Fascinating Authors

Q: Why did you decide to write this book?

A: I wrote Journeys Home out of the impulse to express myself. I’d wanted to write a book for a long time as both a creative expression and a test of my ability. Could I actually write a whole book? Could I make it interesting to readers? I believed I had ideas to contribute to human experience and that my way of expressing them would be unique. So I believed I had a story no one else could tell even though many would recognize its themes and relate to its details. I also wrote because the timing felt right and pieces fell into place.

Q: Do you have any secret writing tips you’d like to share?

A: My best writing tip: show up and honestly apply yourself to the page. I also have good luck with a red candle, a big tall pillar that takes a long time to burn down. Sometimes I have to stop and trim away the unmelted edge so the wick doesn’t drown in hot wax. This works best when a long burn has warmed and softened the edge. It’s a useful distraction from tricky grammar questions, a sore butt, and similar writing challenges.

Q: Tell us a quirky or funny story about you!

A: Being a woman of a certain age, I have many issues of beauty and grooming that create daily challenges. One is less common and more embarrassing than most. I wear a wig. Yes, I have a few sprigs of hair on my head, but not nearly enough for a hairdo. Hairdos require a large enough number of hairs forming a complete covering for the scalp and a hank thick enough to be combed into some shape. Once great swaths of pink scalp cannot be covered, a problem ensues. At first I created a female type comb-over that I deftly swirled into a small bun at the crown. When that could no longer meet the minimum requirements of “Hairdo,” I gladly donned a wig. Now, finding the right wig is vital to hair-challenged women. I thought I had a great solution until one day at Pilates class. Lying on my back, waving legs in the air I felt so confident. But when I rolled up to sitting, my wig stayed on the mat. I felt cool air around my head and knew immediately I’d been outed. The woman across the room who rolled up to face me didn’t bat an eye. Did she not see my naked head? I cleverly rolled back into the wig on the next move and kept smiling. Months later, in a different class, it happened again. This time, a very polite gentleman behind me kept his thoughts to himself. I fled to the wig salon forthwith in search of a better fit.

Q: Have you ever battled writer’s block? How do you deal with it?

A: I battled writer’s block over the previous bullet! Basically, I’m just not very funny in real life. Quirky, yes. But in an interesting way? Questionable. So I sat staring at the screen for a while, even after the wig idea popped in. I invited ideas from my husband. I rejected his ideas. My solution? Just do it. Just start writing. Just go ahead with that idea, whatever it is. If it doesn’t pan out, often it will usher in something that will. Did you laugh about my wigging out? Well, there you go.

Q: What’s your favorite quote?

A: “I am my only hope for a hero,” says the Tom Hanks character in the film, Joe Vs. the Volcano. It’s like I said above. Just do it. Quit sitting around waiting for a hero, a knight in shining armor, a prince to kiss you awake, a winning lottery ticket. Just do the work yourself—whatever needs doing. Or, I might add, hire the right person to do the job. You get what you pay for. In other words, “what isn’t brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate”—my other favorite quote. This one from Carl Jung.

Q: Who inspires you the most?

A: Like Joe quoted above, I don’t have a human hero. Qualities of life inspire me the most. Inspiration emanates from ordinary and extraordinary people I encounter through what they express in the moment. My mentor, Marion Woodman, inspires me to authenticity. My granddaughter, Sadie, inspires me to joyful love. The fussy woman in front of me in the grocery checkout line inspires me to patience. My inspiration also comes from the Divine world. For example, the image of Kwan Yin inspires compassion; the mythology of Sophia encourages wisdom; and the tradition of Kali calls forth fierce discrimination.