1. 49. Lake House

   

   My parents bought a vacation house in the Poconos back in the early nineties. Actually, my mother was the one who bought the house. She went out with realtors and scoured the area to find a little cabin backed by a rushing stream, with an empty lot on one side and a preserve behind it. An idyllic, private setting with a lake club and a pool club nearby.

   No one else in the family was interested. My brother, twin sister and I were young adults by then and were starting to take our own vacations. Plus, our idea of a vacation didn’t involve lakes with water snakes and silty, muddy bottoms. We were Jersey Shore kids.

   Read more →

2. 50. “Elephant Teeth” in Crab Orchard Review

   

   My short story “Elephant Teeth,” which was a finalist for the Jack Dyer Fiction Prize, has been published by Crab Orchard Review. Read more →

3. 51. “Getting Rid of My Game Face” on Role Reboot

   

   My essay “Getting Rid of My Game Face: How I Learned That It’s Okay to Show Emotion” is up on Role Reboot. Read more →

5. 52. New on Scary Mommy

   

   I’m excited that my essay “How I Learned to Release My Inner Control Freak” has been published by Scary Mommy. Read more →

6. 53. Cry, Baby: Teaching My Son That Tears Take Courage

   

   My son didn’t cry on his first day of preschool; he cried on his thirtieth. Read more →

7. 54. Thong Worthy

   

   Lately, I’ve been feeling a little smug about how well I’m dealing with the aging process. My encroaching wrinkles give me character. I embrace my faulty memory. And my crotchety, do-it-my-way-or-not-at-all attitude has a certain charm. Aging and I have become buddies.

   Then, the other day, I decided to wear a thong. Read more →

9. 55. Monkey Migration

   

   Let’s get this out of the way: I like pretty things. Read more →

10. 56. New on The Good Men Project

    

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    I’m happy to say that my essay “Why I’m Teaching My Son That Tears Take Courage” has been published by The Good Men Project, a website focused on illuminating what it’s like to be a good man in today’s society. Read more →

11. 57. Naming the Dragon: Telling Your Truth When It Involves Real People

    

    After I started getting published and my parents realized my writing wasn’t just a passing phase, my dad told my sister, “When Colette finally writes about me, ask her to be kind.”  Read more →

13. 58. Finish That First Draft And Other Writing Tips

    

    As I discussed in a previous post, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program has a new Writing Tip video series in which Writers’ Program instructors share quick tips about how to keep yourself invested in your own writing. Read more →

14. 59. 2015 Writers’ Program Publication Party

    

    The UCLA Extension Writers’ Program Publication Party is one of my favorite events of the year. Read more →

15. 60. Ma’am

    

    Recently, a twentysomething girl on an airplane called me “Ma’am.”

    I was on my way to Chicago for a reunion with a wonderful group of women who dubbed themselves the Dowagers years ago in graduate school, when they were far from dowagers. I was more of a dowager than they were. I was one of the oldest in our program, though at the time I was only in my thirties.

    Still, no one called me “Ma’am” back then. Read more →

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