My Life
Kicking cancer in the teeth with walking shoes.
Some people don't take cancer lying down--they kick it in the teeth with a pair of walking shoes. My sister-in-law is training for the Susan B. Komen Three Day Walk. She’s a breast cancer survivor, a rather recent one in fact, and doing this has got her “in the best...
How to raise creative kids.
I grew up on Kauai in Hawaii in the 1970’s, a hippie child with few possessions and no TV. I firmly believe that free time in nature along with a lot of reading, provided the right soil for a creative mind. As a kid I made my own board games, built tree forts,...
Those ten-dollar tomatoes—is Hawaii backyard gardening worth it?
Hawaii backyard gardening has always been a labor of love, but I don't think it's always been this expensive. I put my garden in prior to the Crash of 2009, and it’s a good thing too or I’d never have been able to afford the lumber for the box beds (over $350.00) the...
Phases of the empty nest: taking back my house one room at a time
My recent post on Finding Your Calling made me think about the overlap between “roles” (like parent, spouse) and “jobs” or career. For me, being a mom has been part of being a therapist. I specialize in child/adolescent therapy in large part because one of my children...
How to find your “calling.”
Short answer: one disciplined step at a time, by listening to your inner voice. This is my story. I do what I love. I'm a therapist, and its my privilege and honor to witness stories, hold the bottle for tears, and be present in the deepest pain and greatest...
Those that pass through #Hawaii and haunt us.
(ALL NAMES AND DETAILS CHANGED TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIALITY.) Some of you know I’m a school counselor and therapist. This year has been interesting as I’m at two schools, one of them without a school counselor (I’m supposed to be a “higher level” service.) This means I...
Quotes to feel better by.
Quotes. Nuggets of wisdom. I love 'em! And I love what I do as a mental health counselor. It's truly a privilege and calling to do this kind of work. One of my favorite ways to encourage clients is to write a pithy little quote on the miniboard in my room. It sits...
My Writing
Twisted Vine, 5th in the #LeiCrimeSeries, is here!
Twisted Vine, 5th in the #LeiCrimeSeries, is here! So excited to bring out this fifth in the Lei Crime Series in which Lei Texeira, my impulsive, intrepid heroine, comes full circle on a number of levels. Readers are raving: "If you have been reading the Lei series...
Where do you get your ideas?
Where do you get your ideas? People ask me this a lot. Seven books into my series (two not yet released) it’s actually become a little challenging to come up with new and original crime scenarios. I’ve included a lot of crimes in the Lei Crime Series ™, from the...
Cover photo for Twisted Vine by Toby Neal
Cover photo for Twisted Vine by Toby Neal Yes, I've had to change the title of the 5th Lei book to Twisted Vine, dropping the "s". When I chose the title over a year ago, there weren't any books out called that, but now there are several. I considered changing it to...
Why writing what you don't know is better
Why Writing What You Don’t Know is Better I confess: I’m technologically challenged. I like technology, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t LOVE it like my children and husband do. I still remember the year 1990 because that was when my husband got his first computer,...
Off the deck and into the wild: when the desert storms.
Off the deck and into the wild: when the desert storms. Tuesday 5/28/13 When the desert storms Morning dawned gloriously but settled into overcast as Mike and I took off from Moab to find Canyonlands. We’d been under the impression both parks were close, but only...
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