Hayley Mills Makes Me Cry
About ten years ago, I flew cross-country to a Hollywood film festival to see, among other things, Hayley Mills introduce The Parent Trap in person. Boomers like me adored the story of twins (both played by Hayley) who swap places to reunite their long-divorced parents before Dad marries a gold-digger. When Hayley started speaking, the […]
Homework in the hunting-gathering age
The other day, I heard a kid complain about waiting a WHOLE FIVE MINUTES for his smart phone’s poky digital response. I sneered a little, thinking of writing class reports in the pre-Google world. Paleolithic-era students, like me, had to forage for information at libraries, not just summon a handheld AI genie who then belched […]
Service with a smile
Remember the story of the first century waiter/dishwasher Philip? This lowkey disciple was faithfully serving food and clearing tables in Jerusalem when the Lord promoted him to headline at a monster revival rally in Samaria. Things were looking up for him. He was moving into the big leagues—locking horns with false prophets, working with Peter! […]
Her master’s voice
It only took about four or five words for her to recognize his voice as it boomed over the PA system that miraculous morning. A few words and she was simultaneously electrified with ecstasy and plunged into deepest embarrassment. The girl, just your average teen. The setting, a high school classroom, populated with kids avoiding […]
The boy next door
When I was about 8 years old, the nice college boy next door, Jim Roberts by name, taught me to play chess. I remember him as a lanky, dark-haired fellow with smiling eyes and an easy friendliness, that last being a household trait. The Roberts clan set the “perfect neighbors” bar sky-high. I was in […]
The deadline diet
Being fabulous is SO exhausting, isn’t it? There just aren’t enough hours in the day to crank out a bestseller and eat right. And who’s got the money for constant takeout? You—yes, you—can enjoy a decent meal even on a deadline with a little planning and a well-stocked pantry. None of this info is groundbreaking—many […]
Books a-go-go
While other kids on my block were building tree forts and roller-skating and strolling their dolls, I was curled up with a book in our junked Mercury sedan. Buying Christmas or birthday gifts for little Marline was dead easy. Forget the days-of-the-week underwear or the Tinkerbell perfume, I’ll take a book, thank you. My wise, […]
Has anybody seen my tribe?
I discovered just how Southern I was about 10 years at one of the Turner Classic Movie Film Festivals in Hollywood. It happened during my virgin voyage on John Ford’s Stagecoach. (See my love letter to “Pappy” Ford below.) While the rest of the audience was swooning over a baby-faced John Wayne effortlessly swinging his rifle into […]
How did I launch 5 books in just 1 year?
Like launching an ocean liner, a book launch introduces something new and exciting to a waiting world. Both events include fanfare, anticipation, eager throngs, bottles of bubbly shattered on hulls…oh, hold on, not that last one. Authors weep with joy when their book launch day arrives. Unless it’s the OTHER kind of launch. The kind […]
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