• Book Review

    Book Review: Turtles All the Way Down

    People always talk like there’s a bright line between imagination and memory, but there isn’t, at least not for me. I remember what I’ve imagined and imagine what I remember. I imagine this book had to have been one of the hardest to write for author John Green, because much like the main character, 16-year-old Aza, he has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  Prior to reading this book, much of what I knew about OCD centered around behaviors I’ve seen on TV and in movies (think Jack Nicholson in “As Good as it Gets” or the clean-freak Monica in “Friends”). Turtles All the Way Down gives you a first-hand look into the mind of a person…

  • Lifestyle

    Blog I’m Loving: Living in Yellow

    I missed posting for True Crime Wednesday this week due to an ear infection that has slowed me down, but I’ll be sure to report on a new case for that next week. Today I want to talk about a blog I started following this past spring that has helped me revamp my image somewhat, as I was in dire need of a mom makeover. Over the years I’ve struggled with a style identity. In college, I worked at Express, so I looked a lot like the gals on the show “Friends” minus the Rachel hair.  Then I went through a bit of a grunge phase (think denim overalls, flannel shirts, combat boots…

  • Book Review

    Book Review: Last Night at the Viper Room

    Halloween is fast approaching, and along with it is the anniversary of the death of an icon I adored in my teen years, River Phoenix. “Stand By Me” continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I knew vaguely of Phoenix’s background–that his parents had been “hippies” and he and his siblings lived in a commune for a while, and he didn’t eat meat. Beyond that, I guess you could say I knew what he and his management allowed the public to know. I do know I was devastated (and shocked) when I learned of his death by drug overdose during my senior year of high school. There was a…

  • True Crime

    Becoming the News: The Disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit

    This is a case that drives home the fact that you can be vulnerable anywhere, even in the early hours of the morning when you’re doing something as innocent as trying to get to work. This case has always bothered me, because when 27-year-old news anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared, she wasn’t out partying or returning home from a late night with friends. She had overslept and was in a rush to get to her job at news station KIMT in Mason City, Iowa, where she hosted the early morning show. Jodi was an ambitious reporter who was focused and working hard on advancing her career. Her friends and co-workers described her as vivacious,…

  • Book Review

    Book Review: Between Me and You by Allison Winn Scotch

    Ben knows my story, Ben knows my soul. I want him to write for that, to that, to me. Because when he taps into me, and I braid myself to him, we are a galaxy unto and of ourselves. Sometimes she’s like a firework, explosive but still mesmerizing, and it’s not like I don’t want to sit back and watch the show. I like author Allison Winn Scotch for a number of reasons—her books are always fun and fast-paced escapes, often with a touch of the mystical (The One That I Want, Time of My Life) and tackle the popular topics of “What if?” I enjoyed her last novel, In Twenty Years,  where…

  • Book Preview

    An Evening with John and Hank Green

    Because I like to write young adult fiction, I also read a lot of it, too. I’m not crazy about dystopian literature or fantasy titles and gravitate more toward contemporary topics. I think this is what drew me to novelist John Green several years ago. I started hearing people talk about how great The Fault in Our Stars was, and then I saw it had been optioned for a movie. It was then that I picked up the book and starting reading the tale of Hazel Grace (cancer patient) and Augustus (cancer survivor). I cried for hours after finishing it and loved the movie just as much. From there I read Looking for…

  • True Crime

    What Happened to Kyle Fleischmann?

    I moved to the suburbs of Charlotte, N.C. in late 2003, and in 2007 I saw the original news stories when local resident, 24-year-old Kyle Fleischmann went missing. He has never been found and it’s a case that bothers me every time I think about it, mostly because it could have happened to anyone. How many times did I meet friends at bars when I was in my early 20s and walk in the dark to my car, alone? When you’re that age, you think you’re invincible. This case shows us our vulnerability. And also to be wary of walking alone, especially at night. It also inspired a flash-fiction short story I wrote…

  • Book Review,  cookbooks

    Book Review: 100 Days of Real Food-Fast and Fabulous

    Anyone who knows me knows I love to cook. This wasn’t always the case–ask my husband about the slop I used to try and whip up for us when we first got married. There was a LOT of processed food and frozen dinners thrown in there. Then when I was pregnant with our first child and we were both working demanding jobs, there was mostly take-out. Slowly I started cooking more, little by little, but I was still using a lot of processed ingredients (like those yummy condensed soups) because that’s all I knew. Several years ago I came across the 100 Days of Real Food blog and was happy to find recipes…

  • podcasts

    Podcast I’m Loving: For the Love by Jen Hatmaker

    I’ve been hearing about how fun podcasts are for years, but kept telling myself “eh, those aren’t really my thing. I don’t like to listen to audio books, so it’s similar, right?” I started thinking more and more about podcasts after interviewing a local podcaster last year. She was a former radio announcer who also became a huge advocate for Type 1 diabetes when her son was diagnosed. After leaving her job at a radio station, she started putting together a podcast designed specifically to educate the community about Type 1 diabetes, talk about new medications and technology and that featured experts and some celebrities that have it. Victor Garber was an especially…

  • Book Review

    Book Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

    I remember running down a road on my way to a nursery of flowers. I remember her smile and her laugh when I was my best self and she looked at me like I could do no wrong and was whole. I remember how she looked at me the same way even when I wasn’t. I remember her hand in mine and how that felt, as if something and someone belonged to me. -Theodore Finch, All the Bright Places I don’t know any other way to describe this book except that it broke my heart in a million little pieces and left me crying for hours. You may read this and think, “Well,…