The following piece, “Was Anne Boleyn a Feminist?” is based on material from my new book, The Creation of Anne Boleyn, available at all major booksellers.…

March is National Women's History Month and in light of this, I've been thinking about the many women writers who have inspired me over the years....

Please CLICK HERE to join me for Monday Musings…

xo S

for your overdue consideration: women & the Oscars

When we look at the acts of almost unspeakable gun violence making news and breaking hearts, it doesn't take Rachel Maddow or Wayne LaPierre to target the fact that men are responsible. We don't need to hit the archives for historical documentation. What we need to do is this: We need to stop selling guns to…

As a teacher of women’s studies, and a feminist, I often refer to “the gender lens.”  The term refers to the idea of adopting metaphorical spectacles through which to view the world so that you start seeing things through a special filter in a new light.  That light illuminates women’s experiences, needs and perceptions while revealing the realities, needs and perceptions of men in new ways too.  Our vision becomes refined and more acute when donning these spectacles.  Often it grows…

This post is in honor of one of my best friends, Daniel Jenkins, who loves coconut rice pudding.

He loves to lead us to culinary wonderment and so, in honor of knowing and loving him for thirty-two years, here is my recipe!

I have to come clean about this: Annabelle Coote of Movement Matters asked me for this recipe last…

I am dedicated to — er, in love with — a select few T.V. shows, mostly sitcoms. My current favorites are NBC’s Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. I was a late convert to both, but I fell in love with each on first sight. (I watched the first 60 episodes of 30 Rock in one weekend. I shouldn’t…

This former Iowa farm girl whose mother wrote poetry is pleased to announce that she's had two new poems accepted for publication on the National PEN Women's Website.  I'll keep you posted when they go live.  Whoohoo!  Thanks, Mom, for passing on the creative genes.  Oh, and I'm still looking for an agent for my literary, cozy mystery....

Somethin' Bout A Truck

I am working on a historic food memoir about my great-grandmother's bakery and food delivery service, which started in the summer of 1918 as a WWI food conservation project at the Woman's Club of Evanston.  …

It’s been an amazing couple of years for me on the literary front, and after some of life’s unexpected delays, I am very excited and happy to announce that my short story collection Crossing The Border has been released by Little Creek Books (an imprint of Jan-Carol Publishing, who also publish an awesome monthly magazine called Voice for Women:…

One Step Back

October is Roctober with Litquake! We have readings galore for you this month!

FIRST UP, join us for our regularly scheduled event at Studio 333 in Sausalito, October 11. 7pm. This very special show features writers from the audience who entered their names in the drawings over the months. 333 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, 7-9pm. $5. 

 …

Girlfriends,

It's time to show your face IRL, take a shower, grab some clothes and get your butt in gear. Get out, meet another writer in person, face to face, in a coffeehouse, a hotel lounge, a restaurant, at a play, the movies, or for a walk or a bike ride.

SheWrites is a great platform,…

We knew it was not going to be easy, right? The volume of our collective awareness is turned up about birth and mothering right now. The Internet is awash in photos of happy births. BlogHer is…

If you’d told me thirty years ago that women would be arguing over who counted as a “real feminist,” my response would have been to point and giggle. Until very recently (roughly three hours ago) the “f” word--“feminist”— was considered something a lady shouldn’t say in public.



I’ve had otherwise sane female students, for example, trip all over themselves to avoid using the term: “I’m getting a doctoral fellowship from NASA after I complete my NEA grant but it’s the work I did for…