Kathleen Pooler's Blog, page 27
November 21, 2016
In the Aftermath of the Election, I Choose Hope: A Memoir Moment
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Critical thinking without hope is cynicism. Hope without critical thinking is naïveté.” Maria Popova, “Hope, Cynicism and the Stories We Tell Ourselves”, Brain Pickings
Photo Credit: Pixabay Free Image
I’ve kept relatively quiet during his election. It’s my nature to step back, take it all in then express myself. Except for family and close friends, few people know my political views.
But I’ve been deeply invested in the process and when the results were confirmed at 3:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, 11/9/16, I felt stunned, heartbroken and physical-ill… like over half of the population.
At a loss for words.
I won’t go through the litany of complaints about the candidate who mocked a disabled journalist, and spewed his racist, misogynistic and xenophobic messages at violence -inducing rallies cheered on by his enthusiastic followers. In the wise words of Malcolm Gladwell, his “unfiltered authenticity” fueled this enthusiasm.
No, I’ll just say that in the wake of this new reality, chaos and uncertainty have accompanied this change.
I vacillate between grief, sadness, anger, and fear and an undying hope that the checks and balances system put in place by our Founding Fathers will temper and stabilize the resulting panic that has set in about the perceived loss of civil liberties, deportation and a general sense that life as we knew it is gone.
We can’t change the results of the election but there are still things we can control:
Bring on the peaceful protests, the people exercising their First Amendment rights to oppose erratic, outrageous behavior from our leader-elect.
Make him accountable. If he is going to be a “President for all the people” as he stated in his victory speech, then let’s see some humility and contrition for all the people he offended during his campaign.
I desperately want to believe that our system will work. That “We, the People” will continue to have a say in the direction of our country. That our democracy is bigger than either party and will survive.
I want to believe that little whisper of hope deep in my soul that this person can do good things and that we as a nation will eventually pull together for the greater good.
As a nation, over half of us are in a deep grieving process– denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. (Five stages described by Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross).
Right now, I’m in the bargaining stage.
I want to believe that democracy will rule and temper what I perceive to be a “loose cannon” mentality.
President Obama has graciously advised us to give him a chance.
It’s up to Mr. Trump to calm our fears, generated from his own nasty campaign rhetoric; to face the American people–beyond Twitter– with humility and honesty and show us that he has heard all of us and will be a leader for all—one we can be proud of.
In the mean time, we can still use our voices to hold him accountable and stand firm against any affronts to our Constitution.
Mr Trump, give us a reason to hope.
We can still do our individual part to be kind and respectful to one another.
And, as writers, we can share our voices and capture the experiences of our times.
In the words of Author Toni Morrison from Brain Pickings. “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear: Toni Morrison on the Artist’s Tsk in Troubled Times “
This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.”
***
During this Thanksgiving week, may we all pause to get in touch with our many blessings–family, friends, plentiful resources and a country where we are free to express our opinions. Despite our flaws and imperfections, America is still “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
We have a lot of work ahead of us but can we at least all come together to preserve the civility, decency and respect our country was built on?
I hope we can and will…
Wishing you and yours a blessed and healthy Thanksgiving.
How about you? How are doing in the aftermath of this election?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations, Merril Smith! Your name was selected to receive an autographed copy of Laurie Buchanan’s Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth.
Next Week:
Monday, 11/28/16:
“Why Should You Bother Doing a Book Launch? by Dorit Sasson”
November 2016 Newsletter: Updates, Memoir Musings and Max Moments:
“The Gifts of Grief”
November 14, 2016
Freedom in Forgiveness by Laurie Buchanan,PhD
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Laurie Buchanan,PhD/@TueswithLaurie
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing” ~Laurie Buchanan,PhD
It is my pleasure to feature Laurie Buchanan, PhD in this guest post on freedom in forgiveness. I speak from experience when I say you’re in for a real treat. Laurie has a way of distilling the essence of meaningful messages into short yet impactful pearls as evidenced by her weekly blog posts on Tuesday with Laurie. We met online through several colleagues and I’m so glad we did.
