Phyllis Edgerly Ring's Blog, page 15
June 22, 2016
Why Eva Braun?
KINDLE SALE through June 26 ($1.99 US*)
for
The Munich Girl: A Novel of the Legacies that Outlast War
(* also discounted in all Amazon international markets)
https://www.amazon.com/Munich-Girl-Novel-Legacies-Outlast-ebook/dp/B01AC4FHI8/
As I was writing a guest post for Anna Horner’s Diary of an Eccentric blog this week, I pondered that recurring question about what inspired a novel in which Hitler’s mistress (and eventual wife) is a character, and what my research uncovered along the way.
At the six-month post-publication mark, I’m convinced, especially as I receive increasing feedback from book-discussion groups and readers, that the world’s continuing hunger to “understand” Hitler is aided by understanding more about Eva Braun.
Much of what’s conveyed about her (huge amounts of it inaccurate) has been based on presumed understanding about him. But the reality is that more complete information about her can help us better understand more about why Hitler, despite the evil he represents (or perhaps because of it), has occupied collective consciousness for more than 70 years. 
Far from attempting to redeem her, however, The Munich Girl follows along patterns of how Braun’s life in Hitler’s shadow, which ended alongside him when she was 33, is emblematic of what many women have done, and still do, in a world still hobbled by inequality. Unable to enact their own potential in a direct way, they resort to doing so from the invisible sidelines and background. In Eva Braun’s case, that public invisibility lasted the entire 16 years she spent with Hitler.
As one reader puts it: “Women, even well-educated women such as [Anna], the novel’s protagonist, are groomed to give up their lives for the ‘larger’ missions of their husbands and lovers. … one of the many ways in which the feminine aspect of humanity is subjugated, Fascism being the most extreme form.”
The story of The Munich Girl is about many things beyond Eva Braun and the time of the war in Germany. It’s about how women share our lives with each other, the power of our friendships, and the way we protect each other’s vulnerabilities, perhaps as part of how we begin to gain compassion. So that our world can, too.
You can read my Guest Post at Diary of an Eccentric blog here:
https://diaryofaneccentric.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/why-eva-braun-guest-post-by-phyllis-edgerly-ring-author-of-the-munich-girl/
June 17, 2016
Blue Million fun – and a reading sale for every hemisphere
Author Amy Metz at A Blue Million Books generously shared the chance for a fun interview this week.
Among a host of thought-provoking questions, she revealed some of my murderous tendencies:
Have you ever killed off a character fictionally, as revenge for something someone did in real life?
Photo: Diane Kirkup
[Semi-spoiler alert:]
Oh, my, did I ever.[image error]. One of the most fun experiences I have with my newest book is when friends call up to tell me how satisfied THEY felt when they got to that part.
What would your main character say about you?
“Ease up. Be gentle, and grateful. Don’t miss the good stuff.”
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write? Why?
The memorial for a 90-year-old artist friend who’d had a remarkable life. He was one of my earliest mentors. It was hard because I also had to read it at the funeral and knew I wasn’t likely to make it through. It helped me give myself permission to cry in public, when that’s what my heart needs to do.
“Marketing”: Well, there’s always leaving it around in somewhat obvious places, hoping someone will find it[image error]
Do you have any marketing tips you could pass on to indie authors?
Oh, lord — I think you have to really believe in your work, in the way a parent believes in a child because she knows his or her innermost strengths, even when others can’t see them.
In promoting my books, I strive for a balance between the innovative and creative and the non-intrusive — finding creative ways to make a book discoverable without alienating or annoying anyone. After being published by trade publishers, then going it alone, I’ve learned that it is appreciative readers, more than any other factor, that can best help potential readers find a book, and understand why they’d want to read it. So an important focus is how to reach and build connection with those readers who will connect with your work.
AND — you can always lower a book’s price!!!
Just in time for summer (or Southern-Hemisphere winter) reading —
SALE for the Kindle version of The Munich Girl: A Novel of the Legacies that Outlast War –
Albert Marquet – Jardin du Luxembourg, 1898. Oil on canvas.
$2.99 US (*)
Find it at:
https://www.amazon.com/Munich-Girl-Novel-Legacies-Outlast-ebook/dp/B01AC4FHI8/
(*Also discounted in all countries with an Amazon marketplace.)
Read my interview with Amy Metz of A Blue Million Books at:
http://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/featured-author-phyllis-edgerly-ring.html
Blue Million fun – and a Solstice sale for every hemisphere
Author Amy Metz at A Blue Million Books generously shared the chance for a fun interview this week.
