From my upcoming memoir: "Interrupted Journeys: a Memoir of an Army Brat

As I gazed off my balcony in Heidelberg, I sniffled, and then cleared my throat. This was to be my last day in Germany. I would miss the large house with its rose gardens, pansy beds and woods in the back. I would miss my friends in fourth grade such as Barbara Bowers, who shared my first name, and whose last name rhymed with mine -- Towers. Also, Linda, the little girl who lived next door and was two years younger, and Eliska, our German maid, who became my best friend while we were there.

Eliska hid our Easter eggs and jelly beans for my sister, Marilyn, and me among pansies while our parents spent holidays in Italy. Eliska was my confidant when kids at school beat us up or the Germans stole our bicycles and sleds. Eliska invited me to Cologne on a train ride to meet her family one weekend. I'll never forget the majestic cathedral in Cologne, northern Germany, or the bedroom dresser filled with homemade cakes and strudels her mother had baked.

The evening we arrived at Eliska's farmstead home outside Cologne, we dined on two of those cakes with German coffee. What a treat! I wanted to stay with her family forever. "Don't want to go back, Eliska. Let's phone Mom and tell her we're not coming."

"We have to return." Her big brown eyes studied mine. "Your mom wants you back home."

"No, she doesn't." I folded my arms and grunted. "She's got Marilyn, anyways. Why would she want me?"

Eliska grasped my skinny shoulders. "Your mother would miss you, and I can't leave you here."

Reluctantly I returned with her by train. But I have never forgotten that visit to her home, which is why I had problems saying "Good-Bye" later on when it was time to leave her, forever. Never to see my best friend, again.

FROM THE POEM "As I Look Into Your Eyes"

Looking into your eyes -
dark and somber, solid,
I feel the passion
of my love for him.
Did you also swim along his side?
Did you slam a ball across the court and
have him swing it back, again?

LUCIFER MESMERIZES FEMALE REPORTER

In Lucifer Rising, Daytona reporter Elsa gets drawn to a cult leader while

trying to profile him for a news article. While interviewing him, she gets more than she bargained for. Lucifer in the guise of Tyrell  courts Elsa, tries to take over her life while he dates other women to make her jealous. How and if she is able to wean herself away from him is for the reader to discover. Most women would find Tyrell iresistable in his charisma and charm.

From 'Passion’s Evidence'

From the lush and sensual to the quiet and serene, Passion’s Evidence, opens up a newly observed world for women and men to appreciate and experience in this collection of finely crafted poems.

What reviewers say about Lucifer Rising:

    **** A highly entertaining and fascinating read (Midwest Book Review)
    **** A fresh look into the dangers of a charismatic leader (Sarah Moore, Nashville, Tenn.)
    **** The book is wonderfully written and the characters are drawn with realism so much so that it is easy to see how Elsa was sucked into the whole business. (Amos Lassen, Little Rock, Ark.)

COPING WITH AGING PARENTS

Coping with parents who are getting older and have difficulties getting around can be a challenge when you, yourself, are middle-aged. You may have to drive them to their doctor appointments, get their prescriptions filled, or take them to the hospital for emergencies plus handle a full-time career. Also, you may have grandchildren you have to babysit. Other middle-aged adults have their parents living with them. In that case, you may rarely get a break. In my autobiographical novel, Photographs and Memories, I discuss Angela's responsibilities in putting her parents in nursing homes plus getting alcohol treatment for her younger sister, Martha. Some adults have the full responsibility of taking care of their parents because their siblings are either unable to or wish not to be burdened with that problem. This is the case in Photographs and Memories. 

LETTING GO OF THE PAST

Twenty-five years ago I worked as a social worker in a battered women's shelter in New York State. Besides psychotherapies with the women's issues regarding the domestic violence they encountered in their lives, I conducted family therapies and individual therapies with their children. My interest in working with these women was due in fact that I, also, had been a victim of violence for twenty years. It is estimated that one out of four women in the United States is beaten, slapped, punched or has her life threatened in her lifetime. Many of the children of violent partners also are abused. In my biographical novel, Letting Go, I portray a female character, Margery, who is a victim of violence, and how she overcomes her abuse by leaving her long-term marriage with her daughter Lola. Lola has also been beaten and abused emotionally by her father. It is hoped you will take an interest in this book as it shows how life really is for women married to batterers.