Roberta Gately

Tomorrow is the big day, and if you believe the hype, it’s not just a football game – it’s an epic match that just may change the state of the world.  Okay, so that’s a bit of hyperbole (I’ve been dying to use that word!) but if you’ve seen the commercials, the half-time show previews,…

Choose your words wisely, my mom used to say.  And while I’ve always tried to follow that advice in my everyday life, as a writer, I live by it.  I can (and often do) spend hours on one word or phrase.  Are my character’s eyes a vivid blue or do they sparkle with an electric…

Christmas – the most magical time of year, a time of sweet dreams and still sweeter wishes, and this year, I have a few wishes of my own… For the hungry – a bountiful harvest For the sick – a return to good health For those who find themselves alone – the strength to reach…

Thanksgiving – the purest of holidays, and my personal favorite for it is a day devoted to food, family, friends and gratitude.  It is a day too that reminds me of just how much I have in life – my family and friends, my health, my job, the release of my first book last year,…

I originally wrote this piece for Sandy Nathan’s site – “Your Shelf Life” where it was posted on May 17, 2011.  I think inspiration is the stuff of our dreams and so I’m sharing it here. Inspiration – that elusive gem, that idea that transforms our thoughts and our maybes into the essential themes of…

September 11, a day when a nation’s collective heart stopped beating, a day when heroism and terrorism collided in New York and Washington and a lush green field in Pennsylvania.  A day that dawned with clear blue skies, a day that held promise for a time…  And then…the unthinkable…when four passenger jets were transformed from…

What is summer without great books?  To readers everywhere, I offer following can’t miss, can’t put down books.  Mystery – “The Killing Song” by PJ Parrish is a taut mystery about Matt Owens, a self-absorbed Miami journalist whose solitary lifestyle is interrupted by a visit from his beloved younger sister.  When she disappears literally before…

I saw an older woman on the train last week.  Across the crowded aisle, I glimpsed her as she sat demurely, her eyes partially closed, her gray hair tucked into a bun, a briefcase on her lap.  A powerful woman, a woman of substance I thought, a professor enroute to her first class or an…

In honor of Nurse Week, I am replaying my Nurses blog.   I am privileged to be speaking this week and next at several Nurse Week events.  And so  – to salute those quiet heroes who walk among us,  this week’s blog is dedicated to them for whose life hasn’t been touched by a nurse?  It is…

Alright, so instead of stepping up and blogging, tweeting and posting on Facebook, I’ve – well, I’ve failed.  Miserably.  The truth is – I’m a techno-flunkie.  I am stymied by this disconnected connectedness. How can I have “friends” I’ve never met I wonder, and yet I do.   I have read posts and viewed photos that…