Stories

 

Read my stories in the following publications:

Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain

Sixteen authors share stories and poems about a country ripe with contradiction: an arid landscape filled with lush gardens; the practice of elaborate Christian rituals in churches echoing a rich Islamic past; a land of bullfighters, gypsies, poets, philosophers and scholars; a place where duende and alegría coexist.

I lost myself in the history and soul of Andalusia on this, my second visit. I contributed two stories to the book, “Seville’s Most Holy Week,” about the magic and madness of semana santa (Holy Week) in Seville and “In Search of a Shining Moment,” which looks back to the time when Christians, Jews, and Muslims worked side by side to create a flowering culture.

I remember that night in Seville as a whirling blur of light, color, music, and raw emotion. Yellow candles flickered on a raised carpet of red roses; the air quivered with the scent of incense and orange blossoms; my ears rang with the hypnotic dirge of drums and the wail of trumpets in the minor key of grief.
—“From Solas award-winner “Seville’s Most Holy Week”

The calming magic of the Great Mosque enveloped me as soon as I stepped over the threshold. In the hypostyle hall, a hypnotizing array of double horseshoe arches—vivid in alternating stripes of white stone and red brick—marched toward infinity. Yellow light radiated from lanterns that swung low in the dim hall. Scents of incense and earth drifted by, the mineral smells of great age.
—“From Solas award-winner “In Search of a Shining Moment”

 

 

The stories in this book, including two of mine, venture deep into Cornwall, exploring its castles, its contrast to Camelot, the lingering shadows of Arthur’s, to sorrows buried deep in its history on windswept moors and jagged coasts. Yet, they also encounter the hospitable Cornish, with their enchanting accents, their delightful yarns, their humor, their endurance. They wander, bicycle, hike and kayak to explore hills, waterways, villages and moors in search of the spirit of artists and writers who have come before them to leave an imprint on this untamed land.

“Looking down … at this eerie landscape, I felt the weight of these primeval stones on my heart—the eons of life, hope, and death that have played out here. I shivered and skipped a breath, disturbed by a palpable force of time and inevitability.”
—“From Solas award-winner “Moorstones”

“The roundabouts were one-eyed monsters, swirling vortices of peril…I shot out of the roundabout onto a snakelet of a track that was squished between two six-foot granite walls. Good lord! Is this road even wide enough for my car?”
—From Keats award-winner “Driving Me Mad.”

 

 

My story “Southern Girls,” published in Charleston and the South, joins with tales from other members of the Southern Sampler Artists Colony to celebrates live as spicy as low-country gumbo and as rich as bourbon-laced pecan pie—stories we’re pleased to share with those in need of a little armchair travel. Pour some sweet tea, settle in the nearest porch swing, and savor these unique and varied stories inspired by bountiful Southern history and hospitality.

“Old Charleston smelled of sea salt, river marsh, and antique brick. The azaleas stole the show, strutting their crimson blooms here and all over the South every April. But it was the sticky sweet fragrance of gardenias and the musky scent of boxwood that carried me back to my youth—to three sultry Carolina coming-of-age years when Barbara was my first best friend.
—From “Southern Girls”

 

 

While I don’t think of myself as an “oldlys,” I’m happy to be part of this collection of 41 true travel tales from the over-60 crowd: Dervla Murphy travelling in Cuba at the age of 74, Matthew Parris swimming the Thames at 60, and Colin Thubron climbing the last stronghold of the Assassins. I join them in defying expectations—and the odds—venturing outside our comfort zones onto a less-travelled path.

From the publisher: To Oldly Go is a collection of challenging and unusual travel escapades. Some stories are thrilling, some thought-provoking, and some just plain fun, but all celebrate an irrepressible appetite for adventure.

I looked like “a senior Dora Explorer, my daybag slung across my chest like a bandolier, my straw hat askew, my camera and water bottle flopping as I teetered tender-footed on the broiling paving stones – no shoes allowed in the temple precinct.”
—From “The Hat”

 

 

Wandering in Paris coverTwo of my stories, “My Phantom of the Opera” and “The Bracelet,” appear—along with 24 other stories and poems—in the award-winning anthology Wandering in Paris — Luminaries and Love in the City of Light.

More than a city, Paris is actually a world of its own, and the stories in this collection uncover some surprising new facets of the much-celebrated metropolis. My fellow writers connect with all that makes Paris astounding: Addressing Parisian luminaries, art, fashion, music, cuisine and passion, they present a sometimes shimmering, sometimes shadowy picture of a city that defies cliché.

I discovered the magic of the Paris opera house–once called the Academie Nationale de Musique; now known simply as Palais Garnier—on my first visit to the City of Light in 1993. Golden dreams flickered in the candlelit glow. My heels clicked on M. Garnier’s priceless marble as, wearing emerald silk and holding Jack’s arm, I sashayed down the staircase into the grand foyer. There, a Versailles-like gallery of windows, mirrors and candelabra shimmered under a pastel-painted sky peopled by wispy figures from Greek myth. (Excerpt from “My Phantom of the Opera”)

 Wandering in Paris won top honors from the 2013 London Book Festival in the anthologies and collections category.

