In Laura’s Words
I write to shine a light on a dim or otherwise pitch black corner…to provide relief for myself and others. It’s the light that I am looking for. And the wonder it illuminates.
May my words land in your heart.
yours, Laura
Writing Prompts: Getting to the Truth
A good writing prompt prompts a lot more than words. It prompts truth. What we’re really looking for in our writing is truth. Even if it’s fiction. It’s all, in the end, truth. Even if the words sprout wings on a woman and she flies out the window into a parallel universe. There is as much truth in fiction as there is in non-fiction, when it’s all distilled. Truth is truth is truth.
A Gift for You: let’s write our way through this
I went out to the front porch today, feeling so low. Worrying about the things that we’re all worrying about right now. Trying not to worry. Trying to focus on one breath after the next. Trying to feel my inner light. But still feeling darkness. Wanting to look into eyes, real eyes, of dear friends and family and neighbors, and also of people in...
Off Script. Musings from my fear and my love
I’m going to go on for a while. So make some tea. We need to talk. I need to talk. You need to talk. We are off script. And our minds need to bend and move, just like our bodies do. This is not a time to edit ourselves. (Unless we’re being mean. Please don’t be mean.) It doesn’t help to say things like, “Well, someone else has it worse.” Or “My...
So Now What: love from Laura, and the women of Willa’s Grove
We’re all asking this question right now, globally: So Now What? Life isn’t going as we planned, to say the least, due to COVID-19. So many of our labored-over plans have been derailed. We’re off script. We’re worried. We’re trying to find the balance between staying calm and being informed. We’re trying not to catastrophize. We’re trying not to...
Spread Love (not viruses)
I have letters from my family that go back to the 1918 flu epidemic. Many of them. And they all talk about the Grippe in a beautiful, dedicated, and terrified ink script: “Dear, Son. I knitted you this sweater. Please wear it and your wool overclothes that Papa and I sent along last Christmas, as often as you can. Soak in Epsom salts if you feel...
Why I Wrote WILLA’S GROVE: Finding your So Now What?
As seen on Women's Writers, Women's Books Book ideas are always coming to me. I’m usually working on a few at the same time and always in different genres—different ways to find the truth. That’s what I’m after: truth. Each book begins with a central question—some quirk of humanity that gnaws away at me. Or something that fills me with righteous...
Taking Your Message on the Road
Dedicated to anyone who gets on stages with a message they care about. Pre-order your copy of Willa's Grove from your local bookstore or here for its March 3rd release! ***My new website, with all the event links, launches this week...so stay tuned! For now, all of my event info can be found on the above websites. Most every author I know...
The (C)Harm in Asking: A You’re Welcome attitude
Why is asking for help so hard? These days I have a list of things I need help with, and it always brings up so many uncomfortable emotions: guilt (that I need help in the first place), shame (that I might not be worth it), fear (of being rejected), worry (that I will be judged)…and on and on. Maybe you can relate. My needs run the gamut from...
Sacred Solitude: a holiday date with your vulnerability
I write a lot about pain. I always have. Writing moves the pain through me and moves me through it. Some of that pain-processing stays in my journal, but a lot of it ends up in my newsletters, blogs, social media posts, essays, and books. Over the years people have asked me why I would be willing to be so vulnerable on the page. If you knew me...
Community or Netflix: (get off your couch)
So this is new: going out socially as a single entity. I’ve never really done it. Not in my daily life. I mean—yeah—to the grocery store, or kids’ sporting events, or whatever quotidian life has required. But socially…I’ve always travelled in some version of a pack. And in that pack, I feel an innate belonging. When I travel, it’s the other way....
Finding Our So Now What
Pre-order Willa's Grove now! (from your local bookstore, or here) Book ideas are always coming to me. I’m usually working on a few at the same time and always in different genres—different ways to find the truth. That’s what I’m after: truth. Each book begins with a central question—some quirk of humanity that gnaws away at me. Or something that...
The Magic of the Woods: A lesson in wonder
I love to wander in the woods this time of year, when the forest yields its last fruits: the river birches and aspens going gold, the mountain maples blazing red, and the larch starting to think about their green needles turning flaxen and carpeting the forest floor. After twenty-seven Montana winters, I always get this pioneer sixth sense at the...
The “Me Time” Medal: a week of wellness
What does it take, I wonder, to just…stop? To stop the madness of pushing buttons and swiping, clicking, scrolling from one screen to the next, taking trains, planes, and automobiles here and there and everywhere, booking that appointment up against the one before it and the one after it…instead of taking that hour to…eat? Take a walk? ...
How to Survive Empty Nest (AKA: Mommy Massage Money)
For those of you who are looking at the last weeks of August with dread, clinging to what last licks of summer magic you can put in your proverbial jar and hoard in your proverbial pantry all winter…and especially for those of you who are facing Empty Nest for the first time, and ESPECIALLY if you are a single mother facing Empty Nest for the...
Creativity: The great fear-buster
Now Booking my Fall Haven Writing Retreats in Montana... September 18-22 ( one spot left) September 25-29 (a few spots left) You do not have to be a writer to come...just someone who is deeply longing to find your voice and set it free. Click here for more info and to contact me to set up a call... Running specials through 7.31! I wanted to name...
