geraldine donaher

Taped signs on Saint John's Capuchin Monastery doors read: "USE OTHER ENTRANCE" with a scribbled arrow pointing down the street. I pushed the door and it opened easily, so I went in. After winding around cracked cement and orange cones along a littered hallway, there was another glass door that opened to a well-lit church. I stepped in and the sick smell of mold struck me so strongly, I raised my hand to my nose. I felt a sense of loss for the great monastic tradition, and w

Do you know what it is? It's another name for human/sex trafficking...and is our country's new bleak moment in history. And, without the protests, without the horror that comes with social awareness, without the great speeches condemning those who take advantage of the vulnerable, there is no end in sight. Who are the vulnerable? The poor, the abused, the neglected. They leave one life in the hopes of getting a fresh start, a 'do-over' and are thrust into a life of addiction

I've been doing research for my novel The City's Allee - and admit, it's depressing. Allee, the main character, is very active in my mind. When I first wake at 5:30 am, she usually presents herself in a situation. The other morning, I imagined her looking at her cheap flip phone, wishing she could afford an i-phone. That's when I realized the cell phone will be an important part in the development of the sex-trafficking aspect of my story. Don't worry, I'm not crazy, it's all