Laura Nicole Diamond

Birthday love.

Today is my birthday. I spent a beautiful spa day with my mom, who really did…
How to Dance in the Rain: Another Lesson from My Grandmother

I wake Friday morning. Think: Another day. Another gift. Full from Thanksgiving, I dress for a…
Writer’s Life: Kathryn Taylor

Sometimes a story can save us. Kathryn Taylor’s world turned upside down when her second husband…
Where to find a muse? Look right in front of you.

Muse. (v) To wonder; (n) A mythical source of creative inspiration. For years motherhood was all…
Writer’s Life: Heather Cumiskey

I’m pleased to introduce you to award-winning author Heather Cumiskey, whose novel I Like You Like This was…
Where a Mind Wanders

I am lying prone in the middle of the floor in yoga pants, and yoga socks,…
Writer’s Life: Ellen Notbohm

I am delighted to introduce you to Ellen Notbohm, author of The River by Starlight. An internationally…
Writer’s Life: Laurie Buchanan, PhD

I typically interview novelists here, but the times call for expansion. What better time to interview…
Writer’s Life: Bonnie C. Monte

There’s nothing like a good mystery to take your mind off a heatwave. So find some…
While our government breaks apart families, we built a bigger one.

In light of our current national heartbreak of our government breaking apart families in our names,…
Oh happy happy happy happy birthday.

I squinted my eyes open and, before I fully woke, I saw the sunlight filling my…
Enough is Enough. Take to the Streets. And the Voting Booths.

Register to Vote I don’t care if you love guns. I don’t care if you love…
More Lessons from Lilli Diamond: good for what ails you.

I hear my grandmother’s voice almost daily. And some days multiple times. This day I am…
Lessons from my Grandmother: You Have to Breathe

I walk through the neighborhood in what for me is an uncommon pose – earbuds in,…
We Always Root for Overtime

The car clock says 7am as I turn right on PCH, Aaron in the passenger seat…
An Upbeat Playlist for Stressful Times

We entered singing. My sister and I had ascended the stairs into the “great room” of…
Breathe in the New Year

Never have we needed a new year like we do now. Summer’s blessing of an unhurried…
Why This Mom Relaxes into Summer When the End is Near

Around our town the burgeoning sound of children’s protest and despair can be heard rising up…
From Survivor to Wonder Woman in 8 Days.

Eight days ago, over Memorial Day weekend, we took our kids to the Los Angeles Museum…
Writer’s Life: Camille Di Maio

Author Camille Di Maio and I have a couple things in common: we both like to…
How I Found My Hakuna Matata

Going on a safari was on my mother-in-law Joyce’s bucket list, not mine. Still, we gratefully…
Writer’s Life: Ellen Umansky

First, some high praise garnered by Brooklyn-based author Ellen Umansky’s debut novel, The Fortunate Ones. “The…
Writer’s Life: Pam Jenoff

Pam Jenoff is the author of ten novels, her latest — THE ORPHAN’S TALE — launched…
Wisdom from Amy Krouse Rosenthal: “Make the Most of Your Time Here”

I’m in my robe, a soft hug, as I glide downstairs in the last of the…
Writer’s Life: Christina Baker Kline

There are people who, having reached a sweet spot of success, pull up the ladder behind them,…
Writer’s Life: Holly Brown

If you are among the people who this week may be craving a little extra reality-escape, I’m here…
New Year’s Wishes for My Children.

My dear boys, May you continue to have the courage to step into the beautiful unknown,…
How to Achieve Your Goals in 2017: A Step-by-Step Guide to a VISION QUEST

I had the good fortune to take a walk recently with my friend Abbie Schiller, CEO…
Savor Every Sweetness; It’s About to Get Nasty

Waiting in line yesterday at a coffee joint in my small-town Los Angeles suburban village, I…
A New Message to the Little Girl in Nevada

I keep thinking about the little girl from Nevada who listened to her grandfather challenge me…
Amidst the crushing disappointment, there was this ray of light: Natalie ran for Student Body President, and won.

To my best friends’ children, my nieces (and my own kids), this is for you. I…
What Hillary Clinton’s Election Will Mean to Girls, and My 8-Year-Old Self.

Barbara Kingsolver wrote in the Guardian this weekend that when she was a girl of eleven,…
A mysterious shipment, a hero, and a good deed.

