God Save the Queen In the Fall of 2022 I received several emails, cards and a phone call offering me condolences because Queen Elizabeth II had died. I was touched but surprised. I hadn’t thought about the royals much since I left England in 1976, though I was aware of the queen’s failing health, especially after the death of Prince Philip. I decided not to watch the queen’s funeral. Televised royal occasions made me queasy
Medicare for Some Five years ago when I turned 65 it was time to choose my Medicare path. The choice took about five minutes. I knew nothing about Original Medicare, MediGap plans, and Medicare Advantage plans (except that Original Medicare sounded a bit like KFC Original Recipe). So I chose the Medicare Advantage insurer that still advertises “the only Medicare plans with the AARP name, for more than 20 years. These plans stand for quality,
Collaborative Women – The Path is Easier with a Friend Joan: You and I met a quarter of a century ago, working for a public relations company called CIIC in Nyack, north of New York City. We were freelancers working remotely before that was a thing, so we must have met at a company social gathering. I wrote lots of press releases back then, often for destination clients. I got to travel to places like
In Which the Author Interviews Herself Over the past five years I’ve interviewed lots of authors for my blog. And with the launch of my new novel, “Vampires of a Certain Age” this month, I thought: Why not interview me? So here goes… Me: What on Earth made you decide to writer a vampire novel? Also Me: I like to push back on gendered ageism. You know: that disgusting social narrative that would
A Memoirist Discovers the Magic of Fiction Linda Joy Myers A memoirist for decades, I’m still in a bit of shock having just published a novel! My debut historical fiction book The Forger of Marseille was released in early July, and so far all signs suggest that people are interested in reading about WWII France. As pleased as I am about that, I’m still reverberating from the steep climb of my journey to get to
Fear Sells – Revisiting the Brain Health Registry In 2020 I signed up for a clinical study out of UCSF called the Brain Health Registry. This study of 100,000 people uses online questions and cognitive testing to gauge brain health over time. Its stated goal is to enhance research into dementia diagnosis and treatment. Each participant is asked to return every six months to revisit the questions online. My motivation to join the study was
