For not-writer stuff
My friend Shelli was living with her cat-allergic mother and needed someone to take care of her cat until she was once again in her own place. I was more than willing, in fact I campaigned for the honor. I’d met Hippo years before and fell in love with her Read more…
My father got custody of my twin sister and me when we were twelve, in sixth grade at Perry Middle School in Perry, Ohio. He had to snatch us quickly, in the middle of the day, one of us at school, the other being kept home, while Mom wasn’t around Read more…
I was in second grade, I’m pretty sure, but maybe first. That age where, every week, we had to fold a piece of paper in half, lengthwise, and number ten lines for our spelling test. The teacher would pace sedately down the aisles between desks, watching us bent dutifully with Read more…
After all my anxiety about Covid at WorldCon, I came home healthy and tested negative. Probability, as always, is a jerk and delights in rewarding risk and punishing caution. While I was away, my husband, who has been very careful and staying home, decided to take the car in for Read more…
It’s amazing how different a convention feels when you know, well, what to do at conventions. The rules of engagement, as it were. What a panel is, what cosplay is. When the parties are and whether you can just show up or need an invitation. That’s what I was thinking Read more…
WisCon is my favorite convention. Really, it is. Being in an environment SO liberal that I am not an outlier is like … being a mermaid returned to an ocean she hasn’t seen since babyhood. I can breathe free. Madison, Wisconsin is also an adorable town. A college town and Read more…
A year ago, Brian and I became the legal guardians of our niece, Jennifer. It was a difficult and emotionally fraught journey, and in the end, we were overwhelmed with gratitude that we were able to provide shelter, stability, and love to this amazing young woman. But something a little Read more…