• Are you a Plotter or a Pantser for the holidays?

    It’s that time of year again.  You may think I am referring to the four inches of snow outside, the frozen ice buckets in the barn, and the gas fireplace emitting warmth without a sound of a crackle. You have to love Virginia; we go from 58 one week and in the teens the next.

  • Moving Furniture and Remodeling the Site

    It has been a minute, literally, since I have been to this website. Check out the Update tab to find out the latest update on the writing of my novel. You may notice things look a little bit different on Grizzlybearma’s website. I am working on remodeling the website to reflect more of my professional

  • More Than Just Stuff

    I never imagined that I’d be so grateful to have the temperature outside rise to 35 degrees, and have clean running water inside a house full of memorable things I cherish. But this is what I am feeling. Today. Over the last four days, I have run the gamut of thoughts and feelings. What was

  • Another Great Day in Dayton, Ohio!

    If someone had told me a year ago that I would be living it up and laughing in a room full of writers in the middle of Ohio the first week of April I would have thought they had me mixed up with someone else. I am not saying that I do not belong here,

  • September Tips & Leaving Your Comfort Zone (AUDIO version! Give it a listen!)

    This audio recording was not so easy. Mowing this heart in the field was easier! In fact I think the recording is a bit rough. It’s just something that I am giving a try. Why not? It is September after all!

  • The Truth: Good Stuff , Bad Stuff, and Important Stuff

    10 minute read) Who wants to hear complaining? Worse yet, who wants to hear whining? Nobody. So why would I leave my last blog post with a teaser of “tune in to the next post to read about the not-so-rosy picture of coming home?” Why? The truth is that I felt a tinge of guilt

  • The Month I Traded the Farm for the Lake

    (10 minute read) Home sweet home, or as Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” Or in my case, “Farm sweet farm.” Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a homebody. My favorite days are when my car does not leave the driveway. It was true when I lived in a city suburb

  • Close Encounters With A Bear

    (7 minute read) Just as the action on the television was mounting (cars crashing, crowds of screaming people racing down the city street, zombies pouncing onto the uninfected) a very different kind of scary scene unfolded right inside of our living room. My husband and I had just cleaned up the kitchen after a delicious

  • Do you get Cancel Pleasure?

    (5 minute read) I am usually one for “cancel pleasure.” Not today. Right now I should be up in the sky above Virginia en route to the west coast. Instead, I am sitting with my coffee and dogs at home on my sofa. Usually, I am one of those odd home bodies that like when