Category: Essays
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Stories that Heal
I’ve spent years caring for patients in small-town Virginia, where every cough, fever, and tear has its own story. Sometimes, the stories I remember most aren’t about dramatic diagnoses or heroic saves—they’re about a child with a sore throat and a worried parent by her side. In the exam room, medicine and humanity meet in…
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Fortunate Fortune: The pleasure of what we enjoy is lost by wanting more.
Sometimes, all it takes is a traffic jam—or a stray fortune cookie—to remind us to slow down and really see what’s right in front of us. I FIND the fortune by accident, stuck to the back deck in a patch of old rain. Some stray cat must have dragged it out of the trash, or…
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From the Archives: Them’s fightin’ words. Now what did you say again?
Written in 2012, when my oldest daughter Hannah was a teenager and our home was full of both drama and laughter. The moment felt enormous then—now it’s a tender memory, one of many that shaped us both. We survived. We became friends. This is a snapshot of that journey, from a time when the nest…
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No Kings
Outside the theater. October 18, 2025. A quiet moment. A burning world. Read more essays:
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The Power of Letting Go—How Cutting 20,000 Words Brought My Novel Home
A year ago, I thought my novel was finished. This week, I cut nearly 20,000 words—and for the first time, the story feels alive. What Changed What I Learned How I Feel Now If you’re a writer stuck in the weeds, take a deep breath and start trimming. The story you want might be hiding…
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A Different Stage
Backstage, we wait in the half-light. Costumes on. Hearts full. Because of our traditions, we’ve kept our balance for many, many years. —Tevye from Fiddler (book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick) In between writing novels and working nights at the hospital, I’ve spent much of the past decade on another kind of stage—community…
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A Quiet Return to Home
I love working nights. The hush of the hospital. The gentle rhythm of those who live life in reverse. But the best part comes after—when I’m driving home under a sky still half-asleep, the fog laying low like a story just starting to form. This morning, the clouds hung heavy over the mountains. The forecast…