Lisette Brodey's Blog - Posts Tagged "lisette-brodey"
Memories of 9/11: A Trip To Ground Zero
Dear Friends:
On December 3, 2001, I visited Ground Zero at night time. That evening, when I got home, I quickly typed out my thoughts. Being a writer, it is my habit to try and polish my words so that they shine. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to put my impressions of Ground Zero down, immediately, because I knew that I would always want to remember what I saw…as painful as it was.
Here is what I wrote that day in 2001:
We got down to the World Trade Towers about 8 p.m. Ground Zero is blocked off for about five blocks or so with wooden fences so you can't really see it at street level except for one break in the wall. The fences or "temporary walls" are covered with all kinds of tributes. People are still putting up fresh bouquets of flowers on a regular basis; we were both surprised at how fresh and pretty the flowers were. There were several wreaths with Teddy Bears inside, letters from children and adults, and in one spot I noticed a policeman's badge — which really hit me in the gut.
On a telephone pole, someone had written a letter to NY saying something like, "I'm very very sorry that you are so hurt. I love you so much and I feel so bad for your pain and your loss. I know I am only one voice, but I am praying for you. I love you New York."
There were letters from children in the windows of local stores. At one spot on the sidewalk, I noticed a grouping of about 12 small candles. Only one was still burning. There were all kinds of shrines. Photos are always the most difficult to look at because you're seeing just one person; one person who was real and now is gone. But there's something about that policeman's badge that really struck me. I just expected someone would have taken it because despite all the very good people around, there are still the nuts. But nobody had.
All of this, was right at the base of where you were allowed to stand. What we did see ahead, looming down the street was horrid and grotesque — the kind of sight that forces you into deep introspection and silence. I remember feeling very much the same way when I stood alone in Anne Frank's bedroom, looking at her movie star photos on the wall, and it was also the same kind of quiet that comes over you when visiting the Holocaust museum.
Anyway, you can see GZ from many vantage points (even in NJ) because it is SO very lit up. It IS surreal, just as you've heard many say. There are these huge and hideous piles of twisted wreckage that looked as if they had been there for hundreds of years. It was hard to imagine the World Trade Towers and other buildings in their place. It looked exactly like the footage you see on TV of the war torn villages in the Middle East. To look at this devastation, one couldn't help but translate the images into thoughts of hate and ignorance that brought this to be, of the lives lost, and of the way the world will be changed forever. Everything looked chillingly quiet. The entire area was in a sepia-like color, which made it seem like you were looking at old war photos in a dusty old book that you'd just found in the attic. Only the image had come to life; but at the same time, it was dead. It was all so dead.
To the left of where the towers had stood, was a Liberty Place building that had a huge hole in it but is going to be fixed. It is draped in a black cloth with a large American flag at the top. That flag, and the large red and the large yellow cranes at the sight are the only real splashes of color. The entire scene is lit up like a movie set, but there is eerily little action that one can see from such a distance.
At one place in the makeshift walls, there is a break where you can see the ground level. I could see lights placed in different parts of the wreckage and maybe a few figures in bright yellow coats moving about. I knew there were many, many people down there working, but I could not see them. The entire site seemed to have been abandoned. The entire scene rather transfixes you. You go into another zone and just find yourself staring and staring, almost as if you're going to keep on staring until it starts to make sense to you. Only that doesn't happen and so eventually you have to walk away. I did take a deep breath and could smell the smoke, but luckily, I was too far away to smell that "smell of death" that so many talked about.
This is what I saw on December 2, 2001. To see this, and then imagine this same site two and a half months ago, well, that literally defies comprehension. I had not been in downtown Manhattan for 15-20 years, and incongruous to Ground Zero and in shocking contrast to the site, I was amazed by how built up lower Manhattan was. Very close to the site were so many absolutely gorgeous buildings that I'd never seen before.
When you look at it, the one thing you are amazed and grateful for is that such an amazing number of people (something like 25,000) managed to escape. There was a man there with his family who was a rescue worker of some kind. He said that all of the wreckage was supposedly to be down by January 1. Hard to imagine, esp. as they are taking it all down piece by piece. It seems as if that chore alone could take years. I also heard the man say that the mayor didn't want people to stop working on Christmas.
As you walk away,
you can't help but keep turning back to take one last look, to burn it all into your brain, to make it real in one sense because in another it will never be real.
On December 3, 2001, I visited Ground Zero at night time. That evening, when I got home, I quickly typed out my thoughts. Being a writer, it is my habit to try and polish my words so that they shine. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to put my impressions of Ground Zero down, immediately, because I knew that I would always want to remember what I saw…as painful as it was.
