author

Patricia Collins

for people who love to read

Welcome!

I hope you will enjoy reading some of the essays, stories, and blog posts for this website and will return periodically to read what’s new. I love to write and to share what I’ve learned and reflected on—whether the inspiring events took place this past week or decades ago. My interests are quite varied, and so are the topics for what appears on this site. What is consistent is that these are reflections that offer my perspective, most often a positive way of looking at what’s happened and what that’s meant to me.

Essays & Stories

Memories

mini-memoir pieces
from a rewarding personal life

PHOTO CREDIT: CARLOS PEREYRA

Been There, Done That, Learned a Thing or Two

lessons learned, knowledge and skills
tested again and again

Desultory Reflections & Philosophical Thoughts

observations on culture, ethics, and
contemporary conditions

PHOTO CREDIT: Distinctively Dickinson

Literature Reviews

formal and informal critiques of
works in contemporary literature

fiction

short stories and flash fiction
inspired by others’ lives

Books:

upcoming and available book-length works

E-Books

downloadable cuisine travelogues

Print Books

young children’s literature

Blog

A Walk Along the Levees

A few minutes’ drive from my home on a typical January day, northern shovelers, teals, gadwalls, ruddy ducks, and mallards float amidst the ponds and along the Charleston Slough. Male and female pairs paddle toward a shoreline or simply take a meandering path in the...

Bathtub Tales

My father believed that imagination was precious, no matter the time or place. And one of those times was bath time when my sister and I were very young. He talked to us about heads, shoulders, knees, and toes. With our early bathing lessons, we learned that keeping...

Tales of Toys

We called my great-grandmother Nanny. Her toy chest was a worn wicker laundry basket filled with wooden spools (all that remained after their sewing thread had stitched and mended clothing or other torn fabric during the Great Depression or World War II), an iron from...