In her own words,”By combining concise word pictures with vivid photography, my hope is to point readers to their indwelling spring of unlimited potential and possibility.”
Her recently published book, Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth, is a testament to her commitment to holistic health and wellness.
My reviews can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThings and Riffle.
Welcome, Laurie!
Author, Holistic health practitioner and transformational life coach Laurie Buchanan, PhD.
Freedom in Forgiveness
As a holistic health practitioner and transformational life coach, when working with individuals, I typically work with them in a particular area of concern.
When I’m invited to speak to a group of people, I try to address not only a topic of interest, but something that’s a common denominator; something where we’re all on the same page, on equal ground.
Without exception:
All of us at one time will have someone to forgive.
All of us at one time will need forgiveness ourselves.
It’s my perspective that the place to start—
the place to launch joy, hope, positive aspirations, and healing—begins with forgiveness. (Click to Tweet)
Until that bit of housekeeping has been taken care of, everything else is futile.
It’s important to understand that forgiving is not the same as condoning; it doesn’t minimize or justify the wrong. You can forgive the person without excusing the act. Forgiveness helps us to offload baggage that’s not serving us well; it helps us move forward less encumbered—lighter.
Forgiveness is a commitment to a process of change. (Click to Tweet)
It begins when we’re ready to release the feelings associated with being a victim. In stepping away from that role, we release the power the offending person and situation had in our life. One of my clients shared:
“I was in a self-imposed prison; the bars that held me captive were anger and hatred. The single key that unlocked the door and set me free was forgiveness. Not condoning what the other person did, but rather forgiving it. Not pretending that it didn’t happen, but acknowledging it.”
Have you forgiven those who’ve hurt or offended you, or are you harboring resentment—withholding forgiveness?
“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.”
—CATHERINE PONDER, Unity minister and inspirational author
Sometimes the person or people we need to forgive are still living; sometimes they’re no longer alive. I’ve found the following tangible exercise to be effective in either case. It’s also helpful in working with overwhelming sorrow or grief.
THE ASHES EXERCISE (one of the many actionable techniques found in Note to Self)
By hand, write out all of the details of the experience. Don’t use a computer. There’s something tremendously therapeutic and liberating about writing this out by hand.
In story form, as if you’re a reporting journalist, write out the who, what, when, where, why, and how of it. In detail, write about how you think and how you feel as it relates to the matter. Capture on paper how it’s impacted your life on every level—body, mind, and spirit.
Once you have everything written out—this may take a few days—wait for either a new moon (which represents new beginnings) or the full moon (which represents closure). Only you’ll know which is right for you.
Regardless, on the date you select, roll the pages in scroll fashion into a long, cylindrical tube. Then use a lighter and hold the paper over a large, fireproof container (a metal pot for cooking spaghetti noodles is ideal). As you’re burning the paper, state out loud:
“By burning these remembrances, I lovingly forgive and release them from my life. I am no longer held hostage by this negative energy. I nurture my highest and best good with things that are positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing. In offloading this baggage, I have created space for joy. Thank you. And so it is.”
Once the ashes have cooled, gather them and mix them with soil. Using a ceramic pot inside your home, or the ground outside, plant bulbs or a beautiful plant—a visual reminder of your commitment to release negative energy and to move forward.
Each of us must find our own way through the many layers of forgiveness. I hope the ashes exercise helps you.
***
Thank you Laurie for sharing your wisdom and compassion with us. You have given us a gift of increased self-awareness through your words and your new book, Note to Self that we each can be empowered to achieve health and wellness.
LAURIE BUCHANAN BIO:
Board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, Laurie Buchanan isa holistic health practitioner and transformational life coach. Her areas of interest include energy medicine, inner alchemy, spiritual awareness, writing, and laughter. Definitely laughter!
Embracing the belief that life is an expression of the choices we make, Buchanan is a teacher and student of purposeful living. With tremendous respect for the earth’s natural resources, she strives to leave the slightest footprint on the planet while at the same time making a lasting impression on its inhabitants—one that is positive, uplifting, constructive,and healing.
A minimalist by intent, she lives a beautiful life with fewer things—simple yet full.
