Family Life Stories

Poe For Your Problems

Poe For Your Problems

Of all the writers anywhere, Edgar Allen Poe might be the least likely person you'd turn to for advice. His life was beyond complicated: he married his cousin, got fired from one job after another, constantly feuded with friends and rivals, and he was always broke....

Making Meaning from Loss

Making Meaning from Loss

When their only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at the age of 2, Maryanne O'Hara and her husband were told that Caitlin could live a long life or die in a matter of months. Thirty-one years later, following an excruciating, two-year wait on the...

Poets & Resilience

Poets & Resilience

I love how different genres of books can appeal to all kinds of readers. I recently read three books written by poets, in the categories of inspiration, memoir, and prayer. Maggie Smith's Keep Moving is a little collection of "notes on loss, creativity, and change."...

Welcome to My Bookshop

Welcome to My Bookshop

As an author and avid reader, I'm always concerned about the success of community treasures like independent bookstores. If you are too, check out Bookshop, a terrific new site where you can buy books and your purchases benefit the book stores you love. I've curating...

Crossover Fiction Gets Parents & Teens Talking

Crossover Fiction Gets Parents & Teens Talking

Numerous studies also confirm what every reader already knows—that the novel is an incomparable vehicle for the exploration of human social and emotional life. Literary critics and philosophers have long advanced the notion that one of fiction’s main jobs is to raise...