Framed

Excerpt from short story collection Saint Catherine’s Baby. We flew in from Montréal, with a stopover in Chicago. I combed my hair and smoothed out the incorrigible wrinkles in my pants, before stepping out from the hot taxi into the dry heat of New Mexico. Bending over to pick up our bag, I noticed the [...]

Casablanca Affair

“Could I have your attention please? This is the last call for British Airways, Flight 389 at Gate Twelve. Last call to Tangiers andnCasablanca, Gate Twelve.” “Casablanca? No, it couldn’t be?” I thought excitedly. “Were they speaking of THE Casablanca? Was this a real plane or a fake, like in the movie?” I fervently scanned [...]

Lockdown

Excerpt from short story collection Saint Catherine’s Baby. “We ask for forgiveness, hope and redemption,” John prayed, as Marcus walked in. “Make us a vessel of your peace,” John continued, his brawny hands turned toward the heavens. Marcus joined the circle of two and closed his blue eyes to the surrounding maroon drapery, scented candles [...]

Lee Mun Wah – Color of Fear

Excerpt from Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something! Grief’s Wake Up Call. “Your mother’s been murdered!” The woman who gave you birth and taught you the meaning of love, care and family is dead. Her life intentionally ended by another man. This was the cold reality Mr. Lee, his father, grandparents and siblings had to [...]

Saint Catherine’s Baby

Excerpt from short story collection Saint Catherine’s Baby. The moist air, surrounding the 16th century creation planted its wet kisses upon the cold stone walls, which slid luxuriously down its weathered face. The creeping ivy, chlorophyll pulsing through its dark green leaves, caressed the soft hearty moss. New generations of recently born shoots sprouted from [...]

Spanking New – A Novel

Unique is often over used in relation to artistic expression and though the concept for this novel is not entirely new (movies like Look Who’s Talking and the first Back To The Future have similar narrators looking at life before they are born), it is no stretch to say this book is indeed a unique [...]

Keep Barking

Keep Barking by Habyarimana Emmanuel is an excerpt from The Skin of Lions: Rwandan Folk Tales. These stories were told by the children at the ROP Center for Street Children (Rwandan Orphan’s Project). A photo of each storyteller is included in the book. There was a man who liked his dog very much. He would [...]

Chocolate = Love & Health

Written for Valentine’s Day issue of Natural Awakenings Magazine. It’s widely known that dark chocolate, in particular, is good for our emotional and physical health. Eating dark chocolate makes people happy, researchers have learned, because it contains phenylethylamine, the same nurturing hormone triggered by the brain when we fall in love. It’s no wonder that [...]

Quake, Shake & Roll

Excerpt from collection of stories for children Solar Girl and Lunar Boy. Once upon a time there were three bad earthquakes and one good little wolf, known throughout the woods as Terra. Terra lived with her grandma, Nova. Nova was one of the oldest and wisest wolves in the pack. They lived together in the [...]

Islam, Peace and Prison.

Iman Michael Salaam (photo) Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, while talking on Meet the Press about President Obama’s faith being Christian said, “He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is what if he is (Muslim)? s there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s [...]