Here is what I wrote that day in 2001:
We got down to the World Trade Towers about 8 p.m. Ground Zero is blocked off for about five blocks or so with wooden fences so you can't really see it at street level except for one break in the wall. The fences or "temporary walls" are covered with all kinds of tributes. People are still putting up fresh bouquets of flowers on a regular basis; we were both surprised at how fresh and pretty the flowers were. There were several wreaths with Teddy Bears inside, letters from children and adults, and in one spot I noticed a policeman's badge — which really hit me in the gut.
On a telephone pole, someone had written a letter to NY saying something like, "I'm very very sorry that you are so hurt. I love you so much and I feel so bad for your pain and your loss. I know I am only one voice, but I am praying for you. I love you New York."
There were letters from children in the windows of local stores. At one spot on the sidewalk, I noticed a grouping of about 12 small candles. Only one was still burning. There were all kinds of shrines. Photos are always the most difficult to look at because you're seeing just one person; one person who was real and now is gone. But there's something about that policeman's badge that really struck me. I just expected someone would have taken it because despite all the very good people around, there are still the nuts. But nobody had.
All of this, was right at the base of where you were allowed to stand. What we did see ahead, looming down the street was horrid and grotesque — the kind of sight that forces you into deep introspection and silence. I remember feeling very much the same way when I stood alone in Anne Frank's bedroom, looking at her movie star photos on the wall, and it was also the same kind of quiet that comes over you when visiting the Holocaust museum.
Anyway, you can see GZ from many vantage points (even in NJ) because it is SO very lit up. It IS surreal, just as you've heard many say. There are these huge and hideous piles of twisted wreckage that looked as if they had been there for hundreds of years. It was hard to imagine the World Trade Towers and other buildings in their place. It looked exactly like the footage you see on TV of the war torn villages in the Middle East. To look at this devastation, one couldn't help but translate the images into thoughts of hate and ignorance that brought this to be, of the lives lost, and of the way the world will be changed forever. Everything looked chillingly quiet. The entire area was in a sepia-like color, which made it seem like you were looking at old war photos in a dusty old book that you'd just found in the attic. Only the image had come to life; but at the same time, it was dead. It was all so dead.
To the left of where the towers had stood, was a Liberty Place building that had a huge hole in it but is going to be fixed. It is draped in a black cloth with a large American flag at the top. That flag, and the large red and the large yellow cranes at the sight are the only real splashes of color. The entire scene is lit up like a movie set, but there is eerily little action that one can see from such a distance.
At one place in the makeshift walls, there is a break where you can see the ground level. I could see lights placed in different parts of the wreckage and maybe a few figures in bright yellow coats moving about. I knew there were many, many people down there working, but I could not see them. The entire site seemed to have been abandoned. The entire scene rather transfixes you. You go into another zone and just find yourself staring and staring, almost as if you're going to keep on staring until it starts to make sense to you. Only that doesn't happen and so eventually you have to walk away. I did take a deep breath and could smell the smoke, but luckily, I was too far away to smell that "smell of death" that so many talked about.
This is what I saw on December 2, 2001. To see this, and then imagine this same site two and a half months ago, well, that literally defies comprehension. I had not been in downtown Manhattan for 15-20 years, and incongruous to Ground Zero and in shocking contrast to the site, I was amazed by how built up lower Manhattan was. Very close to the site were so many absolutely gorgeous buildings that I'd never seen before.
When you look at it, the one thing you are amazed and grateful for is that such an amazing number of people (something like 25,000) managed to escape. There was a man there with his family who was a rescue worker of some kind. He said that all of the wreckage was supposedly to be down by January 1. Hard to imagine, esp. as they are taking it all down piece by piece. It seems as if that chore alone could take years. I also heard the man say that the mayor didn't want people to stop working on Christmas.
As you walk away,
you can't help but keep turning back to take one last look, to burn it all into your brain, to make it real in one sense because in another it will never be real.
HALF-PRICE eBook Sale: 10/10/2010 for 10 days!
Hi Friends:
Just wanted to let you know that for a week, my two novels (in eBook format) will be featured at ireadiwrite.com for the half-price discount of $2.50 each.
SQUALOR, NEW MEXICO (YA) is a coming-of-age story shrouded in family mystery and CROOKED MOON (general fiction) is the story of two friends (who have lived very different lives) who reunite after 23 years one hot, August summer.
Both books are chock full of all kinds of juicy secrets and quirky characters.
I'm delighted to have my novels featured at ireadiwrite.com -- a great store for independent authors, and I hope you'll check out my books and all of the other new, emerging authors.
If you're reading this after the special has expired, please note that both novels are regularly priced at $4.99.
