They all have a story — Every day I circle through the ground floor of our house with my walker. My exercise tour! Beginning in the bedroom, where the “cockpit” (aka the bed) is the center of my activity these days, I advance in my ground-gripping slippers, careful step by step. A Bishi chime, a gift…

My husband and I have developed a new ritual. After I brush my teeth, I sit on my walker in the bathroom, and he brushes my hair. I close my eyes as he strokes and pats and fluffs. I would happily sit there all day under his gentle ministrations. …

About twenty years ago I got divorced from a man I’d been married to for over twenty years. As divorces go, it was a relatively smooth one, but it was still one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life: to say aloud that I didn’t think our marriage…

In the last couple of years, since my ALS diagnosis, I’ve lived two parallel lives. One was the life I’d always been living as a writer in which I devoted my mornings — and often beyond — to writing, followed by taking care of business, running errands, exercising, socializing with…

Many of you know that I did a second guided mushroom trip last week, seeking a deeper encounter with death, and wanting to learn how to release my attachment to all I love about life. A tall order to ask of a measly mushroom. I used a different guide this…

This week’s post is written by Nancy Hopps. I will return next week to tell you about the second mushroom trip I took yesterday, wearing these ruby slippers! Death Can Be “Just Fine” by Nancy Hopps

(Week #4 of “A Brief Pause”) A month ago, I declared I was taking a brief break from writing this blog, but clearly I don’t seem to be capable of taking a real break! I write now in the midst of a racket overhead from the hammers of the roofers…

A few weeks ago I realized I needed to simplify my life to maintain focus on finishing my novel-in-progress. That is when I put this blog into what I’ve called “A Brief Pause,” so I would stop writing about matters of life and death and focus on fiction. I have…

In the course of writing and editing any novel, a lot is cut. Numerous reasons lie behind the cutting. The material might be unnecessary or repetitive; the sentences may be lackluster or too showy; the writing might be downright boring. …