Blog

I’m extremely lucky to have the support of my little community of Durango, CO. My launch event for FORGIVENESS ROAD was held March 4 at the Durango Public Library. My favorite independent bookstore, Maria’s, was on hand to sell all three of my books. And close to 50 people turned out for a talk, reading and cupcakes. Special thanks go to Phoenix, a bookseller at Maria’s, who introduced me. She noted the importance of the tough subjects I write about and how powerful my writing is. (I still tear up!) I grew up in a small town (population 1200) and... Read More0

I promised to post a special excerpt from my upcoming novel, Forgiveness Road, if more than 500 people added it to their to-be-read lists on Goodreads. So here goes! Let me set the scene. It’s 1970s Mississippi. Sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering has killed her father to stop him from abusing her little sisters. She’s remanded to a psychiatric hospital. Part of her treatment are sessions with the hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Guttman. Here’s one of their conversations I call Beach Memories. “I’d like us to agree not to use the word ‘murder’ during our visits, because it’s also a banned word. I... Read More0

The Last Suppers raises issues that are as relevant today as they were in the 1950s: poverty, racism, the death penalty, and sexual inequality. The book, although fiction, has sparked important discussions and debates. Click here to read several statistics about the death penalty in the U.S. For those who wish to learn more about the death penalty — past and present — below is a list of resources. Death Penalty Information Center National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Ministry Against the Death Penalty (Sister Helen Prejean) Southern Poverty Law Center Amnesty International0

 The song ‘Sisters’ in White Christmas (one of my all-time favorite movies) makes me smile and think of my own younger sister every time I hear it. On my 10-day trip to Texas to promote THE LAST SUPPERS, Tessa was my chauffeur, friend and cheerleader every step (mile) of the way. She’s the one person who can make me laugh so hard I can’t regain my composure. This has proved extremely embarrassing in restaurants and at fast food drive-thru speakers. I was a tad bit afraid that she’d make me laugh during my book talks, but I think we were both... Read More0

I’ve dubbed my 10-day trip to Texas the Great Texas Book Tour of 2018. It was an exhausting, exhilarating blur. The final official stop was Interabang Books in Dallas on Thursday, January 25. It’s one of the coolest book stores I’ve ever been in. There were 22 people at the reading/signing including two book clubs. One club (pictured) drove in all the way from Cleburne, TX. My sister, Tessa (in the maroon top), and I drove in from Glen Rose, where she lives. It was 90 miles we expected to be much more harrowing. (Thank goodness, navigating Dallas traffic proved to be... Read More0

Back in October 2017, when I learned I’d be speaking in Austin in late January, I contacted my friend Lisa Whittlesey. She and I were on the Texas 4-H Council back in the 1980s. We were both Aggies. And I knew she lived and worked in College Station. Since I’d already be in Austin, I asked her to recommend a book store that might host an author talk and signing. Lisa took the ball and ran with it. By the time it was all over, she had orchestrated a private dessert reception for a large group of friends at an ultra hip boutique hotel (The... Read More0