Excerpts from Selected Published Works

"Marisa had awakened when the room was still dark, after what seemed like only a few minutes of rest. Embers popped in the fireplace and wind rustled the leaves of the aspens outside. She was sweaty where the baby nestled against her. She listened to the baby's breath, steady as a first snow. But then she had wondered for a fleeting instant, just the time it takes for a bird to flap its wings, about the freedom she might have had if it were different..."

"One of the twigs has a little offshoot branch with a leaf waving on top like a flag. I watch it float a ways and then capsize under a splash of frothy water. Then I pick up another twig, and there’s a little brown ant crawling on it. I could shake it off, but I want to see what it will do..."

"With my husband’s back turned, I gave the green light (and $15.00) to a local islander to take my fourteen-year-old son on a private out-of-the-way hike to reach the top of this ledge so that I could point my digital camera skyward and document his plunge to death."

"If I were an eagle, I'd settle my home on a cliff high above the Deschutes River Canyon, where I could breathe in the fresh air, bask in the abundant sunlight, and enjoy sweeping views of Mount Bachelor to the west and Pilot Butte to the east. I'd listen to the rushing sounds of the river far below and find shelter in the ponderosa pines on my perch. My only problem: that spot has already been taken by [a] dream kitchen."

"Going back into the dating field after the end of a marriage or long-term relationship is a little like going on an Indiana Jones adventure through lush, verdant foliage in search of a bejeweled treasure - while trying to avoid an abundance of traps and pitfalls along the way...Midlife dating is not for the weak."