Have you been to Bowen? If so, what are you looking forward to. If not, what do you hope to find?

This will be my first time to Bowen, but I've had a few acquaintances over the years who have lived there or visited and I've always heard how lovely it is. I can't wait to see for myself and might turn it into an overnight adventure to be sure I have a little time to explore. 

What's one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?

I'd like to think people would be surprised by my age (69, nearly 70) but I may be flattering myself. 

What’s the best words of advice on writing you’ve ever been given?

Make sure every paragraph, every sentence, even every word moves the story forward in some way.

What do you like to read? Is there a book you could recommend?

I have a blog where I review books published out of the Master of Fine Arts program I completed. That comprises most of my reading. I especially loved Heartbroken: Field Notes on a Constant Condition by Laura Pratt, a memoir of an intensely passionate six-year love affair that the author's partner ended abruptly, without explanation, leaving her utterly bereft. The way she braids together the story of the affair with excerpts from great literature or the psychology of love and loss, and with the story of her ongoing attempts to recover from the loss and move on with her life, is deeply compelling. If I had to describe it visually, I'd say it put me in mind of bright pink roses climbing a trellis, drawing in innocent passersby with their incomparable beauty and transported by their unearthly fragrance -- until the rose's thorns pierce their skin, etching long scratches and drawing deep-red blood.