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After weeks—no, months—of upheaval, it’s go time! I’ve turned in my campus keys and the movers are arriving in the morning, so it’s just about time for us to bid farewell to our life in beautiful California and follow our belongings back to the Midwest—where the seeds of our lives first sprouted. We’re getting the…
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Hi there! In my last post, I shared that some big changes are happening in my life. In the intervening weeks, the end has drawn nigh. I’m down to my final TWO WEEKS of my career as an English professor. As happy as I am to be retiring (especially amidst the untrammeled horror of AI),…
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Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve made a post. That’s not laziness on my part, not intentional neglect, but a consequence of the chaos I’m currently navigating. 2026 stormed in roaring, and life got a swipe with its massive paw. After almost 20 years living in the Sacramento area, we’re leaving California and…
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Greetings, friends! 2025 was a tough one for a lot of us, and I expect there aren’t many who are sad to see its back. I hope, though, that the year left gently for you and your holiday has been full of joy, peace and love. Our Christmas was quiet and content, but we got…
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Happy December, everyone! Today, I’ve got a little treat for subscribers—a Christmas story set in the world and time of the Signal Bend Heritage series! It’s called “A Very Mindy Christmas,” and subscribers can access it in Subscriber-Exclusives right now! Not a subscriber? You can fix that right here! The inspiration for this story happened…
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I generally love the holidays and dive head-first into all the happy chores of making the season magical—decorating, cooking and baking, gift shopping and wrapping, the whole sparkly ball of fun. When our sons were kids, I worked hard—and eagerly—to make the holiday as special as I could, even in my single-mom days, when the…
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Thoughts on the (Dreaded) Miscommunication Trope Several weeks ago, I got a message from a reader challenging me (nicely) about what she argued was a misalignment between my stated aversion to the miscommunication trope and the occurrence of miscommunication in several of my stories. In responding to that reader’s message, I ended up thinking pretty…
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In virtually my entire life, I have never enjoyed sports in any way. As a participant? HAHAHAHAHA. Though I work out regularly and have for years, I am possibly the least athletic person on the planet. I have virtually no spatial awareness. I’m clumsy. I’m slow. I’d rather be in a comfy chair beside the…
