I'm usually not a rule breaker. But, full disclosure: my memoir, Under the Birch Tree, reflects a rule, a memoir is not an autobiography, that I broke. Though Under the Birch Tree is now memoir, it maintains characteristics of autobiography. How I handled this telltale suggestion tipped the category from autobiography to memoir. The leap from a chronological autobiography to a memoir [...]
I am three months away from publication of my memoir, Under the Birch Tree, published by She Writes Press. To be honest, I feel as though I’m hurrying up to wait. While indulging in the need to be doing something, I absorb social media, from Facebook to Pinterest and all media in between. I take notice of my fellow authors’ posts, their follower numbers, [...]
Happiness. We seek it; we covet it. There are endless number of books about it, how to get it, what it means, where to find it. From professors to psychologists, to doctors and yogis and anyone in between, someone has a suggestion about how to find it. Each of us has our own way to secure happiness. Some may read [...]
International Holocaust Remembrance Day was yesterday. I fine-tuned an essay I wrote a few years ago and discovered a few reflective thoughts running parallel with my theme in my memoir, Under the Birch Tree. I hope you take a moment to read my personal account of remembrance. Sometimes I see my world as segregated, either black or white. My tidy thinking [...]
In my forthcoming memoir, Under the Birch Tree, I explore the discovery of connections and their meanings in my life. Growing up on Carlisle Avenue, I deem a birch tree, not only my buddy, but also synonymous with home. I would carry this first connection, a catalyst for many others, through the decades. Home, by definition, takes on several meanings. [...]
A birch grew tall and arabesque in the corner of my front yard of my girlhood home. Through the decades, my birch tree followed me, no matter where I would find myself, signaling home, my place to be. My birch tree became my buddy, shadowing me when I would need to leave yet another resting place. No matter where I found [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Smoke hung like humidity on a sultry summer afternoon. The cloudy air wasn’t from a barbecue, a nearby chimney, or landscaper stirring the dry earth. The puffs appeared to billow, grow larger then shrink, dance in circles, twirl in unison. It was as if they were full of breath giving life to a kaleidoscope of memories from long ago. The [...]
The first time I entered a writing contest I won. A win says it all, a handshake in welcome, validation for a job well done and self-confidence to tackle another challenge. Writers who enter a writing contest submit their best work with the optimistic chance they could win, securing a welcome, confirmation and boost in confidence. I admire a writer’s [...]