Upcoming Events

“Idol Talk” Dramatic Reading (fundraiser)
Firehouse Performing Arts Center & Exit Dance Co.
8 pm Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11
1 Market Square
Newburyport, MA

“Book Talk”–Teen Idols Meet Robert Redford 
5:30 pm, Tuesday, July 9

First United Methodist Church
Hickory, NC

“Sarah McGuirk, Orphan Train Rider” (NC  Humanities Council)
10:30 am, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019
Newcomers Club

Catawba County Museum of History
Court Square
Newton, NC

In the News

Idol Talk was a finalist for the 2019 Eric Hoffer Award for Anthologies. The Hoffer awards honor independently-published books that celebrate independent, creative thought.

I was honored with a Merit Scholarship to Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop in June 2019. The award was based on an excerpt from my novel-in-progress.

Idol Talker Linda Sienkiewicz has featured the book on her blog. Check it out here: http://lindaksienkiewicz.com/women-writers-share-celebrity-crushes/#comment-5790

As of September 2018, Idol Talk is ranked #5 in overall sales for McFarland Publishers.

Hear my July 6 interview on WHKY’s First Talk program here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zNuqxFL-06MzadJdlx5H_m0F7z7mrrrt/view

Elizabeth Searle and I are thrilled to announce the publication of IDOL TALK: Women Writers on the Teenage Infatuations That Changed Their Lives from McFarland & Co., May 2018. We collected essays from 44 outstanding female writers sharing their memories of how their celebrity crush affected their life.  Mr. Teen Idol himself, Peter Noone,  Herman of Herman’s Hermits, wrote the foreword. Discounted copies will be available at public readings and other book events.

My story, “Midlife,” appears in the first issue of Torch Magazine of Richmond Community College, Rockingham, NC.

Reminder from the NC Writers Network: I’m one of them.  http://www.ncwriters.org/index.php/our-members/network-news/4883-ncwns-critiquing-and-editing-service-a-reintroduction

My story, “Southern Gal,” appeared in the premiere issue of Teach. Write.

My essay, “It Could Happen to You,” appeared in the 2017 issue of City Works Literary Journal, a publication of San Diego City College.

WFAEats food essays. Read them here: http://wfae.org/topic/wfaeats

Column Fare

I write a biweekly column for the Observer-News-Enterprise in Newton, NC, Hickory Daily Record, Hickory, NC and the Lincoln Herald, Lincolnton, NC. My latest offering is posted on the “Blogs” section of this website.