by Angie Athanassiades Buy NOW! I’ve read so much fiction and nonfiction in long book form that when I read this spare, poetic memoir, I AM TWIG, FEATHER, BONE by Angie Athanassiades, I felt I’d been lifted into the air. There I gradually transformed through some ethereal means that can only happen amidst the beautifully described setting of a quiet, isolated Greek island and a woman turning a serious eye upon nature as a means of healing her trauma. The book’s language is ab

The Hidden Gem Philosophy Martha and her mom circa 2010 I was maybe 8 or 9 and my next door neighbor friend, Liz, invited me to her birthday sleepover. Our houses were separated by our driveway, a line of hedge, and her family’s driveway. Mere steps, yet emotionally, the prospect felt like being sent to Siberia. I’d be away from where I felt most comfortable. What if I had a bad dream? What if I threw up from eating too much junk food? Worse, what if the girls stayed up all

Buy NOW! Happy book birthday to BLISS ROAD! Though very painful at the time, I’m so glad I worked through the difficulties — and beautiful moments — of living in a neurodiverse family with an undiagnosed autistic dad. And I am so much happier. And my family relationships are so much stronger. So if you suspect you lived in a neurodiverse family, read the book and then contact me. I love hearing from readers! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways

My sisters and I are off to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. And talk about impactful women… Chief Moremi III created the reserve in 1963. When he died, his widow, Elizabeth Pulane Moremi, took over and made sure to conserve the wildlife after seeing the toll hunting had taken on the animal population. Takes a woman! I think we’ll be able to explore the waterways in a mokoro, or dug-out canoe hewn from ebony or “sausage-tree.” Ever been in one? ___ For updates about Mar

We arrived in the Okavango Delta today. It’s a veritable Disneyland x 1000 for people who love wildlife. During the summer (Jan.-June), rain from the Angola highlands flows into the delta, spreading out over 14,500 square miles, attracting all kinds of wildlife. About this area, my sister warned me, “Bring earplugs.” Apparently the hippos are really loud at night. A fun fact that may appear in one of my books someday. Have you been lucky enough to hear a hippo conversing wit

Check out the beautiful surfing conditions here in Cape Town, South Africa! Rated by Surfer magazine as one of the 10 best surf cities in the world , I would not surf anything as big as the photo shows, but I appreciate that others do. If I get the time to rent some gear and go out, I'll let you know. I’ve never written a steamy romance, but if I did, I’d set it here and create an awesome, sexy instructor (female!) and a wily, but gorgeous client. Anybody ever surfed there? #

I grew up in a middle class Midwestern family doing family road trips in our Chevrolet station wagon. From Chicago, we went to all the way to Florida one year to visit my aunt and her family. Another year we traveled to California to visit neighbors who'd moved there. My dad, who I write about in BLISS ROAD , loved to travel and saw every outing as a learning opportunity. If he knew how much my sisters and I now travel, he'd be pleased. Our current trip begins here in Cape To

Buy NOW! April is Autism Awareness Month, so on my author page I’ll be posting about BLISS ROAD and my experience of growing up the daughter of an undiagnosed autistic dad. I wanted to post generally, though, to continue promoting the idea that all members of a neurodiverse family are affected by the neurodiversity. While some of the challenges are rough and cause trouble, there are also amazing outcomes. While my dad’s undiagnosed condition definitely caused challenges, he a

You’ve got time to purchase a book for your favorite teen! The above are my favorites. I'm including WINTER LIGHT because it's got a lot in common with the others — edgy YA — and I'd love for it to one day be among these classics. This special day takes place during a special week: National Library Week , which began in 1958 and is sponsored by the American Library Association. Who’s your favorite teen? And if you have one, and they’re not currently your favorite, they will

Buy NOW! I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ “ The American Revolution” series and I loved this quote by Abigail Adams , wife of John Adams , a statesman who heavily influenced the writing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, having helped write the MA Constitution in 1770. And what did he and every other man involved in the process do? Forget the women. As in not one mention. The closest we get is in the 19th Amendment of 1920: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote sha