A man named John Boettner recently received a box containing 36 copies of my novel, SHELTER US.…
Writer’s Life: Cristina Alger

Cristina Alger’s Twitter bio sums her up as “Reader, Writer, Mom” and author of two novels. Her…
My Son’s Advice to Keep Going

The writing deadline I gave myself seemed expansive back in January: complete the first draft of…
The Only Three Words You Need

Every year I go to Rosh Hashanah services with expansive hope, born out by experience, that…
Stronger Together: Four Generations Cast Their Votes With Her

I am sitting in the “Bistro” area at my grandmother’s assisted living home this morning. Picture…
How My Baby (a Teenager) Taught Me that Puppies Are Like Babies

When I tell someone we have two new puppies, the reaction goes, “Puppies are so cute!…
Writer’s Life: Lindsey Mead

Lindsey Mead writes of one of my favorite blogs, A Design So Vast. (That image comes…
This is Marriage. This is 18. This is Life.

We had planned a quiet anniversary celebration, since the school board transformed what used to be…
How to Conquer Fear by Careening Down a Mountain (aka “Oh, Stowe, 2.0!”)

You can go back again. Sort of. Five years ago we uprooted our family, rented out…
Writer’s Life: Jane Green

With more than 10 million books sold, in over 25 languages, you don’t need me to introduce you…
Carolyn See: The Audacity of Creativity, Generosity, and Persistence

For a moment, I want to put aside all news related to grand-scale pain and death, and…
Personal Best: What I Learned by Running a 10K with my 11-Year-Old Son

As of this morning, my quadriceps no longer scream “STOP, WOMAN!” when I walk down stairs. Normally,…
Writer’s Life: Allison Winn Scotch

Allison Winn Scotch is the author of six novels, most recently In Twenty Years, the story…
Writer’s Life: Kelly Simmons

Summer has taken over my senses. It’s warm, lovely, and lazy outside, and all I want…
The Season of their Content

This summer morning begins with the sound of my younger son and his friend rising after a…
Writer’s Life: Amy Sue Nathan

Amy Sue Nathan makes things happen. Looking for a blog for writers of “Women’s Fiction” and finding none, she…
Dispatches from Graduation Day: Elementary School Edition

The youngest is graduating from elementary school today. “I can’t believe it’s over; I spent more than…
Writer’s Life: Jennifer Brown

What have you learned from parenting, or from your own parents, that you bring to your…
How to Conquer Death

We time-traveled to 1991 last week. It was our 25th college reunion, and it filled…
Writer’s Life: Julie Buxbaum

This weekend I’ll be attending Alumni Weekend at the University of Pennsylvania (lovingly referred to waaaay back…
Writer’s Life: Susie Orman Schnall

I chose today’s interviewee with Mother’s Day in mind. Susie Orman Schnall, author of the novels…
A Prayer for Purple Swords and Pratfalls

I come home from the market and see a purple foam sword lying on the just…
Writer’s Life: Nicole Waggoner

What have you learned from parenting, or from your own parents, that you bring to your…
Writer’s Life: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke are best friends who write bestselling books together. How wonderful is that?…
Honor Harriet Tubman By Making a Better World, Without Slavery

As we turn our national attention to Harriet Tubman today, following Secretary of Treasury Lew’s announcement that…
Writer’s Life: Lisa Scottoline

What I love most about the Writer’s Life interview series is the chance to glean…
Lesson from the check-out line: Spread Joy

This time my prophet appeared in the form of a Trader Joe’s cashier. Let’s call him…
Writer’s Life: Aline Ohanesian

I had the pleasure of meeting author Aline Ohanesian, author of ORHAN’S INHERITANCE, at a luncheon at the…
Writer’s Life: Marin Thomas

Marin Thomas is the author of more than thirty western romances, and her first Women’s Fiction…
On Balance…

I came across author Susie Orman Schnall as I browsed the Penn Alumni magazine section looking…
One-week only: SHELTER US is 99 cents!

Forget Spring cleaning, it’s time for Spring reading! To celebrate, SHELTER US ebook is only 99…
Writer’s Life: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Reading Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney‘s debut novel, The Nest, was in some ways like watching a master juggler loft a…
“Let’s Grow Our Light”

This weekend, in the darkness separating Saturday night from Sunday morning, our son’s high school was…
A Walk in the Woods, aka The Reset Button

If ever a political junkie needed to get clean and sober, now is the time. I’m…
Writer’s Life: Julia Dahl

I met Julia Dahl last May at the Jewish Book Council‘s author “pitch fest,” at which hundreds…
I wanted to tell you.

