As you may know, I’m a board member for Human Options, a non-profit dedicated to ending interpersonal violence and abuse. I support raising consciousness and awareness about emotional and physical harm. At a recent Human Options board meeting, the Chief Development Officer orchestrated a roleplay for board members on how to share their motivation for…
How do we determine if someone is homeless and genuinely needs help? My husband and I recently saw a man, woman, and two children around seven, eight, or nine-years-old, standing by the entrance to the Bristol Farms grocery store. The mid-forties man held a sign saying: Homeless, Please Help. The four individuals had olive or…
Whenever I see a homeless person, I experience a range of emotions: grateful for having a home; guilty for having a nice one; shame at allowing people to live outside without convenient access to bathroom facilities and vulnerable to the elements; wondering if their homelessness is caused by mental illness, substance abuse, or the high…
The theme of my second novel, The Sheriff’s Wife, is domestic violence (DV) and abuse. While writing, I do extensive research. As a board member for Human Options, a non-profit dedicated to ending domestic violence and abuse, I was invited to accompany a Human Options attorney, the Chief Development Officer, and two new employees to…
In anticipation of January 1, 2018, when buying recreational weed in California will be legal, an April 11th article by Debra Borchardt in Forbes Magazine estimated that California would receive $1 Billion in tax revenues the first year. Whoa. That’s a ton of money. While stores are not supposed to sell recreational marijuana until the…
Recently I read a writer’s blog written by an agent who identified nine ways NOT to begin your book. I read the list and when I reached the ninth example, I said, “OH NO!” Not only have I been struggling to write my second novel, now I need to rewrite the first chapter. This past…
What if you’re married to a cop and he beats you? Where do you go for help? The following is from Abuse of Power by Diane Wetendorf: Call the police—He is the police. Go to a shelter—He knows where the shelters are located. Have him arrested—Responding officers may invoke the code of silence. Take him to court—It’s your…
Every 9 seconds in the U.S. a woman is beaten. That’s what was displayed on the video presentation at the Human Options annual fund raiser on May 20, 2017. (Human Options, located in Orange County, California, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and abuse.) While staring at that number, waves of disbelief washed over me. I…
