The Spirit in the Lights I find the spirit in the lights during the holidays—Christmas tree lights, lights decorating homes and gardens. candlelight. Twinkling or still, they set a mood for me. When I still lived with my parents, and maybe even once or twice after I started college, I loved…

Full Circle Full circle? I'm changed, so, as I come back round the end of a year, I arrive with story, with a shift that warps my circle, makes my circle—our circle together—imperfect but better.

Be present "Be present" is a good directive. But it should have been preceded with lessons in being still.

Bring Hope I appreciate this prompt, because, even as we face and take stands against the darkness of our days, it's important to be mindful of the things that give us hope. 

Open Window I'm working on a book of poetry I didn't know I had in me. But I'm happy to celebrate and embrace these forms that are emerging. Going through things. Learning new things. Creating new circles of community and connection. The shape and adventure of verse offer the perfect container for…

ICYMI: I Was in the Pulpit I'm not sure all ministers have the capacity to entrust their congregants with voice at the pulpit, to feel secure that other voices won't drown out their own. I appreciate that our ministers have the confidence and faith necessary to allow the air, light, and depth the…

The Grace in Our Gaps: A Sermon on the Sin of Omission Maybe my words about my own sins of omission will make you feel a little lighter. Or maybe just a little less judgy—of others and of yourself.

Reconnect with Creativity: Let Your Inner Artist Out to Play Creativity never leaves us; it only waits for us to return to it.

A Sweater Goodbye: How to Let Go This year is dead-set on driving home the lesson, how to let go. Today is the 300th day of the 2025. You exclaim, "Where did the year go?" I'm mumbling, "Sixty-five more days of this lesson?" Flying By Even though, since 2020, I've been more intentional about how I…

Join us tomorrow for some generative writing and sharing. www.facebook.com/share/1Bgjgg...

Remember the Light You Carry I remember the light I carry and I choose joy.

Join us in November to write!! I'll be leading some of these writing sessions. Feel free to reach out to me if you want more information, but you should be able to find everything you need here. amherstwriters.org/writeon-with...

💫 October invites us inward — to gather, to write, to listen. Join our InkWell WordShops and Words to Brew On gatherings this month. InkWell WordShops are donation based. Words to Brew On free to all. Come as you are. Leave with words that surprise you. 💻 innergardenretreats.com/retreatschedule

The Power of Daily Writing: 2000 Days of Morning Pages Practice open.substack.com/pub/pennieni...

The Power of Daily Writing: 2000 Days of Morning Pages Practice My passion is writing, and my daily writing routine has been instrumental in drawing me forward. If your passion is also writing, my 2000 days of morning pages show that a daily writing habit doesn't just fill notebooks, it builds a…

It’s Been a Year: Pendulums and Rollercoasters When I was a wife and younger mom, I felt the pendulum of the years: one year fraught with financial and career challenges (It's been a year.), and the next a giant swing into ease, victories, and flow (It's been a year!), then back into the dimness…

Covid Writer’s Brain Covid writer's brain. I know this territory, lived here for years. When I sit down to work (not to write), my focus is fire. I can write emails, code, work spreadsheets for hours without needing to crack my knuckles. Clear-eyed, awake, efficient. But I open my notebook and…

How to Show Up for the Dying However we label it, death is inevitable—promised from the moment we are born. But when it comes close, when it touches our own circle, we pause. We reflect. And often, we wonder: What do I say? How do I show up for the dying?  

The Truth in Fiction: Why Made-Up Stories Speak to Our Souls Fiction versus nonfiction comes up often in writing groups. It’s rarely about which is better—it’s usually about truth. I’ve always found more truth in fiction. Fiction vs Nonfiction Isn’t About Better or Worse Writer conversations…

Lessons for me… and for my characters I started using the readings as springboards for stories and poems, and for the persistent main character of my current novel in progress.

How are you doing? The greeting—How are you doing?—is common. This question is expected. Compulsory in some situations. And polite. Or is it? Is it even real?

Writing as a Leap of Faith With a breath, a deep leap of faith, I took a writing plunge with a handful of friends. 

Safe Places A gospel sermon about holding out hope stirred memories of safe spaces and the power of being seen. From childhood sanctuaries to high-school mentors, this reflection explores the quiet encouragement that stays with us—and what it means to offer that same sanctuary to others.