 “Wandering in Paris is not only one of my favorite things to do in the world; it is also the title of this marvelous new collection of stories and poems …. a transportive book.”
— Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage

 

 

“Bali Shadows and “Authentication Failed,” join twenty other stories and poems, some mystical, some funny, some terrifying–in the anthology Wandering in Bali—A Tropical Paradise Rediscovered.

From computer glitches to shadow puppets, temples, Balinese feasts, classical music and dance, I and my fellow writers sample and share the multiple faces of Bali.

“…Sitting on the lanai, I remembered our first day there: the air heavy with the fragrance of frangipani and promised rain … the thrumming of an afternoon downpour on our thatched roof … the sound of sawing cicadas and the whoop of a kingfisher diving in the gorge.”

The buzz on Wandering in Bali:
“For centuries, Bali has drawn souls from east and west to its natural beauty, mystical spirituality, and captivating arts. This collection of stories, poems, and photographs offers multiple windows from which to view this engaging place, all presented with rhythms and moods as melodic as the sound of the gamelan.”
—Larry Habegger, Executive Editor, Travelers’ Tales Books

“Like renting a frangipani-scented hut, kicking back and sharing the sensory wonderland that is Bali with a bunch of your fast friends—if your friends knew how to tell really good stories.”
—Spud Hilton, Travel Editor, SF Chronicle

On sale now from Book Passage, the Bay Area’s favorite bookstore:

 

 

“Toboggans and Bouzouki Music”

Published in the anthology “Travel Stories from Around the Globe by Bay Area Travel Writers.”

Surprise, serendipity, connection, and personal transformation — you’ll find them all in this delightful anthology of 23 juried stories by San Francisco’s Bay Area Travel Writers. Introduction by Don George, Editor-at-Large for National Geographic Traveler.

What do  toboggans and bouzouki music have in common? They both represent steps on my potholed road to recovery and my return to adventure travel.

…”I cringed. I waffled. My stomach flipped and flopped for seconds that seemed like minutes. Then …  I shrugged my shoulders, crouched and lowered myself gingerly into the shiny bullet, feeling like a human cannonball–and just about as smart.”

 

 

“Why I Still Travel to the Wild”

Published in the travel anthology Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness, 101 Stories about Finding Your Purpose, Passion, and Joy.  Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing,  2011.

This story is a reflection on my (some might say stubborn)  determination to continue traveling to remote corners even after my health was compromised by a stroke and autoimmune disease, “…perilous places–the jungles of Thailand or Borneo or Papua New Guinea, for example, where the water is often unsafe and the food chancy…”

 

 

“Dodging Snakes in Costa Rica”

Published in the travel anthology Wandering in Costa Rica:Landscapes Lost and Found, Wanderland Press, October 2010.

When you’re as afraid of snakes as I am, a Costa Rican jungle is (perhaps) not the best place to travel alone. Or is it?

Read my first-person tale in Wandering in Costa Rica: Landscapes Lost and Found, described as “a delightful anthology of more than twenty short stories and poems about one of the world’s favorite vacation spots by travel writers from Costa Rica and the U.S. From rainforests and volcanoes to tropical beaches, butterfly gardens, colorful towns and villages, the writers wandered the country and brought back a fine collection of poetry and stories that present Costa Rica in richly personal style.”

 

 

Articles

 

Good Housekeeping Magazine Cover
“Too Young to Have a Stroke,”

Good Housekeeping Magazine

Read my first person account of what it was like to experience the unthinkable… to be perfectly healthy yet have a stroke at only 48 years old. Read it here

 

“Could You Have a Stroke?”

Strokes can affect anyone at any time, but you can significantly reduce the likelihood of having a stroke by lowering your risks. Read how in my story for Good Housekeeping. Read it here.

 

Stroke Connection Magazine Cover
“My Collision with the Hidden Risk Factors for Stroke”

Stroke Connection Magazine, a publication of the American Heart Association.

I was dumbfounded after it happened. Only 48 years old and perfectly healthy. How could I have had a stroke? Read about the hidden risk factors for stroke you need to know about to reduce your own risk. Read it here.

Also read the sidebars:

“Know the Warning Signs of Stroke”

“What Women Need to Know About the Hidden Risk Factors for Stroke”

My story “What Women Need to Know About the Hidden Risk Factors for Stroke” was reprinted with permission by these organizations and others:

American Heart Association web site: About Stroke

Stroke Information.Net: Learn About Stroke

The article was also cited in the book Women and Stroke Research, Jean Candolotti and Jason Burnside, eds., Nova Science Publishers, May 2008