I’ve been wanting to tell you some things, but I haven’t had enough time or patience…
Writer’s Life: Seré Prince Halverson

Seré Prince Halverson is the internationally bestselling author of The Underside of Joy and All the…
Writer’s Life: Meredith Maran

I’m pleased to introduce you to Meredith Maran, editor of the new collection, Why We Write About…
The Sound of Inspiration, and Light for a Dark World

I’m trying something new — music in the background while I write, a soundtrack to inspire.…
Writer’s Life: Julia Claiborne Johnson

When you meet Julia Claiborne Johnson (and I really hope you do), you will be instantly…
Coming Tomorrow…the Writer’s Life Interviews.

Think of this post as the soft opening before the Grand Opening of a new series…
Seen through a Snowstorm: Creations Take On Their Own Life

We drove to Mammoth to celebrate my firstborn’s birthday: 15. FIFTEEN. To you that may sound little,…
Afterlife, Ashes…and a Kickline for Al Diamond

Originally posted on Laura Nicole Diamond: Today as I stepped out of the shower, my mind…
Split me down the middle; or, I need a split screen for my brain

It’s cold outside, and my laptop is (true to its name) perched on my lap, warming me…
Friday Reads with new friends

I would spend every day going to author panels if I could. I wouldn’t care if…
The new year is barely awake and I’m already cleaning up my messes.

As confessions of mothering gaffes go, this one’s not a doozy, but the fact that…
How Trump Inspired Me to Teach My Children

“Did you hear what Trump said about keeping Muslims out of America?” I asked my son…
No More Massacres, No More Wasting Time

It has been a rough week. Emotionally, I’m spent. Our latest American massacre hit me hard.…
Thank you, everyone. Thank you, dumb luck.

For my family, 2015 has been an “interesting” year. Before I head out to the…
Almost, but not quite

I can’t get my sister’s comment out of my head. The one I told you about,…
They Get Taller Than You

Sometimes the most biting truths, the ones that come as the biggest shocks, are the most obvious.…
Seeing the Big (3-D Mammogram and Ultrasound) Picture

I brought a good book with me to the follow-up mammogram. Follow-up mammograms by definition are more…
There is something about a grandmother’s love.

I had dinner with my grandmother last night, with my husband and our sons. It was her birthday.…
“Not Everything Is About Parenting…”

“Not everything is about parenting,” a wise man told me recently, kindly, with a smile. It…
If Mercury’s Retrograde Has You Down, Hold On…

Two women I know who don’t go for hocus-pocus told me recently, “Mercury is in retrograde” to…
I Need A Hero: The Family Room Scene

The setting: A family room in California. Late September, 5pm. A smattering of worn socks are…
Letting Your Kids Get Hurt, and Watching Them Heal, From a Loving Distance

Disclaimer: As I’ve mentioned other places, I opened up to the idea of Torah study only when…
A New Year’s Mash-up: Noticing and The Joy of Dance and Being Among Dancers

I received a beautiful e-mail from my cousin today inspired by the Jewish New Year. My…
In Honor of Oliver Sacks: “Home School” Day

Yesterday the little one felt sick-ish. The kind of sick that comes from school starting in…
Doing Time: Starting School in August

I feel for the kid. It is still summer. Not only the technical “summer ends September 21st” definition…
The Keeper: An Anniversary Tale of Daring

Last week my husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. I have often thought that one…
A Book Club Night to Remember

A couple of nights ago I spent an evening with a book club in Culver City. Let’s…
Home!

“Three weeks is too long,” was the grumbled consensus as we began the final leg of the book…
Last Day on the Cape: So Many Towns and Bookstores, So Little Time

I think of myself as at least a tad bit worldly and well-traveled. So it came as…
A Fleeting Glimpse of Martha’s Vineyard

The seagulls accompanied us to Martha’s Vineyard, flying alongside the ferry as it cut through waters like…
A Little California in Cape Cod

After a weekend of debauchery (the ice cream, carnival rides, birthday kind) in Ocean City, New Jersey,…
Philadelphia, Stories

When I was a student at Penn, most of my activities were limited to a square…
Book Review: “‘Before, Afdre, and After’ Strange title? Read on….”

Originally posted on Maureen Twomey: (Eric Sinclair, author of Man, Dog, Stroke) http://mandogstroke.com/2015/07/17/a-message-from-california/ “‘Before, Afdre, and…