Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

    Title: Found in Transition: A Mother's Evolution During her Child's Gender Change Author: Paria Hassouri, MD Publication Info: New World Library, 2020. 215 pages Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: On Thanksgiving morning, Paria Hassouri finds herself furiously praying and negotiating with the universe as she irons a dress her fourteen-year-old, designated male at birth, has secretly purchased and wants to wear to dinner with the extended family. In this wonderfully frank, loving, and practical account of parenting a transgender teen, Paria chronicles what amounts to a dual transition: as her child transitions from male to female, she navigates through anger, denial, and grief to eventually arrive at acceptance. Despite her experience advising other parents in her work as a pediatrician, she was blindsided by her child's gender identity. Paria is also forced to examine how she still carries insecurities from her past of growing up as an I

Image by KL Caley Participating in the weekly #WritePhoto blog hop at KL Caley's New2Writing blog. Every Thursday a new photo prompt. Post stories, poems, whatever by the following Tuesday and link back to KL's page. I've been slacking a bit through the holidays, but am ready (maybe) to get back on the bandwagon. About 565 words. Down the Alley “We cut through here. It’s what the route map shows.”   “Are you sure?” Berta peered into the narrow lane between the old homes, the backsides of brick structures looking surprisingly attractive. “Does it even go through? It looks like a dead end.”   “No,” Sarah assured her. “There’s a turn down there and it continues out the other side. To the left. Which is the direction we need to go, and it cuts off this big loop on the main road.” She opened the mapping app on her phone and showed Berta. “See? We’re here, and if we cut through, we’ll be back on the other road, and then turn off right there. The gree

I n Part 1 of this account , we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen, while Part 5 went on to Grindelwald and an excursion to a high mountain hut. Part 6 finished the linear journey. In this final post, we'll do some hikes around Lauterbrunnen and visit a cool outdoor museum. What we did in Lauterbrunnen We arranged to end our trip with 3 nights ins Lauterbrunnen, in order to do a few of the great hikes around there. The weather was a bit dodgy the first day, but we managed to find the views in spite of the best efforts of the clouds.   I went out after dinner on our arrival day to explore the town and check out t

  Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG   The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin! Every month, our wonderf

Jemima Pett has been hosting the SpaceTime Reading Challenge for a few years now, and I keep signing up and then losing track. If you are a SF fan, like a little mind-bending time travel now and then, or just want to find out if you do, sign up and jump in. I recommend following jemimapett.com for ideas about what to read--I've gotten a lot of good tips from her reviews! Here's the scoop: The SpaceTime Reading Challenge #spacetimereads You can read any book that is from the science fiction/time-travel genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres.  Non-fiction is not included in this challenge. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews (even one-liners) to link up. (blog, Goodreads, booklikes, shelfari, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back to Jemima's page with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be novellas or novels, although anthologies count if they meet the page guideline. (At

In Part 1 of this account , we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen, while Part 5 went on to Grindelwald and an excursion to a high mountain hut.  Day 9: To the Faulhorn After our two days of dubious weather ( see Part 5 ), the beautiful clear skies were back, along with more heat than we really wanted. Since we were there to see the mountains, it was a trade-off we were willing to accept. First light gilds the cap--more a wave than a lenticular cloud--on the Eiger. From the front porch of the hotel. As was our wont, we headed down the street and grabbed the First lift. This day, the last of our Via Alpina, actually is