Years ago I wrote a short story. It started as a dream of being a female soldier in Iraq, and those first few sentences I wrote still bring back the memories of tight, ragged breaths in the hot sand. Three paragraphs later, I decided this female soldier needed to encounter a fictionalized version of a […]
The Daily Cost of Freedom
We wore headscarves. We stayed in the back of the women’s section of the mosque. We stayed on our knees. It wasn’t enough. Later, much later, when we rejoined the men in our group, we listened to their stories of camaraderie with the men of a different faith. We, the women, had experienced the social […]
Ms. Bond
In a few weeks, I’ll be losing one of the biggest reasons for adopting a pen name. My brother will be retiring from his position in the United States military, and I’m finding it a strange transition. I’m not a military “dependent” but I never really felt like a civilian either. I was in kindergarten […]
Hurricane
You see that hurricane logo behind my name? It reminds me who I am. Last summer, two of my worlds had an ugly collision. I was attending a writers conference when I began receiving angry emails from a former president of the board I served. Gossip had achieved the upper hand in my organization and this […]
FAQ
“Did you serve in the military?” -No, not unless you count when I was 6 years old and my older brother decided he needed to put me through basic training. My brother grew up and became a lieutenant colonel, while I traveled the world as a civilian. I’ve found […]
The Music Behind Operation White Christmas
Silouan Green’s album “Fly With Angels” took me deeper into the hearts and minds of our veterans. Silouan does tremendous work in helping individuals with Post Traumatic Stress, and I recommend his Ladder UPP program to anyone who wants to shake free of the past and reach their dreams. During the revision process for Operation […]