Among a host of thought-provoking questions, she revealed some of my murderous tendencies:
Have you ever killed off a character fictionally, as revenge for something someone did in real life?
Photo: Diane Kirkup
[Semi-spoiler alert:]
Oh, my, did I ever.[image error]. One of the most fun experiences I have with my newest book is when friends call up to tell me how satisfied THEY felt when they got to that part.
What would your main character say about you?
“Ease up. Be gentle, and grateful. Don’t miss the good stuff.”
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write? Why?
The memorial for a 90-year-old artist friend who’d had a remarkable life. He was one of my earliest mentors. It was hard because I also had to read it at the funeral and knew I wasn’t likely to make it through. It helped me give myself permission to cry in public, when that’s what my heart needs to do.
“Marketing”: Well, there’s always leaving it around in somewhat obvious places, hoping someone will find it[image error]
Do you have any marketing tips you could pass on to indie authors?
Oh, lord — I think you have to really believe in your work, in the way a parent believes in a child because she knows his or her innermost strengths, even when others can’t see them.
In promoting my books, I strive for a balance between the innovative and creative and the non-intrusive — finding creative ways to make a book discoverable without alienating or annoying anyone. After being published by trade publishers, then going it alone, I’ve learned that it is appreciative readers, more than any other factor, that can best help potential readers find a book, and understand why they’d want to read it. So an important focus is how to reach and build connection with those readers who will connect with your work.
AND — you can always lower a book’s price!!!
Just in time for summer (or Southern-Hemisphere winter) reading —
SOLSTICE SALE for the Kindle version of The Munich Girl: A Novel of the Legacies that Outlast War –
Albert Marquet – Jardin du Luxembourg, 1898. Oil on canvas.
Through June 26 – $1.99 US (*)
Find it at:
https://www.amazon.com/Munich-Girl-Novel-Legacies-Outlast-ebook/dp/B01AC4FHI8/
(*Also discounted in all countries with an Amazon marketplace.)
Read my interview with Amy Metz of A Blue Million Books at:
http://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/featured-author-phyllis-edgerly-ring.html
June 9, 2016
The past may not be done with us
A recent gift from one Amazon reviewing reader:
“In The Munich Girl, Phyllis Edgerly Ring takes on two difficult challenges.
“First she tells the story of a woman, Eva Braun, many of us would rather not know about. Ring tells that story with empathy so contagious we can’t help but be drawn in.
“Second she tells her story through the triple prism of three different women and their separate experiences. As we grow to know each woman our compassion grows as well and we become more and more emotionally involved. 
“Another challenge deftly navigated is the time frame of the three stories from the present to before and during WWII then back again.
“Ring manages these shifts without disrupting the forward momentum of the story. … ”
Find the rest, and more about the book at:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R1KKGJPGYPLY8U/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01AC4FHI8
June 6, 2016
Let’s set our inner GPS toward spiritual maturity
Humanity is on the verge of a spiritual evolutionary leap into a future where lasting global peace is not only possible but inevitable.
The human family is moving toward this stage of spiritual maturity through a dawning recognition of the oneness and interrelatedness in which it has been created, together with all of creation — and through the release of the gems of spiritual potential that await expression in every human heart.
As human beings, we’re held back in this process to the degree that we lack understanding about our true identity and purpose.
All around us, we can see the ways in which this lack of understanding has reached a state of desperation that is reflected in disastrous consequences at every level of human relationship.
As souls gain awareness and understanding of our truest identity and purpose, humanity will come to understand that the forces at work in human life are impelling us away from a centuries-old preoccupation with survival and “fighting evil” towards our highest destiny: a creative, collaborative and potentially limitless building of the good, in which every individual has a part to play and every culture its unique contributions to make. 
Explore these and related themes in
With Thine Own Eyes: Why Imitate the Past When We Can Investigate Reality?
Find more about the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thine-Own-Eyes-Ronald-Tomanio/dp/0853985782/
May 30, 2016
Groomed to give up their lives
It’s an extra-big blessing for me when a reader takes the time to leave reviewing feedback at such sites as Amazon and Goodreads.
It’s pure joy when those words reflect the very heart of the intentions in the novel’s story.
Reader Mary L. Brosmer wrote:
“I loved this novel because of its many layers: history, family, mystery, and love story.
