discovering connections
In my memoir, Under the Birch Tree, due out next year, I learn many things about connections. Connections serve a purpose; connections teach. "The light from above told me my connections to home were not limited to my immediate surroundings but extended overhead to high places and beyond. I just needed to look up to the heavens to see a message of memories sent from a once-secure place I had known as home."
. . . a sneak peak . . .
There's nothing more defining for an author when the cover of your book presents itself. You see the fruits of your hard labor, perhaps years of stops and starts in writing, nurturing a love - hate relationship with what is an original creation. The protector of your words, the shield to your thoughts, your cover caps the binding of your accomplishment spelled out in ink on paper. I couldn't be more excited and proud when my publisher, She Writes Press, created this cover for my accomplishment, due out June 2018. [...]
Micromemoir: A deconstructed orange ball
I studied my plump grandma sitting in a black Naugahyde swivel chair in front of the television while watching The Price Is Right. Each day at 3:00 p.m. she ceremoniously grabbed an orange ball from the kitchen counter, held it in her hands like a treasure, and walked to her designated place in the family room. Clutching the small globe, she systematically peeled the orange and then stacked the oily skins in a neat pile on an unfolded white paper napkin in her lap. Section by section, as she pulled [...]
can a memoir be written too soon?
I recently attended my first author event. Though my participation was part of due diligence toward planning my future author events, this one posed more questions than answers. But in the end, I shared this writer’s intent. I am preparing to publish my memoir, Under the Birch Tree, in June 2018 with She Writes Press. Attending book signings, readings and author events are just a few of my to-do’s as they are examples to help with planning my own events. My self-imposed course of study is to observe, ask questions [...]
how gratitude and present moments connected me to home
When we are away from home, we may not always recognize the ways we are reminded of where we came from. In Under the Birch Tree, my memoir due out next year, I connect to home through living in the present moments and recognizing gratitude. When entering a bakeshop, for example, you notice the sweet smelling air but don’t connect it to the time when you stood in your home kitchen while an apple pie baked in the oven, or while walking through a parking lot to your car, squawking seagulls [...]
summer being
I’m always waiting. I wait for blizzards to end in January, the last of the snow to melt in February, spring in March, warmer temperatures in April and finally I see signs of summer in May. Summer is here! So I wait six months to enjoy three months of summer busyness. And I also wait for something else–to make a to-do list of activities. Admittedly, I think procrastination shields me from realizing that I won’t get to anything on my list. I go through this every summer. After the Memorial [...]
My Five Suggestions to Keep You Motivated
Summertime, and the allure of the outdoors beckoning our attention and keeping us from writing. Ordinarily, it's difficult to stay motivated, but even more so, when the distraction of summertime fun is more inviting. So, how can I fit writing time into my day?” I begin it with this question and end it in assessing if, indeed, I did fit it in. Recently, I reviewed my week to see how I did this and came up with these five ways to integrate writing into the day. *Think of the [...]
mindfulness in thin air
This morning I greeted a sky so blue I couldn’t see where the tips of the trees ended and the heavens began. I envisioned the air so pure and light that it could carry a feather swinging in lateral paths. A small airplane flew overhead, dividing the atmosphere. Its nose came into focus, the twin engines became louder; I located the rudder. The plane looked similar to the one I flew a few years ago. I remembered that early morning began just as it did this morning. I hit the [...]