June ushers in summer with an abundance of memories: family weddings, high school and college graduations, anticipated or completed excursions to favorite destinations, or maybe travel to new ones. This year, for me in 2026, this month is also about making changes – a new look for my website and a new direction for my writing. First, the website. Since January, I’ve been working to update the existing site to better represent my brand. From the Write Side has been my baby for

The farmlands are mostly gone now, paved over, plowed under, transformed by tar and girded by concrete and order. But there, on the curve of the cul-de-sac, the wild creeps in. Mansions consume large lots, sport cultured lawns awash with weed killer that seeps and runs and strangles the native flowers, but deep within the curated grass, the wild creeps in. The wooded groves, the prairie fields struggle to retain purchase amid the plats with throwback names: Settler’s Walk

As winter settles in, I reflect on the meaning of giving, the beauty of simplicity, and the gifts that matter most, shared moments, meaningful words, and the people we cherish.

A quiet reflection on gratitude, connection, perseverance, and the people who leave lasting marks on our lives.

The abundance of leaves already on the ground invites the kid in me to scuff through them. I can’t resist the urge as I listen to the crunch and imagine myself off on an adventure with hobbits, attending a ball in Bath with Jane Austen, or practicing archery with Catniss. Fiction offers so many amazing escapes, and the bigger the volume, the better the read! This outlook explains why I gravitate to fiction first. I’m a storyteller who loves stories. Any well-written novel wil

As a teacher, I always equated September with the beginning of a new journey…new classes, new students, revitalized and revamped lessons…building on the past and adding the new to the future ahead of us. That, in turn, got me thinking about how we creative types move beyond the comfortable into the unknown to produce new work. To foster that for myself, I made a brief list of ways to move outside of the familiar. #1. Attend and speak at a Poetry Slam. Whoa, this was very far

This summer has been a hot one, challenging to work in the garden, sit on the porch, or exercise outdoors. Instead of a long end-of-summer piece, I thought I’d share a few learnings I’ve taken from my summer travels and reading; Adrian Dominican Sisters motto: Seek truth. Make Peace. Reverence life. Words and works to live by. Marcus Borg: The principal suffering of the poor is shame and disgrace. We should work to erase shame and replace it with hope. Gregory Boyle, S.J.: Ma

This hot and sultry month of July, it can be tempting to put our feet up, sip a summer drink, and stare into the horizon…and there’s nothing wrong with that! The creative muse inside each of us stirs to life when we make time for inspiration to arise. I find much about July to send my imagination spiraling. Below are a few ways I keep the ideas coming even as it’s “summertime, and the livin’ is easy…” #1. READ! I up my reading game during the summer, and July is the best mont