m a Survivor and You Are Too

Merry Survival! Merry Survival!

“Your book title tells me nothing about your book,” says the literary agent.

She sits across from me at a table in the far corner of an empty room. She flips through the pages of my book, Five Minutes For France, with nonchalant abandon.

I assume she’s a nice lady in real life. She probably packs her kids’ lunches with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with brightly-colored Post-it notes reading: “You’re awesome!”

But at writers conferences~agents who sit behind tables in far corners can morph into Cruella Devilles.

Not that they’re intentionally mean. But they don’t want you to get your hopes high without equipping yourself with some nice, hard truth. And there’s a lot of hard truth for a writer to swallow. read more

The Day My Spinach Salad Blew Away (Really!)

 Why it’s good to get away…

getaway coneflower

Echinacea or coneflower, one of the beautiful flowers you’ll find in Prescott, Arizona. I would have had a picture of my spinach salad flying away, but I spent too much time explaining what happened that I didn’t think to take a picture. The orange echinacea looks prettier anyway.

“I’m sure I forgot something.” I said to Jerry as we took off for a two-day jaunt in Prescott.  Jerry concentrated on driving.

To see if I could get a reaction, I said, “Oh no! I forgot to pack underwear for you.” He didn’t seem fazed at all. “I didn’t pack any pants for you either.” Still unfazed.

I had no idea of the adventure ahead, that cowboy actors would talk to me from the walls or that my spinach salad would blast into the air and fly away.  My thoughts centered on items I forgot to pack as well as looking forward to visiting my family in Prescott. Plus, and this is a big plus, enjoying the cooler mountain temperatures. Where we live in the desert, it’s a 192-degrees outside. In Prescott, people actually walk around outside in the summer without fainting. read more

One Step Forward. Ouch! Maybe.

I entered the physical therapist’s office with bright optimism. The receptionist greeted me with a warm smile.

I had broken my ankle two months earlier and had hobbled in a walking cast for a month. I had imagined that once the walking cast came off, I would be as good as new. I envisioned the pain-free possibilities…dancing, hopping, jumping, even skipping. Perhaps I’d sign up for a 30k marathon if I so desired. But my hopes sunk when my foot continued to hurt after the cast came off. My podiatrist  suggested physical therapy.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Pain, to me, sometimes feels like looking through a window at a peaceful world beyond where personal physical discomfort doesn’t exist. (I took this picture at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon.) read more