Are you an image-based thinker, or word-based? Though a writer, I’m most definitely image-based. And because of that, I need a steady dose of art to produce my art. Here are some images from my recent visit to the Yale University Art Gallery . Image-based (visual) thinkers — Thinks in pictures, spatial arrangements, and sensory details, often describing thought as a "movie" or a series of images — High creativity, spatial reasoning, and ability to visualize complex, 3D concep

I don't think it can be said enough that we all need role models when growing up. People who not only look like us, but inspire us to develop the skills and fortitude they embody. Typically my role models were the characters in books. Yes, I was a fan of Nancy Drew because she was smart and a doer, meaning the person who thought of the plan and took action. As a kid I remember feeling frustrated and angry that most movies revolved around men. If women were present, they were

Schedule of readings Congratulations to Jacque Gorelick , who will be joining me at the Truckee Lit Crawl on April 11 in the beautiful Lake Tahoe area! If you're in Truckee or the SF Bay Area of CA, check out the schedule for my reading of my newest novel, SCATTERED LIGHT . Here's the schedule of Jacque's reading from her brand new memoir, MAP OF THE HEART: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Finding the Way Home . I’ll send a reminder soon. ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcomi

I recently watched a documentary about the male influencers making money off of the “manosphere” on a message that women are no more than subservient body parts. The influencers are what Amanda Ripley of the book “High Conflict” call conflict entrepreneurs who gain money and power — especially via high subscriber rates — by saying outrageous, highly toxic things. The manosphere is the audience of men who are told their manhood is being stolen from them by society and that

As soon as I thought about one of my favorite women in history — there are so many! — the poet, Emily Dickinson , came to mind. She was born in 1830 in Amherst, MA, and had only 10 poems published, yet she wrote almost 1800. Nobody really knew about her passion until after she died and her sister found the poems. The sister had a collection published, but allowed the poems to be edited to fit popular fashion (bah humbug!). Only in 1955 did Thomas H. Johnson create The Comple

Sometimes we humans get pretty judgy about what other people read. Then we get indignant when they throw shade at what we read. Lesson: don’t judge! Each of us have very different reasons for choosing what we read. If a book takes you where you need to be, that’s awesome! I like: sci-fi, literary, poetry, memoirs, essays, short stories, novels What’s your jam? ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SC

Women’s History Month has arrived! Every Monday I’ll post a question that’ll hopefully encourage you to think more deeply about the women who’ve been in your lives. My answer to this question: women who help, but if they need it, accept help, too. I’ve found that’s a necessary combo for every character I’ve ever created, and for myself, too, which I discovered while writing BLISS ROAD . I’ll be the first to admit that the second part of that combo is sometimes wicked hard. _

A story that touches on anything Alzheimer’s might seem too heavy from the get-go, but PERFECT LITTLE WORLDS by Clifford Mae Henderson injects so much humor and humanity that I found myself alternately smiling and tearing up. In 1989, Lucy Mustin, a middle-aged lesbian cake baker from Portland, gets a call from her possibly autistic, and definitely neurodiverse sister, Alice, who says she needs help with their dementia-affected mother. Lucy reluctantly makes the long drive

Buy NOW! I’m sure all of you know that while Amazon makes purchasing convenient, the corporation often takes a big chunk of the profit from independent authors and small presses. My publisher, Vine Leaves Press , did something about it! The press made it easy for you to buy ebook copies of my books, and those of the many other authors at the press, that can be used on any ereader. Please share this post and encourage friends and families to buy direct from VLP and other smal

Buy NOW! Valentine's Day has never seemed like a fair holiday: if you don't have a love interest, too bad for you. So Valentine’s Day has become, for me, a day about loving yourself. And if you're like Mary Donahue does in SCATTERED LIGHT , you might have to learn to love yourself. Because it’s hard to love others if we don’t love ourselves! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SCATTERED LIGHT , a n