“He carved the coat off the dead winter lamb” . . . begins a short story by noted author Amy Hempel first published in Harper’s Magazine in 2010. A bleak opening for a piece that might have been an article on animal husbandry but is darker than that. Continue reading
It has long been my assertion that only an insider can get away with criticizing the flaws, cracks and fissures of their home state. I think that is doubly true about a state like Texas, because we spend an exhaustive amount of energy pushing our mythical image.
Someone asked me recently why I blog – and it struck me strange. It was like being quizzed about necessities: why do I eat, breathe, sleep. It is just what we writers do – put our thoughts, hopes, fears, inspirations, joys and angst into words, captured in some accessible form.
My birth family was working class poor in the early days – my dad a roofer, slaving away in the hot Texas sun. By the time I was a teen, he had begun work at a General Motors plant in a union position, then over several years he worked his way into management as a night foreman. 
It is natural to want to leave an impression as we pass through life. I have two granddaughters who look very much like me, which is a delight. One is an adult but very different in personality; one bears my name but is too young to exhibit other similarities. The person who seems most like my doppelganger is my niece, Micki Pargeter.
In 2011, I was shopping on East Burnside in Portland, OR, just up the street from grand old homes, the 1923 Art Deco Laurelhurst Theater, Whole Foods and little shops – and on that day, a police tactical assault team came speeding down the street hanging on the side of an armored personnel carrier.
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A Quick Note . . .
Wrangle is the title of my novel -- set in Texas quarter horse country in the 1970s when races were on dirt tracks and winning meant more than a purse to the ranchers.
The book was inspired by my uncle's quarter horse ranch and by my cousin, who ran the ranch for a time.
Wrangle won the 2015 Will Rogers Silver Medallion for Western Romance. Read more under the Wrangle tab of my menu, above.
