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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
When I was young, I seized the rare times when my dad jested with me. During playful moments, he’d utter “Put up your dukes,” taking a boxer’s sideways stance when confronting me. I didn’t consider this original, reasoning he stole the line from an old John Wayne movie. I didn’t need any movie to show me how to put up [...]
As a memoir writer for over fifteen years, the word “memoir,” has become ingrained in my thoughts and actions. The word or any form of it draws my attention like a magnet, urging me to record the captured reflections and takeaways. The journey to my completed memoir, Under the Birch Tree, to be published next year, is a result of [...]
I had an autobiography. I wanted a memoir. After years of chronicling my life experiences from girlhood to teens to adulthood, I had an autobiography. However, “One’s autobiography does not a memoir make!” I proclaimed in my essay, “I Called You a Memoir” published in the Magic of Memoir. I shared what I most remembered from my girlhood–white anklet socked [...]