Susan Mary Malone

I swear I used to think I knew which way life was going.  Isn’t that just a hoot?  Because about the time you think something is one way, can’t change, doesn’t deviate, wham!  A wrecking ball swoops in and smashes your preconceived notions. And this one did, in a great way! I got the best […]

Not what you are, not what you do, not how much money you make or any titles, as successful as those may be.  But more to the point, what is the highest point you can potentially reach? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (often called his Ladder), came from his study of healthy, happy people.  The true […]

We think in terms of heroic quests—which many of us undertook this year!—as about the big battles, facing the demons, going through a process fraught with potholes and devils and winning. And yep, that’s what a quest is about.  But those things are only part of it. I heard recently from a reader who has […]

Not so long ago, I would have thought that title incomplete.  I would have followed it with: When x happens.  Or I achieve y.  Or z comes to see me.   You know, that time when something occurs that you want, and you bask in the happy glow. Like you, my life is jam-packed.  So much […]

You know, we talk about happiness a lot.  The pursuit of it.  Where to find it.  How to go about that.  But some people just don’t want any part of it. You know them, right?  The folks who frown all the time.  Who complain all the time.  Who condemn all the time . . . […]

So I wrote last Fall about my girl Siren’s pregnancy and reabsorption and how difficult that all was, but how we got through it.  It was a long road, full of not only heartache but a frightening infection that almost resulted in a spay of this lovely, wonderful girl.  For a breeder, that would be […]

Because the fear’s gonna come.  It always does. Fear comes in lots of packages.  We know its names—fear of failure, fear of success, fear of change in whatever that looks like.  The lists are endless, but always come back to these.  Psychologists disagree on exactly which plagues most folks, but an intriguing Psychology Today post […]

It’s encoded in our DNA.  That old fight-or-flight response served such a purpose once, literal life and death depending upon it.  From the dawn of human consciousness we had to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.  As Kenny Rogers said, “Know when to walk away, know when to run.” Otherwise we’d […]

‘Cause you know, there’s some really bad advice out there.  And we’ve all been slammed with it. When we were growing up, The Protestant Work Ethic was the creed by which we lived.  Our generation was raised by parents who survived the Great Depression, and the perception of “want” was never far from their consciousness.  […]

I do!  I sat at my desk this morning to find a boatload of additional work piled on my head.  You know how that happens? And when the mountain has grown from the small hills by your home to Everest shooting 20,000 feet up into the clouds, well, what’s your first reaction?  Mine tends to […]

Just wanting to curl up and read sounds odd to folks when I say it because, well, that’s what I do every day!  Sort of.  But in a different way. While it’s true I spend my days writing books or stories, and then editing other people’s books or stories, the thing is, even though I […]

OMG!  My days are insane.  Are yours?  I bet they are. This is the craziest danged life.  As I write this, I’m munching on breakfast at my desk.  I know—everybody tells you not to do that.  We are to savor our meals, one bite at a time, being conscious of what we’re chewing, etc., etc., […]