Writing
A desert witch with stories to tell.
In my writing, I get to experiment with all the versions of my mind that don’t come out to play very often. I share stories about lives I’ve lived and mistakes I’ve made. I also write about my life in real-time.
When I’m heartbroken, I write about love.
When I’m lost, I write about knowing.
When I’m afraid, I write about leaps of faith.
Some of what I write is practical. Some of it is relentlessly, willfully, passionately hopeful. And some of it is fiction, where I get to make things up and tell the truth while I’m at it.
All of it is meant to say out loud how it feels to be human, in case you feel it, too.
Here you’ll find it all–my books, essays, and ongoing writing projects—including Now What?, a collection of practical essays about what to do when you have no idea what to do next, and the novels I’ve written under the pen name Lydia Lane.
And if you’d rather read along as I share my stories in real time, that’s what my Substack is for.
“I’m not here to be relatable.”
For Life's Plot Twists
I love a good plot twist. My self-help books are practical companions for when you don’t know what’s next.
Now What?
We’ve all asked this question. It comes in the middle of the night when life has hit us with a one-two punch. Or on a video call, when we realize we just can’t do it anymore,
In Now What?, I share my knowledge about how to answer this middle-of-the-night question with wisdom and practical action.
Comforting, funny, and inspiring, it’s a cheatsheet of what to do when you have no idea what to do next.
This Is So Much Worse Than I Expected
coming later
We’re always told to go after our dreams. To take leaps of faith. But what happens after the jump? When you’re flying through the air, wondering if you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life? When you realize… “Oh my god, this is so much worse than I expected.”
My alter ego writes smart, funny murder mysteries.
Lydia Lane is the author of the Beach Cocktail Mystery series, a funny mystery series that follows a jilted bride and a gin-soaked divorcée as they encounter various deaths and other crimes at a luxury beach resort.
Mai Tais & Murder
A jilted bride alone on her honeymoon. Hardly what Tessa Tidwell had in mind when she booked a stay at the luxurious Golden Hibiscus Resort. But then, she also wasn’t expecting to discover a body floating in the bay.
Dying for Daiquiris
When a guest’s diamond ring goes missing and Tessa’s favorite bartender is accused of stealing it, her vacation gets decidedly less relaxing. The dead body makes it even less so.
Killer Colada
It’s the Fourth of July at the Golden Hibiscus, but working in a tropical paradise is a lot different than being a guest, as Tessa is quickly discovering. So far, the only redeeming thing about being a Golden Hibiscus employee is that she isn’t the one who just went missing.
Be Alone with me.
Alone is my weekly column about coddiwompling and the pursuit of wonder and awe. I also write about whatever has captured me lately–usually love, heartbreak, and astrology. If you’re looking for open diaries dressed up as self-help, start here.