Starting Out

I've taken a deep breath and am plunging into my first post.

As a newly published writer whose first novel went on sale in February, I've had an exhilarating and adventurous spring taking my words on the road. My audiences have ranged from three to three hundred, in venues as cozy as Pam's Paperbacks, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts (a gem of a bookstore) and as vast as CityStage, in Springfield, Massachusetts, where my book, Dancing on Sunday Afternoons, came to life with the music of flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook and the amazingly talented dancers of the New England Dance Theater.

Along the way, I've experienced moments of deep gratitude--for the friends who cheered me on, rejoiced in this pivotal moment in a writer's life and opened their address books to invite everyone they knew to come hear me. I also discovered how deep connections can be, when my babysitter--the woman who watched over me when I was a child-- arrived in a wheelchair at one of my readings; when cousins I didn't know existed wrote to me after reading the book and recognizing my name; when friends I hadn't seen in nearly thirty years showed up at bookstores with open arms and wonderful memories.

I've also made new friends. Readers who took the time to pen a note about what my words meant to them; authors like Carla Neggers, who shared a table with me at Pam's and shared her entertaining stories and dedicated fans as well; columnists like Tom Shea, who peppered me with questions in order to understand who I was and what I was writing about; independent bookstore owners like Pam Aronson and Janet Edwards, who LOVE books and offer their knowledge and their recommendations to spread the word.

Now that the whirlwind of travel and talk is over, I'm settling in for a summer of writing. Periodically I'll stop in here to post a few thoughts as I continue on this journey.