I am writing this at my desk in cabin #20 at the Highlights Foundation’s retreat center. As I look out my window past the screened-in porch, I see a gentle rain pattering on the brilliant patchwork of fall leaves in the woods beyond. All around me are other small cabin...

I've enjoyed having Lynn Lothman as a participant in my Monday afternoon Amherst Writers & Artists workshop, “Writing from the Heart.” Lynn has lived in the equatorial jungles of Sumatra and traipsed through the streets and underground of London, and her collection of...

It's been far too long since I've showcased one of the talented writers in my Monday afternoon women's writing workshop, "Writing from the Heart." Barbara Leary's work schedule doesn't often permit her to join us, but I love it when she does! Barbara says she'll write...

Where I live in Loudoun County, the snow is falling thickly. According to the forecast, we are supposed to get up to 10 inches, which is a whopper of a storm for us in northern Virginia. So, for those who are able to stay home and receive this day as a gift of found ti...

Sometimes I think I do my best writing on my friend Summer Hardinge’s screen porch. As a writing workshop leader, I have long realized the importance of filling my cup by going to other leaders’ workshops. Summer and I are both Amherst Writers & Artists workshop facili...

At the end of April a small group of writers joined me for Flower & Garden / Pen & Page, a Saturday morning writing workshop that incorporated a visit to the annual Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival within walking distance of my house.

As part of our writing that da...

In the last six-week session of Writing from the Heart, one of our favorite prompts was this: Write about your favorite childhood junk food, perhaps in the form of an ode. An ode is a lyric poem that praises its subject, one of the classics being Keats' "Ode on a Greci...

Sometimes as writers we just need a quick fix—to be noticed, to have our work read by someone other than our spouse, and to see our words in print (or online). If you find yourself in need of some quick validation, submitting a short piece to Visual Verse may be just t...

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” —Woody Allen

On Thursday I made the five-hour drive to Milanville, Pennsylvania, with two writer friends. We arrived at the Highlights Foundation’s retreat center after dark, the final eight miles of the trip m...