I’m pleased to announce that I have work appearing in two new anthologies! Abundant Grace is an anthology of fiction by DC-area women writers. It was published in November 2016 by Paycock Press. My story, “Out of Scale,” comes from the novel I am writing. The story of my 2006 c-section birth appears in a new anthology, Birth…
books
Author Dav Pilkey shares history of learning challenges
A few hours ago, my eight-year-old son and I popped back on the Metro from the Library of Congress National Book Festival at the DC Convention Center after sampling just a fraction of what the event had to offer in this, its first year taking place inside. The key attraction that got us there by 11…
City mouse, country mouse, suburban mom
It’s been a lifelong desire of mine to live many different existences at one time. I wanted to be a jet-setting child actress and also live a life of quiet contemptation from my perch in the treehouse. I wanted to be a busy, driven academic and also a party girl. Today, I want to be…
Dreaming of Down’s: From Left to Write Book Club Day
A few months before my daughter was born, in my sleep, a vision came into my head of a child with a crowded mouth of ill-fitting teeth. Then I heard the words, “She has Down’s.” My eyes popped open. It was the middle of the night, and my 4-year-old son lay sleeping next to me,…
Book reading as therapy: Monica Lemoine of Knocked Up, Knocked Down
I had the pleasure two weeks ago of hearing Monica Murphy Lemoine read from her book Knocked Up, Knocked Down: Postcards from the Brink of Parenthood while she was in town for a conference on perinatal and infant death. Let me tell you, Monica is no less engaging in person. Her book was already funny…
Book Review: Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood
Do you know and love a future – or new, or veteran – elementary school teacher? The perfect Back to School gift (or sugar-free Halloween treat) is Phillip Done’s Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood. Like his first book, the hilarious and tight 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny (which I…
Book Review: 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny
As a writer who often has to tap on the keys for hours and pages before I can find the most important thread of an essay, I have great admiration for authors like Phillip Done who can present a smart, witty and fulfilling treatment of a topic in just a few paragraphs and at the…