I recently watched the documentary about poet Mary Oliver on PBS–Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. Oliver's poetry, like Thoreau’s essays, is an invitation to pay attention. She writes about ordinary things, like nature, animals, walking, water, weather, silence, and yet her poems are never ordinary. Birds, fields, even a walk through … Continue reading From My Commonplace Book: Mary Oliver on the Wonder of Being Alive
reading life
The Childhood Books That Made Me Love Reading
I’ve been an avid readers since I was in the third grade. I was usually the first in my class to get my work finished, so I was able to sit on the red and blue rug in front of the bookcase and choose a book to read. That was probably my favorite part of … Continue reading The Childhood Books That Made Me Love Reading
My Favorite Books of Summer 2026
As usual, I've been thinking a lot about books lately. I've considered the books that made me into the writer I became as well as the books I read to write The Professor of Eventide. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time reading this summer and my tastes were eclectic. The books I … Continue reading My Favorite Books of Summer 2026
The Books I Read to Write The Professor of Eventide
Whenever I begin a new novel, I do a lot of reading around that project. Whether I’m researching a certain historical aspect or I’m looking to see what other authors have done with that topic, I enjoy learning as much as I can. While not everything I read ends up in the novel (in fact, … Continue reading The Books I Read to Write The Professor of Eventide
The Books That Shaped The Writer I Became
When I think about the writer I’ve evolved into, after more than 20 years of learning and honing my craft, I can trace part of that journey through four books in particular: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, and Leaves of Grass by … Continue reading The Books That Shaped The Writer I Became