June is nearly here, taking me by surprise – I almost missed Beyond the Ripples second birthday! Like with many things, in some respects I feel it as if the book was only just released, while it also seems as if it has been with me for much longer. And yes, while Annie and Frank … Continue reading Ripples turns two…and
Writing
The books that inspire us
Me, Ocean Park, WA, 1972. As I finished the final draft of my memoir, I spent some of my free time reading other memoirs, a genre I had always been drawn to. As I worked through my own story, my grief, purposefully cutting out stories that I liked but that ultimately had little to do … Continue reading The books that inspire us
Irish Tenors and all that jazz
I wasn't planning to write today, instead working fewer hours to make time to contemplate, read, be in nature. Until I realized it is St. Patrick's Day! Gone, at least for now, are the days when I would make our kids a simple breakfast of green milk on cereal or pancakes, the table dotted with … Continue reading Irish Tenors and all that jazz
A typewriter click-clacks forever
Dad graduated from University of Oregon's journalism program and was considered more useful as a PIO than in the infantry while based at Fort Lewis. One would think I've written enough about typewriters. After all, not only do I share memories of Dad's click-clacking away in My Music Man, but even after that I featured … Continue reading A typewriter click-clacks forever
Hello West Linn! Local Authors Book Break
Watch the recorded event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK9jhEdrOXU Recording from November 8, 2020 West Linn Book Break Note: Hi readers in October 2025 - I'd love to know what brought you to this webpage post these several years later? What link or search did you use or find? Feel free to respond in comments or privately on the … Continue reading Hello West Linn! Local Authors Book Break
October three years ago…
How can it be a mere three years since I first became a published author? Remember back to those seemingly delicious times prior to 2020? A friend recently shared that the futuristic movie Soylent Green was placed in the year 2020. (When I fact-checked this I found it to be set in 2022, oh no!) … Continue reading October three years ago…
Grief: from journal to blog to memoir and back again
I have often felt I write "best" when I am sad. This feels like an odd thing to share, and it isn't to say that I don't enjoy writing about humorous or light topics. I have been thinking a lot about grief lately. I've been feeling it too, like so many of us at this … Continue reading Grief: from journal to blog to memoir and back again
Plague 2020: we are in this together
For months I've been obsessed about one thing: yes, you know what it is. Some fellow writers have successfully immersed themselves, creating lyrics and phrases deliberately avoiding references to virus or pandemic or physical isolating or face coverings. Maybe it’s because I'm an industrial hygienist, my work saturated with the novel coronavirus, making it difficult … Continue reading Plague 2020: we are in this together
A year of ripples
Today is the one-year anniversary of the launch of Beyond the Ripples. I am thankful I was able to have a live shout out that day, with so many friends and supporters joining me at the Willamette Ale House to celebrate the release. Not only was it special simply to introduce this new book, but … Continue reading A year of ripples
This one’s for Karen
Our dear friend Karen died on February 4 of this year, 11 days prior to my release of Then, Now, and In-Between: Place, Memories, and Loss in Oregon. Karen was loved by so many: friends like me and students and co-workers and sisters and brothers and nephews and sons and a daughter and her husband … Continue reading This one’s for Karen
Dede's Books and blog 