In the next week or so, I will be publishing a teen version of Ripple. Here’s the Forward that explains why . . . Dear reader: This book is a condensed, abridged and quite frankly, a cleaned up version of Ripple, A Tale of Hope and Redemption. For weeks after I released Ripple, I felt a tinge of sadness and regret because my own daughter could not read it. “Mom,” she would urge, her blue-gray eyes only partially-hidden behind her girlish, red [...]
I walk into the kitchen and I smell it before I see it. Lime. Gin. Tonic water. I lick my lips. Remember the old movies? The alcoholic walks into a bar and his face contorts in misery. He licks his lips. He covers his mouth with his hand. He fidgets and shoves his hands in his pockets. And you think to yourself, He’s going to end up drinking. He looks so weak, in so much pain. How can he possibly [...]
My daughter gripped her pen and hesitated. “So Mom, how’s your writing going?” I sighed. I was tired. “Good. I’m in the middle of a scene.” “What’s it about?” Her voice rose. “Is it inappropriate?” “Yes.” “Oh, does it have people, like, kissing?” I rubbed my face with my hands. The muscles around my eyes felt tight. “No!” “Is it like when the mom murders the father?” “Sort of, but it wasn’t murder,” I started to explain. And then I [...]