“Above all, however, I was taken by its emotional intelligence, by the author’s descriptions of how women, even well-educated women such as the protagonist, are groomed to give up their lives for the ‘larger’ missions of their husbands and lovers.”
Mary cut right to the core of what The Munich Girl invites us to explore — not just the circumstances in the life of one tyrant’s consort, but the many ways in which the feminine aspect in humanity is subjugated — Fascism being the most extreme form.
As she ponders Eva Braun’s life and the book’s themes, reader Sandra Pauer writes:
“Does lack of self-confidence penetrate our psyche so deeply as to blind us to reality?
“[Do] centuries of oppression, still being treated as second rate-citizens today, skew our inner depths … blindside our ability to truly care for ourselves?
“I don’t think the author wrote this novel to redeem Eva Braun in any sense of the imagination. It served me to reflect on womanhood with our history steeped in domination and injustice.”
Find more about The Munich Girl at:
https://www.amazon.com/Munich-Girl-Novel-Legacies-Outlast-ebook/dp/B01AC4FHI8?
May 26, 2016
The atmosphere in which peace emerges
Words from Richard Bach came up this week as a deep reminder:
“You don’t want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel. The same questions, asked again, bring you just the answers you need just the minute you need them.”
This prompted a few forever questions as one month draws to its close and another begins:
How does my willingness to let go serve my highest purpose?
What freedom does it offer me from the erroneous notions and tyranny of my own thoughts?
What appears when I relinquish something lesser for something greater?
In what ways does its atmosphere and perspective always feel better?
Might it be the atmosphere in which peace emerges? 
Images courtesy of: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DKirkupDesigns
Adapted from Life at First Sight: Finding the Divine in the Details.
Find more about the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-First-Sight-Finding-Details-ebook/dp/B00B5MR9B0
May 23, 2016
The building of the good lasts forever
Photo: Nelson Ashberger
It’s a special day for Bahá’ís around the world today as we remember The Báb.
His life and the spiritual revolution in its story was my first encounter with the Revelation of the Bahá’í Faith.
From those earliest days, these words of The Báb’s have traveled with my grateful heart:
“O peoples of the world! Whatsoever ye have offered up in the way of the One True God, ye shall indeed find preserved by God, the Preserver, intact at God’s Holy Gate.”
Photo: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DKirkupDesigns
Every sparrow, every hair of our head, every feather and seed and blade of grass is accounted for.
Imagine the real spiritual presence of each one of our willing efforts and actions.
It can be easy, in these hours and days, to feel dismayed by the world as we see it around us.
But the building of the good is what is preserved — the increase and advance of love in the coming forth of what is of God.
May 20, 2016
Human being is a privilege
Painting: “So Bright” by Judy Wright.
GLEANINGS FOUND HERE AND THERE:
The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection.
Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.
~ Ben Okri
We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.
Painting: “Voices of the Ancients” by Judy Wright.
Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and live together and mesh together and breathe together in order for us to take even one more breath of air,
that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating human being is a privilege, that we are miraculously, part of something, rather than nothing.
~ David Whyte
May 17, 2016
Creativity’s invitation to discovery, and wholeness
Very grateful this week for the opportunity to share a guest post at reviewer Rachel Poli’s blog:
“The experience of writing The Munich Girl showed me that, rather than being something I ‘do,’ writing is a process that acts upon me, strengthening my sense of connection with my own wholeness. My responsibility is to listen and watch, rather than impose ideas or plans of my own on what comes forth as a story.
“Creative process invites me to find a balance between my intuitive mind, which encounters the unlimited and unknown, and rational mind, whose structuring perception helps a story be both cohesive and accessible.
“People often hurl themselves at creative process ‘head first’ with the rational mind, trying to force or control things. My experience is that in creative process, intuitive mind is waiting for me to meet it, so that it can help me know and understand in new and wider ways.
“Gertrude Stein expressed this beautifully: ‘You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery.’ She gets straight to the heart of what allows writing process to be a revelatory power, and a bestower, rather than a distraction or plaything.”
Read the rest at: https://rachelpoli.com/2016/05/17/creativitys-invitation-to-discovery-and-wholeness/
Find more about The Munich Girl at:
http://www.amazon.com/Munich-Girl-Novel-Legacies-Outlast/dp/0996546987/
And for those so inclined, a Goodreads Giveaway for the book is offered beginning at midnight Wednesday, May 18, through May 27.
Find entry info. at: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/187198-the-munich-girl-a-novel-of-the-legacies-that-outlast-war?utm_medium=email&utm_source=giveaway_approved
