seven and a half years down

It occurs to me that today marks seven and half years since the daily headaches began.  I’d had headaches before 19 November 2014; I just hadn’t had them every day before then. It’s been a difficult, ugly journey. However. I think I’ve finally found something that helps. After trying so many different prescription medications, vitamins, […]

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September flowers. Portland, Oregon. (Jennifer Willis)

finding my rhythm, and more experiments in publishing

On October 5, my latest novel, Crooked Curse, will be available. This is the first book in a new paranormal cozy mystery series—Haunted Coast—set in the same literary universe as the Rune Witch urban fantasy books. It’s also the first book I’ve published in nearly three years. I’m not so much thrilled about that part. […]

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giant red hibiscus flowers in Portland, Oregon. (September 2021; Jennifer Willis)

educating the helpers: an unfortunate burden

“It’s just an article,” she said to me on the Zoom call. “Just because it’s posted on the Autism Speaks website doesn’t mean they wrote it or that it’s objectionable.” The fight had nearly gone out of me. This was a scheduled appointment with a resource specialist in my therapist’s office, and it was the […]

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changing the world, one story at a time

There’s the often repeated advice to keep writing, because no one can tell your stories the way you can. I have no idea where this wisdom originated. It felt like pablum to me when I was a younger writer and had these words of encouragement directed my way, but I’ve since said the same to […]

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Dusk. Portland, Oregon. 24 June 2021. (Jennifer Willis)

tiny prayers in the dark

“Help me to love myself more.” Last night, I surprised myself by whispering these words into the darkness. It’s not unusual for me to murmur words of encouragement, request, appreciation, or hope like this. Call them little prayers if you want to, or personal affirmations if that makes more sense to you. It’s one small […]

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Iris flowers in the Garden of Surging Waves. Astoria, Oregon.

my long overdue post on intermittent fasting

Back in January, I promised Jerry James Stone that I would write a blog post about my experience with Intermittent Fasting and then tweet at him about it. I even created a ToDoist task to remind me of this, but then the January 6th Capitol Insurrection happened and even the idea of thinking about a […]

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