Each year I enter a story in the Easy Reader anniversary contest for writing and photography. This year I submitted an original short story about a meet-cute that happens on The Strand in the South Bay. I didn't win, but the story is in print for the Easy Reader 55th Anniversary Writing and Photography Contest.... Continue Reading →
Short story in print: June gloom vision
Each year I enter a story in the Easy Reader contest for writing and photography. This year I submitted a short story I wrote a couple years ago. I didn't win, but the story is in print for the Easy Reader 54th Anniversary Writing and Photography Contest. It's always fun to see stories in print.... Continue Reading →
Short story: The beach restaurant
A meet cute that happens at the beach...enjoy! Francesca breathed in the sea air as she opened the patio doors to her restaurant with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The marine layer was just beginning to break while some of the later surfers traipsed down to the beach for their morning appointment with wave... Continue Reading →
Short story: Little shop of Tahitian pearls
A meet cute that happens on a dive holiday...enjoy! The lone rain cloud traveling across the ocean caught up to Camila strolling along the dirt road circling the volcanic island that had pushed itself above the sea tens of thousands of years ago. After eons, the peak formed of lava began to sink, creating the... Continue Reading →
Adventure travel and the laundromat
Sometimes I don’t understand why I remember so vividly the least remarkable events in my life. Like the first time I used a laundromat. I was at college, my first year, my first couple of weeks. I remember it because I was discovering I had mononucleosis. I put my clothes in the machine. I was... Continue Reading →
The birth of goddess goop
Freelance work has its plusses. A stranger at a fancy dinner said to me last week, “Oh, you can work from anywhere.” Sure, I can wake up and start to work when I want from wherever I want – in my bed, from a fabulous resort in Indonesia, on a train. It doesn’t matter as... Continue Reading →
Short story: Meeting Mr. Unexpected
A meet cute that happens on a dive holiday...enjoy! Mia took a deep breath as she stepped into the jetway off her flight from Singapore to Manado, the last leg in a 24-hour in-air journey that left her home three days before. The fragrance of the humid tropical air brought into her conscience the best... Continue Reading →
Don’t knock diving the house reef
When I started diving, I made a promise to myself to take a dive trip at least once a year. I did a pretty good job sticking with that philosophy for a couple of decades. Well, until the pandemic. Then any plans I had before the lockdowns were delayed and then delayed, and then delayed... Continue Reading →
Short story: Costume Optional
A short story romance a couple days late for Halloween...hope you enjoy it! “Costume optional” Marina chuckled, reading the last line in italic print on the invitation to the retirement party on Halloween. Would anyone in the department even need a costume? Every day was some version of Halloween in the Department of Neurological Surgery.... Continue Reading →
How I wrote a novel
A line I read from an essay a few years ago claims no one tells you the protagonist in your first novel is you but with a better personal life. At the time, I was trying to write a draft of a novel. I had no idea I was writing a book about me until... Continue Reading →