This is the 15th installment in the Honored Role Series. Paula Broadwell does her best thinking and reflecting during her daily 6:00AM run with her Iphone and Pandora blasting. She runs at warp speed literally and intellectually. To say she is driven to perform is a precise statement of how discipline and determination have shaped…
Porcelain on Steel: Women of West Point Long Gray Line is being published by Fortis Publishing and will be available in May 2010! I am thrilled and honored to be working with Fortis co-founders Dennis Lowery and Jim Zumwalt. It’s ironic that a Navy and Marine veteran respectively are making this book a reality. Frankly,…
This is the first installment in the weekly Honored Role Series. Odessa Maxwell is the story of a soldier turned poet. A study of complexities and contrasts, Odessa Maxwell describes herself as an unusual woman. Born in Germany to a Japanese mother and African-American father, Odessa grew up in the south. The family settled in…
How often have we heard the saying, “be careful what you wish for, it just might come true”? Earlier this month when I learned that John Quinones, co-anchor of ABC News “Primetime” and author of Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices, was scheduled to speak at the Park City Friends of the Library Luncheon,…
Akin to many women, I wear a myriad of “hats and coats”, including mom, wife, daughter, friend, writer, volunteer, and outdoor enthusiast. I am inspired often by the actions, involvement, excitement and stories of women I meet. Daily, I am reminded of the impact women make in other people’s lives. They bridge past, present and…
It’s an epic battle of biblical proportions in writing. A title is the first impression a writer makes. The few words of a title are as important as the work itself. If the title does not capture the reader in the first few seconds, no connection is made and the reader may never pick up…
Porcelain on Steel: Women of West Point’s Long Gray Line was borne out of my experience as a high school volleyball coach in 2004. Concerned with whom some of my athletes admired and considered role models, I began thinking about some of the women with whom I went to school and served along side in…