{{A re-post!}   Writing sweats it out of you, sometimes turnip blood, sometimes holy water, but the act is always a birth, a labor to be endured with sturdy legs and open mouth. There’s such pain rooted in the craft, which is inexorably tied to bliss, both binding together in a paroxysm of creation. A [...]

  Have you ever organized your desk, scoured the attic, or browsed garage boxes and found old letters from lovers, high school friends, or…yourself? Encased in dust, scourged by yellow, or just plain unread for years?   I did recently, and was amazed at how so much — and so little, really — has changed. [...]

  In the days when I’d visit my dear friend Rebecca, I remembered silence. Those afternoons of unrelenting nothing. Of near to zero noise and conversation and TV buzz. So many days, a million, we’d sit cross-legged from each other, she in her rocking chair, I in a vintage gold velvet-covered, straight-back number, and just [...]

Entertaining, especially holiday style, ranks way up there as one of my favorite feel-goods. I dig putting menus together, selecting festive cocktails, and planning stupid party games my husband nixes (i.e. throw random strangers together, hand them one word written on a file card, make them talk about it amongst themselves). (Every time, he says [...]

I turned eight on November 22, 1976. I asked for pierced ears and ballet lessons. Not normally accustomed to receiving what I wanted — my mom substituted items for what she thought would be more suitable (an encyclopedia set; a sporty Mickey Mouse watch with his tennis ball as the second hand; a bible) — [...]

You know how such complicated things are really quite simple? Like, you want to work out? WORK OUT (San Diego Momma). Or, you want to write a book? WRITE A BOOK (San Diego Momma). Or maybe you’ve been meaning to reclaim your soul from social media saturation. STOP TWEETING SO MUCH AND WRITE YOUR BOOK [...]

(This post is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic, the brand millions of owners trust to deliver their best night’s sleep every night. Enjoy our Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer now and give the gift of custom comfort to someone you love.)     The people I love.   I’m hesitant to admit this, because I [...]

Not sure if you all remember this:     Or this:     Or way back in the day, this:   (I used to have semi-musculature!)   But here’s what’s been happening:   Hold on…I need to find the most apt word…   The one that really sums up my healthy activities of the last [...]

{{While I think of words to write, this is what I’ve written…}}   {{Sometimes I really miss this place…}}     Yesterday, the girls and I walked to the beach. We’ve discovered the most wonderful “secret” passageways leading down to Sunset Cliffs and are spending our time exploring them. There are rusty, rickety metal stairways, [...]

I’ve completely absconded with this week’s writing prompt from Toasted Cheese (an amazing online literary journal).   Last week, I noticed Toasted Cheese tweeted a prompt and I loved it so much, I’m stealing it, but being honest about the theft.   So it’s not technically creative property burglary, right?   Here it is: Write [...]

  I found myself a little swept away the other day. It was Ladies Night at one of my favorite places, and there were all kinds of girly things: Paraffin waxes, cake balls, and hair feathers.   I know.   I’ve seen tons of kids at the elementary school rock the feathers, with a few [...]

I was driving to my dentist appointment when the phone rang.   My stepsister, Karen, got the words out right after hello. “Your dad is in the hospital.”   I blanked out for a moment and didn’t say a word in response. This was the moment I’d semi-prepared for and avoided thinking about since my [...]

Oh my loves. I apologize for dropping the PROMPT ball these last few weeks. I need to catch up on your submissions and general amazingness. And I will — Because it looks like today is a good day for catching up.   In the meantime, today’s PROMPT is:   The phone call.   Write about [...]