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There was no Internet service based on algorithms in 1985 to see if we clicked as business partners or even friends. And now 30 years later, we’re happy to share with anyone who will listen: “We’re still partners! We’re still partners!” every time someone asks, and they often do, phrasing it usually this way: “Are you two still writing together?” Many seem to imply by their query that two females can’t work together closely and get along…for long. Would they ask that of men? Hmmm, but that’s another blog post. The answer to the question on the table now is a resounding...

For some, romance may be much easier to tend and mend than a friendship, if you consider that it’s a different kind of commitment—sharing your heart, bed, and finances. When you love someone, if it’s for keeps, you say what you need to (hopefully, but not always with kindness), even duke it out metaphorically, or go to a counselor when you can’t resolve issues on your own. Long-standing, and even shorter-term, friendships that go awry for whatever reason can be tougher to fix. In most cases, you never promised until death-do-you-part. However, if you’ve invested time and heart, you don’t...

You’re Thelma and Louise (Susan Sarandon and Gena Rowlands), female buddies and societal outlaws in the movie by the same name; C.C. Bloom (Bette Midler) angling to become BFFs with Hillary Witney (Barbara Hershey) in “Beaches,” or Elise Elliot (Goldie Hawn), Brenda Morelli (Bette Midler), Annie MacDuggan (Diane Keaton), and Cynthia Swann (Stockard Channing) plotting to get back at their husbands who dumped them in another movie, “First Wives Club.” “Let’s be friends” may be among the three most important monosyllables in our female lives. Of course, you can have good guy friends, but here we’re talking about female bonds,...

Everyone says little truisms like, “you can’t go home again” or “you should drink eight glasses of water a day.” But some truisms aren’t always true, or at least not true for everyone. I think you can go home again as long as you don’t expect everything to be exactly the same, like a needle stuck on the groove of a venerable vinyl record that keeps playing the same tune over and over. Tempus fugit. Yet, going back can stir sweet memories of how things once were in happy times. This is what I experienced during a recent getaway to...

It hit me late one night when I was enduring an ugly bout of insomnia. While my new guy friend was snoring in syncopated sound with this dog (who was snoozing and snuggling between us), I came to the realization that I was the third wheel in our relationship. How do I compete with his furry friend? Ideas started swirling in my head like some frenetic slide show. Do I have to wag my tail to grab my guy’s attention? Better than wagging my finger, I reasoned. Grow two more legs? Play submissive to let him know that he’s the...