November 1, 2023

Cherry Lovers Rejoice! – “Cherry Blossom” Tea from Apothecary Teas is Here

I had never had the tea before, but I’ve been looking for a good cherry black tea for years. I pulled the cork from the scent jar on the table and knew I’d found what I’ve been looking for all this time. And now you can find it, too, my fellow cherry lovers!
October 26, 2023

Worldbuilding 101: Maps, the Story Blueprint

Your map represents the world your characters live in. It might be as small as a doll’s house or as large as a multi-galaxy supercluster, and that’s fine…provided you can keep it all straight.
October 14, 2023

Montego Tea, A Sensual Journey for the Soul – a Tea Review

While I sat sipping this gorgeous cuppa, I felt myself drift all over the world in ecstasy. Memories of South Africa drifted in, sunflower fields of Georgia spilled over, daydreams in Australian gardens flooded my nose, my heart, my mind. The word that came was “sensual.” Not in the romantic sense, but in the spiritual sense. Every one of my senses was engaged.
July 27, 2023

My Favorite Things: Black Cats

I’ve had and loved cats of many colors and patterns, but my heart will always be most captive to the black ones: To their elegance, to their uniqueness within the seeming uniformity, and to the memories they evoke of those now gone. In history and in the now, black cats reign supreme.
July 11, 2023

Encouraging Pushback from Writers: An Industry Standard Break

One of the standards I have run across many times myself as a writer and journalist has been that of punishing writers for speaking their minds and expressing their voices. I can think of many times a professor, a fellow journalist, or writer’s club member has mentioned being suppressed at the hands of their editor(s). The editor holds all the power.
July 2, 2023

My Symbol of Rest: the Black-Faced Sheep

Most often, we think of a sabbath as a day off of work. This is the reason the most dedicated followers of sabbath practices don’t even allow themselves to cook or clean on their days off, and, instead, must do the work ahead of time.
June 27, 2023

Stash Southern Peach Tea: A Teatime Review with Rita

Matt, who I knew would be the biggest critic because of those Chilton County Peaches, got the first cup. He wouldn’t be a make or break for me, but at least I’d know what I was getting into. I can’t say he was awed but I can say he was surprised. “It’s actually good!”
May 28, 2023

Golden Kiwi Tea from Greenfield: A Teatime with Rita Review

The Golden Kiwi tea is a black tea with dehydrated fruit added, and golden kiwi flavoring added. The tea has an almost spicy edge to it when you sip. It’s a moderate to mild edge, though. And the actual fruit used in the tea is pineapple, not kiwi, which is where the edge comes from.
January 22, 2023

Positivity Corner: Waterfall Bathing in Prony Bay, New Caledonia

I could hear water pounding the surface of the sea and glimpsed out of the hatch to see a waterfall on the shore. The next minute the skipper, Alex, was calling to me. “Do you want to come and wash your hair in the waterfall?”
January 8, 2023

My Favorite Things: Storm Season

I was terrified of the disaster the storm could bring, the damage it could do to my safe world. I was terrified of damage happening when I wasn’t looking because I thought somehow I could stop it if I could see it coming.
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