The Red Pen

April 10, 2026 / roughwighting / 77 Comments

JOB DESCRIPTION: Medical Editor. Graduate degree preferred with a scientific/medical background as well as English graduate-level aptitude in writing. Copyedit and proof medical tomes of fascinating surgical procedures accompanied by long-winded indecipherable descriptions of intricate invasive operating techniques. Speed and precision are a must. Salary depends on expertise and experience.

I’ve got five glorious hours ahead of me this morning to edit an upcoming book tentatively entitled Core Topics in General and Emergency Surgery. I met the author/surgeon at the publisher’s office six months ago, when the doctor signed the contract and insisted on meeting the editor. Me.

Oh, what an “honor” to meet such an important man. Continue reading →

Complex Ingredients

October 1, 2025 / roughwighting / 78 Comments

The story of my life is wide and deep

Yet when I write of it, it’s narrow and steep

My past was daughter, student, wife, and mom

Well, now my present includes writing wom(an) Continue reading →

The Dream Phenomena

August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 / roughwighting / 92 Comments

I researched a lot before I began writing about psychic dreams and found out that I already knew more than most.

Many don’t believe that dreams tell us the future, but I was just a 12-year-old when I discovered the truth. Since then, I’ve often purposely shut out memory of my dreams – the future can seem dark and dangerous. Continue reading →

Shortly, my dear, shortly

June 21, 2025 / roughwighting / 100 Comments

I’d never met this doctor, so I was unprepared for his hurried and noisy entrance into the room where I had been waiting for him. It’s not called “the waiting room” for no reason. I’d been ushered into the room by the nurse who asked me my name, birthday, medications, and then promised, “the doctor will be in shortly.” Continue reading →

Unannounced Visitors

May 9, 2025 / roughwighting / 90 Comments

I’m ambivalent about the scene at my front door.

Do I want them to come back?

And by saying “them” I don’t mean the parents. These visitors are the new generation. Yet they return to the scene of their parents’, ahem, indiscretions. I blush. I know the couple who came last year were monogamous. They met, they mated, and then they created a soft comfy home for their offspring.

Continue reading →