Test run

Memorial Day weekend is host to one of my favorite events of the year: the Port Costa citywide garage sale. Port Costa is a funky little town right on the bay that I used to blow past on the train when I was a conductor for a freight line. Back in the day, it was a...

Dream City

There's a parallel San Francisco that I go to in my dreams. It's full of unfamiliar streets, buildings, shops, but I know it's San Francisco. It has the same beauty and mystery that has always attracted me to the city, but it's unfamiliar, constantly shifting, unknowable. Mostly unknowable. Because, see, it's the same city. A...

#YesAllWhiteWomen

Two separate but oddly similar issues have been converging for me recently. The whole #YesAllWomen and #NotAllMen internet storm has been amazing to watch, though I haven't had much to add to the conversation. I've loved seeing my friends share their stories, and seeing people struggle (and often succeed) to explain exactly why #YesAllWomen is important....

Road Rage-ish

I'm not terribly prone to road rage. It's rare that I honk in anger, or scream and curse, and I think I've only ever flipped someone off once (after some careful deliberation). I think what I get is better labelled as Road Tics. In other words, I gesticulate and make odd noises, but there's very...

I’m talking about #HungerChallenge at Pens Fatales today!

Um, that's all. Go say hi.

If you have to fail, fail miserably

So here we are. Day 6 of the SF Food Bank's Hunger Challenge, and I am here to admit defeat. This challenge was never really about whether or not I could do it (I say defensively). I always knew I could - millions of people do, every day. I was just curious about how healthy...

My Hunger Challenge, Day 1

I was ready to go when I woke up. Saturday was the monthly meeting for my writing association, and I was able to squirrel away a cup of leftover fruit for my breakfast. I also picked up a cup of beautiful tomatoes, grown in East Oakland by the most amazing silver-maned erotica author you could...

The Hunger Challenge

I signed up for the SF Food Bank's Hunger Challenge, and starting on Sunday, I'll be trying to eat for $4.72 a day. Actually, I kinda feel like I'm cheating. See, I'm broke, and on Tuesday I had the first part of a very expensive root canal. So not only am I very unexcited about...

Writing Blog Pitfalls

As I mentioned, I use this blog to kick off my writing. It serves as the pressure-free blank page, and wakes my mind up gently. It's actually doing quite well at its job. Of course, there are exceptions. Yesterday I went for a hike in Golden Gate Park with the Boonie dog. I brought my...

Not totally in the mood for love

Late last year, I was coerced seduced invited to become a volunteer Board member for my local Romance Writers of America chapter. It was a pretty doggone good choice; SFA-RWA is a staggeringly fantastic group of strong women writers that I'm thrilled to be a part of. Though I'm a genre-jumper at heart (and will...