Breaking Up with Wallpaper: A Memory and a Trunk I have this chunk of a memory. I'll take care what I store in it. I'll  spend a little more time repairing the lining, a yellow-velvet panel whose double-sided tape didn't survive the decades. The repair gives me a chance to follow Mom's hands…

Cracking the Tradition: Southern Pecan Love I'm out of the habit of shelling my own pecans. In these parts and with my ancestors—not just the distant ones, but also the immediate ones and their immediate kin—we carry deep pecan traditions and deep pecan love. A Bucket of Love My uncle walked in…

66 Years, 24,107 Days: A Birthday Reflection on Time and Numbers No, I'm not "just a number." I am many numbers and I am more than my numbers. And I don't bemoan the numbers that identify and define me. I'm grateful because they center and ground me.

Generative Clay I use the word "magic" often when talking about writing, especially generative writing. And I'll keep using it. The magic is palpable in generative writing communities. The words that emerge are generative in themselves. They generate a gentle path toward healing and compassion.…

Writing Bubble I'll write to celebrate the joy I find under a bush or wedged deep inside a pocket. I'll also voice the heartache. Not to bellyache my way through an annoyance of everyday life, but because I'm not the only one who experiences dark turns and moments bereft of light. Sharing my story…

In the Middle Some of the special bits of this marathon will escape the page, but this jumbled stream of marathon memory is enough. My inner writer is rubbing her word belly and already poking at my 2026 calendar: “Save those dates! We’re going back.”

Deep Creative Dive Some might think I waited too long to take deep creative dive. But even winter can't stop me writing. 

Unfurling Grief she modeled the wintering, the unfurling. And I know I can stand strong in my winter when it comes.

Fire in the Pit I write fire. I fire words. Words fire me.

Capturing When I read these words about today months, even years, from now, I'll remember the places I turned and the spots of shade as I mowed, the flood of unsettling and grounding memories of Mom mowing these yards, and the tissues of my heart fraying and knitting at once knowing how quickly…

Take Your Writer Out for a Walk There is something electric and energizing about understanding and doing the right thing, a kind act, working out, eating well, or completing a solid sit with the page. I especially feel good when I take my writer out for a walk every day. It's in my nature to play…

Deep Listening Hissy Fits Communication is important to me, but I still waffle between deep listening and hissy fits. I was fighting mad and trying to tamp down the anger and urge to fight with good communication. That, I should know by now, never works for me. I wanted to call out the…

Scattered Home Home in my head is even more scattered now, because it includes the places my children have made theirs. I came home from Chicago with a full heart because the parent in me is joyful to find the warmth, safety, and the coziness of home under her child's roof.

Emotions then Numbers Maybe we can think of 125 things Mom means to us—one for each day of this year so far—before we drift off under the Chicago sky, where city lights dim the stars.

Broken and Becoming We all break, become unglued, or lost. But the important thing is not that we're broken. it's what we become after we break, after we sink into the soil for a few years, after we free ourselves from the glue and grout of expectations.

What Is Your Word Value? This has been a year of unhinging. Read into that nuanced word whatever you will, but this word is the most accurate for me. My world is not upside down. I'm post hurricane, disordered days and doors blown off their hinges. All the doors I used to compartmentalize who I am…

What’s Here and Now What absences or pattern interruptions have helped you find more appreciation for what you have right here and now?

The Push and Pull of Life Ed could invent a thousand excuses for choosing to drink. He could pretend life had driven him to drink. But the truth was he just wanted to. It wasn’t something else and the drink. It was just Ed and the drink.

Flash Fiction in the Sand My flash-fiction story, "The Conceit of Sand," was picked up by Third Wednesday Magazine. If you need a pick me up in your hectic week, this publication has the perfect balance of brief and deep.

Third Wednesday liked my story!! I was already liking lots of theirs. I'm humbled and thrilled. thirdwednesdaymagazine.org/2025/04/06/t...

Writing Questions After feeling a need to avoid pause and to avoid questions that my strangle me, I learned ways to use pause and questions to help me grow and deepen my fiction.

From Our Fathers This week I feel the joy of our fathers as I make my little bluebird birdhouses. I'm grateful for the gifts they bring to their workshops.

It Was There All Along Imagine the organizations and groups just waiting to take you in, to validate your passions and provide safe spaces to explore them. They've probably been there all along.

Moms and Cowbirds, a Story Some people might say "She's not nice," but Mom helped me find the good things, art from her good days and photos from her family. Mom reminded me that addiction is disease and a struggle to survive.

It’s Coming In 2017 she began telling anyone who would listen, "It's coming." My response for several months was, "Stop! You're going to bring it on sooner." But she knew is was coming, and we couldn't (wouldn't) see it yet.