I live in a houseboat on a river in Oregon. It’s a floating home, permanently moored, not something that putt-putts around. Otters, beavers, and muskrats are my neighbors, along with a variety of birds, including eagles, hawks, ospreys and herons. Other houseboats are moored here too, so I also have human neighbors. For the most part, houseboat people are kind, maybe a wee bit eccentric, and generous. They keep to themselves unless you’re in trouble (like, say, a log stuck under your houseboat for many years is one day forced free by a strong current and thrusts itself up through your deck, causing alarm and wreckage; this actually happened to me). Then they come immediately to your aid.

We all love the quiet we find here on the river and in the nearby forest.

I’m a writer and editor. I do book consultations as well as lead writing workshops and classes in and around Portland and online.

In the past several years, I’ve been focused on aging, particularly for women – how it is perceived in our culture versus what it actually is, how it feels, where to look for meaning, value, and ease in this life process. To learn more about my take on aging, listen to this podcast in which I talk about my book, There Was an Old Woman: Reflections on These Strange, Surprising, Shining Years.

OSU Press will release a 40th Anniversary Edition of The Riverhouse Stories, an early book of fiction, in Spring, 2026. 

(Photo by Michael Mathers.)