Trade paperback editions of both novels are available on Amazon.com. You can also read more on my website: www.lisettebrodey.com
If you're on Facebook, please check out my public page under "Lisette Brodey, Author." I'd be honored if you'd join my FB page! To all writers, if you also have a FB author page, I'd love to "like" yours, too!
Happy Reading; Happy Writing!
Lisette
Just wanted to let you know that for a week, my two novels (in eBook format) will be featured at ireadiwrite.com for the half-price discount of $2.50 each.
SQUALOR, NEW MEXICO (YA) is a coming-of-age story shrouded in family mystery and CROOKED MOON (general fiction) is the story of two friends (who have lived very different lives) who reunite after 23 years one hot, August summer.
Both books are chock full of all kinds of juicy secrets and quirky characters.
I'm delighted to have my novels featured at ireadiwrite.com -- a great store for independent authors, and I hope you'll check out my books and all of the other new, emerging authors.
If you're reading this after the special has expired, please note that both novels are regularly priced at $4.99.
Trade paperback editions of both novels are available on Amazon.com. You can also read more on my website: www.lisettebrodey.com
If you're on Facebook, please check out my public page under "Lisette Brodey, Author." I'd be honored if you'd join my FB page! To all writers, if you also have a FB author page, I'd love to "like" yours, too!
Happy Reading; Happy Writing!
Lisette
Interview with L.M. Stull
Hi Friends:
I recently interviewed with writer L.M. Stull on her website, where I discuss the world of writing and my personal experiences in it: how I got started, why I made certain decisions, my advice to aspiring writers, and much more.
I recently interviewed with writer L.M. Stull on her website, where I discuss the world of writing and my personal experiences in it: how I got started, why I made certain decisions, my advice to aspiring writers, and much more.
COMING IN FALL 2011
I do hope you'll drop by, read the interview, and meet the amazing L.M. Stull.
With all best wishes,
Lisette
FreeBookFriday.com giveaway
Hi Friends:
Just wanted to let you know that my novel, CROOKED MOON, is featured this week on FreeBookFriday.com.
http://tinyurl.com/4599yfy
FBF is a great site that offers giveaways in multiple genres every week.
You can read the interview with me, and, if you wish, enter to win a signed copy of CROOKED MOON. (A winner will be chosen on March 18, 2011.)
Happy Reading, Happy Writing.
Best,
Lisette
Just wanted to let you know that my novel, CROOKED MOON, is featured this week on FreeBookFriday.com.
http://tinyurl.com/4599yfy
FBF is a great site that offers giveaways in multiple genres every week.
You can read the interview with me, and, if you wish, enter to win a signed copy of CROOKED MOON. (A winner will be chosen on March 18, 2011.)
Happy Reading, Happy Writing.
Best,
Lisette
SUMMER READING SPECIAL!
SUMMER READING SPECIAL! From now until June 6th, I'm offering the Kindle edition of my YA novel, "Squalor, New Mexico" for only .99. This oddly titled book takes place in east coast suburbia during the 70s, and is the story of how lies and secrets can fracture a family, especially with the passage of time. While this is classified as a Young Adult novel, it is for people of all ages. :-)
http://amzn.to/jVH3pq
http://amzn.to/jVH3pq
MOLLY HACKER IS TOO PICKY! Coming VERY soon!
Hi Friends:
Some of you may know that I have been blogging as Molly Hacker, the character of my third novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! since February 2011 at www.mollyhacker.com.
I am no longer blogging regularly, as I am preparing for the publication of Molly's book, but there are lots of blogs in the archives along with hilarious comments from Molly's regular readers. In addition, if you click on the Interviews link on the left side of the page, you can read Molly's many interviews with her creative peers.
On December 1st, the ebook edition of Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! will be released. There will be a very special blog (with video) on Molly's site, so I hope you'll take a look. You can find the link right here on my GR profile when the blog goes up.
ireadiwrite Publishing will serve as the distributor for this edition, and the print edition will be forthcoming shortly.
You can read all about it at www.ireadiwrite.com.
Chatalicious, overanalytical & picky Molly is almost here!
And last, but not least, great thanks to Goodreads author/artist Megan Hansen who brought Molly's character to life with her brilliant cover illustration. Thank you, Megan!
Some of you may know that I have been blogging as Molly Hacker, the character of my third novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! since February 2011 at www.mollyhacker.com.
I am no longer blogging regularly, as I am preparing for the publication of Molly's book, but there are lots of blogs in the archives along with hilarious comments from Molly's regular readers. In addition, if you click on the Interviews link on the left side of the page, you can read Molly's many interviews with her creative peers.
On December 1st, the ebook edition of Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! will be released. There will be a very special blog (with video) on Molly's site, so I hope you'll take a look. You can find the link right here on my GR profile when the blog goes up.
ireadiwrite Publishing will serve as the distributor for this edition, and the print edition will be forthcoming shortly.
