Look at this beautiful little guy! My housekeeper, Delilah, was vacuuming when this baby skink hopped on her hand. Here he is on her index finger. I don’t know how he got inside, but we put him back in the front yard where the grown up skinks can take care of him.      …

I have a behavioral problem with Jet. He’s an obsessive licker, truly orally fixated. He’s very sweet and friendly, so people initially love him, but once he starts licking their legs, their arms, their hands—any      explosed patch of skin, he loses favor with them. My youngest stepdaughter, Caitlin, has been visiting from California for the last few days.…

My little brother, Rob Lopresti,–mystery writer, songwriter, university librarian and a few other things–has a new story on the web. I laughed out loud reading it. It’s sci-fi. . . kind of. . . but I still got a kick out of it.

Every six weeks, I spend half a day at my doctor’s office receiving an IV infusion of a drug called Remicade. Remicade is in a newish class of drugs that have made a huge difference in the lives of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (and also, Crohns Disease). I have a love-hate relationship with it. I love…

This is my FAVORITE online video clip. It makes me smile and also brings a tear to my eye because of the trust and joy in the dog’s face. The dancers are Carolyn Scott and her gorgeous golden, Rookie. When you get to this page, click the link to “download the wonderful video of Carolyn and…

Sometimes writers, especially early in their careers, view editors as adversaries. With my first book, I was so proud of every word that when my editor suggested changes, I balked. It takes a while to realize writers and editors are on the same team. I’m thinking about this right now because I’m excited to be working…

The first time I read this book, many years ago,  I didn’t like it. It’s a tough read. Morrison’s language is so dense and packed with imagery and symbolism that the reader must allow herself to be consumed by it. There’s no other way to read this book, and I must have wanted to rush through…

Scrunchies are out and have been for a long time. I just disvoered this by watching a rerun of an old Sex and the City in which one of the characters is grossed out by a woman who wears scrunchies. Then I read  in a ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ column how scrunchies are definitely O-U-T.…

As promised, here’s the original cover for KEEPER OF THE LIGHT. Fortunately, my protests and those of my agent were loud enough to change the publisher’s mind before publication. would you have picked this book up??  they got rid of the lady coming out of the dunes and i was very happy with the result.  The pink…

One of my writers’ email loops is having a discussion about the BAM opening–you know, something really dramatic happens on the first page of a book so you have to keep reading. Do you need that? How many pages will you give a book before deciding it’s for you (or not for you)? What makes…