by Susan McBride Today is my mom’s birthday, although we won’t talk about her age (since she doesn’t act like it anyway). As you read this, I’m doubtless at the casino with her, playing the penny slots, since we make a pilgrimmage every year to celebrate. Usually, she wins, and I don’t. But I try […]
Beware of Groupon. You might find yourself in a Belly Dancing class in Irving, if you’re not careful. My Belly Dancing adventure began last October, or so, when a friend forwarded a Groupon offer for Belly Dancing classes. Sure!, I thought. I can do that. Easy to pay $20 for 4 classes with no specifics…yet. […]
I recently attended Crime Bake, a convention in Massachusetts for mystery writers and fans. I was fortunate enough to see Dennis Lehane, one of my favorite authors, speak about writing. Recently, after publishing several stand-alone novels, which unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you’ve heard of: Shutter Island, Mystic River, […]
Jessi, the bride and her grandmother–me. I am not the best photographer in the world, nor do I know how to crop pictures, but this is during the wedding, and my son-in-law is officiating. Things didn’t start well. The D.J. who had the music for the processional had a flat tire. Once he had that […]
I’m the mother of four, mother-in-law of two, grandmother of one, and as of last Friday, an empty nester. Sigh. The last baby bird has flown the nest. Daughter moved into her first apartment in the Big Apple. I’m thrilled and delighted for her new adventure. I’m worried about all the things Moms worry about […]
In the Strangest of Places I realized something the other day, something I’m not sure I should admit out loud. But here I go, anyway… With the exception of a few life-longers, the majority of my friends have one very specific thing in common. No, they’re not all writers.No, they’re not all chocoholics like myself.And […]
“I Want To Be In Your Book.” “No, You Don’t.” When you’re an author, everything around you is fodder for creative writing. The crazy characters you run into, odd experiences, etc. We get to take moments from real life and twist them into fictional fun, reworking them to suit our story needs. (Of course, not […]
Is the rhetoric responsible for what happened in Tucson over the weekend? Probably not; we’ll never know. Should everyone stop flinging blame? Yes; it serves no purpose than diluting the argument. Should we reevaluate what we say and how we say it? Absolutely. End of subject for me. This is a tragedy that I cannot […]
Yesterday’s post put the horrific events in Arizona out on the blog. Even mentioning this is so different from the usual atmosphere of this blog, but it’s something that really can’t be ignored. We are living in difficult times, and I do think that’s one of the reasons people are reading more–to find themselves in […]
We try not to write too much about politics on this blog. One reason is that the members of The Stiletto Gang all have different beliefs. Even a blog post by “Evelyn David,” involves the views of two authors from two different parts of the country, from two different religious backgrounds, and from two different […]