You can read all about it at www.ireadiwrite.com.
Chatalicious, overanalytical & picky Molly is almost here!
And last, but not least, great thanks to Goodreads author/artist Megan Hansen who brought Molly's character to life with her brilliant cover illustration. Thank you, Megan!
.99 Sale for MOLLY HACKER IS TOO PICKY! extended.
Hi Everyone:
Last week, my character, Molly Hacker, decided to run a week-long Kindle sale of her novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! But …
… Molly has decided to extend the sale of the e-book edition of her novel. Some people are a glutton for punishment. I guess she wants everyone to know her crazy innermost thoughts, to learn the explosive secrets of friend and foe alike in Swansea, and of course, to find out if indeed, Molly Hacker really is too picky! Available on Kindle on Amazon: http://amzn.to/IFsHMk and also on Apple for .99.
Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! is a romantic comedy that makes a great Mother's Day gift!
Last week, my character, Molly Hacker, decided to run a week-long Kindle sale of her novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! But …
… Molly has decided to extend the sale of the e-book edition of her novel. Some people are a glutton for punishment. I guess she wants everyone to know her crazy innermost thoughts, to learn the explosive secrets of friend and foe alike in Swansea, and of course, to find out if indeed, Molly Hacker really is too picky! Available on Kindle on Amazon: http://amzn.to/IFsHMk and also on Apple for .99.
Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! is a romantic comedy that makes a great Mother's Day gift!
.99 Kindle Sale on SQUALOR, NEW MEXICO
Hi Friends,
HAPPY DECEMBER!
Just wanted to let you all know that my coming-of-age novel, Squalor, New Mexico is on sale now for just .99 on Amazon.com.
You may be wondering what this odd-titled novel is about. Rather than hearing it from me, the main character, Darla McKendrick, will talk to you directly from the book cover in this YouTube video. After all, it's her story, not mine.
I'd also like to let everyone know that I've launched a brand new author website.
Every Monday, I will be interviewing authors, many of them Goodreads' authors. I will also be blogging and presenting guest blogs from cool people with lots of information and advice to share.
I do hope you'll stop by!
Well, that's about all for now
Best wishes to all.
Lisette
HAPPY DECEMBER!
Just wanted to let you all know that my coming-of-age novel, Squalor, New Mexico is on sale now for just .99 on Amazon.com.
You may be wondering what this odd-titled novel is about. Rather than hearing it from me, the main character, Darla McKendrick, will talk to you directly from the book cover in this YouTube video. After all, it's her story, not mine.
I'd also like to let everyone know that I've launched a brand new author website.
Every Monday, I will be interviewing authors, many of them Goodreads' authors. I will also be blogging and presenting guest blogs from cool people with lots of information and advice to share.
I do hope you'll stop by!
Well, that's about all for now
Best wishes to all.
Lisette
CROOKED MOON: .99 Kindle Sale
Hi Friends:
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.
Just to let you know that from now until the new year, my novel CROOKED MOON, is one sale in Kindle stores worldwide for only .99.
As children, Frankie Cavalese and Callie Mason were the very best of friends, growing up together on opposite walls of a row home in a blue-collar neighborhood of Philadelphia called Rainytown. But after high school, life interfered and circumstances separated them as they each went on to live drastically different lives.
Twenty-three years later, one hot Rainytown summer, the lives of these women suddenly come crashing back together. To complicate the fragile reunion, Callie's marriage is suddenly at risk, further complicated by the affections of (and attraction to) Frankie's brother, Paulie. Tensions and passions explode in the sweltering heat, and amid pain and tragedy, each woman not only ends up with a life-altering secret regarding the other, but the burning question of what to do with it.
CROOKED MOON on Amazon.com
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and wonderful new year.
All the best,
Lisette
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.
Just to let you know that from now until the new year, my novel CROOKED MOON, is one sale in Kindle stores worldwide for only .99.
As children, Frankie Cavalese and Callie Mason were the very best of friends, growing up together on opposite walls of a row home in a blue-collar neighborhood of Philadelphia called Rainytown. But after high school, life interfered and circumstances separated them as they each went on to live drastically different lives.
Twenty-three years later, one hot Rainytown summer, the lives of these women suddenly come crashing back together. To complicate the fragile reunion, Callie's marriage is suddenly at risk, further complicated by the affections of (and attraction to) Frankie's brother, Paulie. Tensions and passions explode in the sweltering heat, and amid pain and tragedy, each woman not only ends up with a life-altering secret regarding the other, but the burning question of what to do with it.
CROOKED MOON on Amazon.com
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and wonderful new year.
All the best,
Lisette
