Given the speed with which December is approaching, I wanted to share this lovely poem with you all. Many of you may have read it.  It was shared with me in a writing class last July.  By chance, I pi

In a lawless area of Mexico where police officers frequently quit because of low pay and high risks, where police chiefs and mayors are regularly murdered, and where drug cartels seem to be in contr

  Some women never give up. Take Diana Nyad for example. Nyad, born August 22, 1949 in New York City, is attempting to complete a long-distance swim she attempted more than 30 years ago. Someti

Ana Gonzales Lewis (right) and her daughter Joli   Children's stories often have magical folk. Sometimes they offer the heroine three wishes. I've often thought about how best I'd use those w

    Sexy! Carmelina Vargas is definitely that and more as she sings and sways in her music video Love: "Turn off the lights. Take off our clothes. The rest is for no one to know... The

    Nirupama Pathak was a smart young woman. Her parents, who live in a remote mining region of India, were obviously proud of their daughter. They paid for her to go to graduate school

  Radmilla Cody may have grown up unfamiliar with the lyrics of Tammy Wynette's song Stand by Your Man. She, however, has lived them. Radmilla's connection to singing deepened during the 18 mo

How would you react if you 16-year-old daughter said she was going to sail around the world on her own? That's what Jessica Watson told her parents. Jessica recently became the youngest person to c

Check out photos of me in NYC on set of Good Morning American on my blog Living in the Heartland. Order a copy of this great book about contemporary American women at Amazon.com.  

    The time has come as with all things to move on. In this particular case I want to use the next few posts to examine the utility of Facebook for writers. To be honest I spend little