Category: life
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ADELANTE 2018
I’m honored to announce that I’ve been invited as the keynote speaker for this year’s ADELANTE conference, presented by Prospanica KC. Prospanica is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the Hispanic community to reach their full educational, economic, and social potential. They also advocate the pursuit of higher education in all careers and advance Hispanic…
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Radio Silence
I’ve been away from my blog and most things internet during July, enjoying a family vacation in Germany. By ‘family,’ I mean family in the broadest sense of the word. This was a very special trip, celebrating the 80th birthday of my father. We were able to bring together so many people over our three-week…
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Discovering eBird
All the true birders out there are going to say, “It’s about time you got with the program!” And they’re right. It’s been a couple years since a friend and colleague introduced me to eBird, the wonderful app developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I’m not sure how long eBird has been around, but…
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Casting Away the Gifts
It’s been a month since I said good-bye to my friends at Virginia Beach, happy yet sad as we embraced each other in the bittersweet end to our annual gathering of creativity, womanly power, and meaningful companionship. I always come away from that week with a sense of renewal and at least one important lesson…
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Daughter of Aithne wins the OZMA Award
I’m very excited to report that Daughter of Aithne, Book Three of The Silver Web, has received the 2017 OZMA Award for fantasy fiction! A division of Chanticleer’s International Book Awards, the OZMA Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works of fantasy. Winners were announced last weekend at Chanticleer’s annual authors conference in Bellingham, Washington. It was a…
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Midlife Reboot
Sunday I came across this article in the Washington Post that talks about what we traditionally call the “midlife crisis.” Turns out it’s not a crisis at all. It’s a “psychological and emotional reboot” where “our values, our priorities, even our brains…shift away from competition and social striving and toward connecting and giving to others,”…
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Not One More
I’ve been inspired these past days by the eloquence and leadership of the survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida – and saddened to the depths of my spirit by the horror they were forced to confront. So much innocent blood has been shed over so many years. With each…
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Valentine’s Day Reflection
We’ve been through some tough times for love. On a personal level, I’ve navigated fallout from a divorce, but more than that, as a community we’ve been bombarded by relentless forces of anger, division, and hate. Compassion, hope, and affection have had difficulty finding their voices in these confusing times, and all of us have…
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Farewell, 2017
Once in a great while, a calendar year comes with a singular message; a lesson that seems to start on or near January 1st and come full circle by the end of December. If I were to articulate the big lesson of the last 365 days, it would be this: We must work hard to…
K. R. Gastreich, Author 