My father passed away on March 5th, 2026 - after a rapid decline that kind of came out of nowhere. I thought I was writing to learn to love my mother more wholeheartedly - the unraveling, UnRibboning of us and she and me. Then, I was writing vigil. I'm still in shock, I'm sure. My brain is foggy and weird, but the writing was done in the moment, as everything was happening. And it is finished. Not like I wrote that everything is healed from the grief - good heavens, no - this happened five days ago. But there was so much anticipatory grief, and beauty, and joy, and sadness, and rage, and family dynamics that all poured out of me all at once. I just sent my first ever query letter to an Agent. This feels like a book that needs good representation to get to a wide audience. It's about Menopause, the Sandwich Generation, Mother/Daughter dynamics, family patterns, lessons learned on the page. And getting to being able to have grace and acceptance and really, true love for my mom - just in time for us to really need each other. How amazing. How amazing to be a part of this.

Today at 4pm Pacific Time - Just click on the link in the Calendar! I'll make it easy - here's the link - no hunting... https://www.skool.com/live/Nmds2LtrCgt

Hey friends - it's been a crazy week. I figured out how to load the Podcast on Spotify - just search for Holding Orbit for Writers - it's searchable. Sound is still iffy, but it will get better. I'll figure out the RSS feeds so the podcast can live on all the platforms. And, a friend who was on a plane to Denmark asked if she could interview ME for my own podcast. Which would be really fun - she's known me through so much - and been with me when some of the heavy poetry fell. She also loves me like Leslie Knope loves Ann Perkins on Parks and Rec - over the top, thinks I'm the Bee's Knees. How can one pale before love like that? Then, some local poets - and maybe people I meet on social. The podcast is off and running!

If you are new to this environment - this is a short walk-through of how to get around, and how to turn off notifications!

A small shift happened this week. (The technology gremlins didn’t keep me from figuring out Spotify.) Whoohoo!! This season feels like planting—showing up, sorting, letting things take root. What season does your writing feel like right now? https://open.spotify.com/episode/2oIb0Gh2rSKgQJPXhcSSU6?si=UljBDADJRo6zCM3Ru7iAQQ&t=4