Dear Friends, Happy holidays! At our last Book Club of the year, I was chatting with one of my friends. She was talking about the Italian Christmas she grew up with. Christmas Eve for her was a bigger holiday than Christmas itself, with numerous relatives, and the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a multi-course mealContinue reading “My goyishe potato pancakes: A Jewish-Christian/Quaker Tale”
Tag Archives: Quaker
“Welcome”: a short story
Dear Friends, Last year, Friends Journal decided to do a fiction issue for the first time. This year they decided to do it again, and I’m excited that my story, “Welcome,” is in it. If you have a few moments, please check out my very short, short story. My story is a fictional account ofContinue reading ““Welcome”: a short story”
Deconstructing the Bonnet
It’s the end of September and I’m back at my desk reading and writing about all sorts of things. Reader, I am no longer in the habit of reading literary essays. It has been years! But I stumbled upon this book on Twitter and just knew I had to read it… First, can we talkContinue reading “Deconstructing the Bonnet”
Anthony Benezet’s Revolutionary Academy for Children
Dear Friends, Happy August! Are you already thinking about back-to-school? I am––when I walk through a pile of dried brown leaves, and their smell brings me back to college orientation (when it was still summer, the leaves just beginning to fall). Or it feels like I’m walking home from second grade, or my kids’ “CurriculumContinue reading “Anthony Benezet’s Revolutionary Academy for Children”
10 Ways I Consumed Books in 2021
Dear Friends, It’s July! Do you have time off? Are you going to the beach? Are you reading more? I have been thinking more about my reading habits––there are always so many books I want to read. 2021 was a big reading year for me; I read a total of 40 books, including some ofContinue reading “10 Ways I Consumed Books in 2021”
A Quaker Day in Darby
Dear Friends, I have been busy! After finishing the seventh (what?) revision of my first novel, I’ve made a goal to query an agent a day this summer. Why not? If I don’t have any luck, I’ll work on my own e-book and audio versions. Meanwhile, my sister and I had a wonderful day lastContinue reading “A Quaker Day in Darby”
A Quaker “Happening” in Darby, PA May 1!
Live in the Philadelphia area? Interested in Quaker, Philadelphia, or library history? I’ll be at Darby Friends Meeting House at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 1, with others celebrating a new federal grant made to the Darby Free Library. Darby Free Library is the oldest library in continuous use in the U.S., founded by DarbyContinue reading “A Quaker “Happening” in Darby, PA May 1!”
Sex and the City: Philadelphia 1777
A confluence of events: the reboot of Sex and the City (SATC) i.e. And Just Like That (AJLT) and a family emergency led me to watch both the reboot and the original SATC this past month. With the attention span of a flea the past few weeks, I dipped into Miranda, Carrie, Samantha, and Charlotte’sContinue reading “Sex and the City: Philadelphia 1777”
“Membership Discontinued” or the 5 Best Ways to Get Kicked out of Quaker Meeting
Quaker disownment fascinates me. In the genealogical research I’ve done for my writing, I’ve found a couple of rule-breakers in my family tree. For example, I came upon Thomas Worth’s son, briefly disowned for–and I feel embarrassed saying this because it sounds way worse than I, in 2021, perceive it to be– “fornicating” with hisContinue reading ““Membership Discontinued” or the 5 Best Ways to Get Kicked out of Quaker Meeting”
10 popular novels that taught me how to write about Quakers
Hi all and Happy November! When I started writing my first Quaker novel three years ago, I decided to take a look at other fiction featuring Friends. I didn’t want to look at the classics (nope, Moby Dick, don’t think I can write that!), but at popular books. I started by working through the “FictionContinue reading “10 popular novels that taught me how to write about Quakers”