Please visit Laurie’s blog, Tuesdays with Laurie, at www.tuesdayswithlaurie.com.
Peace ▪ Joy ▪ Health
Contact Information:
Goodreads
YouTube
***
How about you? Have you found freedom in forgiveness? Care to share what worked for you?
Laurie has graciously offered to give away an autographed copy of Note to Self to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 11/21/16:
“In the Aftermath: A Memoir Moment”
November 10, 2016
An Adoptee’s Search For Her Roots: An Interview with Memoir Author Gloria Oren
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Gloria Oren/@gloriaoren
I am pleased to participate in the Bonded at Birth blog tour during November 2016 to coincide with National Adoption Month.
My guest interviewee today is Gloria Oren whose memoir, Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee’s Search For Her Roots is about loss, survival, determination, and persistence.
Welcome, Gloria!
Memoir Author Gloria Oren
An Adoptee’s Search For Her Roots: An Interview with Gloria Oren
KP: Tell us about your adoption story and the main message you want to convey.
GO: Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee’s Search for Her Roots is a story of loss, survival, determination, and persistence. It covers one state, three countries, and two continents. It covers sixteen years of searching and a little over four decades since my first adoption. It wasn’t until seven years post-reunion that my second adoption occurred.
I want other adoptees and those involved with adoption to be inspired. To feel that if I could be successful anyone can. I want them to see it as the go to book for adoptees who are hesitant to search.
I also want my message, that there is n place for secrecy in families, especially in the adoptive family, to go to all my readers.
KP: What made you decide to write a memoir about your adoption experience?
GO: I wrote my memoir about my adoption experience because I felt it was a story that had to be shared. I heard from many adoptees that they can’t search because they have no or little information to go on. When I turned eighteen, it became more and more realistic that we, as adoptees, have the right to know our own information regarding our origins and medical histories. This inspired me to share my story, as I too had no more than the fact that my birth mother was a teen from Nova Scotia. Yet things have a way of happening, and because of them and the help of others, I was found. Yes, I searched. And yes, I was found.
KP: How did your adoptive parents respond to your need to search for your birth parents?
GO: My adoptive father died on my eleventh birthday and my adoptive mother died when I was 23. I actually started searching in earnest about two years after my adoptive mother died. They likely would not have liked the idea and possibly would have tried to stop me. After all my adoption was kept a secret.
KP: That must have been very difficult. What gave you the strength to persist in your quest to find your birth parents?
GO: I had to know. I experienced various medical issues and later had some show up in my children. I didn’t want it to be a secret any more. All my medical records had misleading information based on my adoptive family’s history. This can be dangerous. I wanted it changed but didn’t know what to change it to. I needed to discover this for my sake and the sake of my children.
And I always had a feeling that one day it would come to be. It’s hard to explain this; I just knew it would be. And it was, eight days short of my forty-first birthday.
KP: What advice would you give others wishing to find their birth parents or adoptive parents whose children wish to search?
GO: I would advise adoptees wishing to find their birth parents to first read through the vast amount of literature on adoption, on adoption searching, and reunion. They must be ready for whatever outcome there may be. I was lucky to not only have been reunited with my birth mother and maternal grandmother; I wasn’t as lucky on my paternal side as my birth father died eight years before my reunion with my birth mother. But having his surname I was able to locate and connect with half-siblings. Go for it when you are ready. But do it so you don’t regret not having made the attempt until it’s too late.
My advice to adoptive parents whose children wish to search is this: let them. It is their right to know and it isn’t right for the adoptive parent to prevent this. The adoptive parents don’t always know the information an adoptee might uncover, and which may be important for him or her to know. They will not love the adoptive parent any less, even when succeeding to find their birth families. There is place in the heart to love everyone. Support them, give them the space they need, help if they ask for it, and most important please don’t substitute your medical history for the adoptee’s records just because you don’t know anything else. Just say you don’t know. This is from someone who has had to go through the tedious process of getting all of the information changed. It’s not an easy task, so make it easy for your adoptee.
KP: What were the biggest surprises you’ve encountered in writing your memoir?
GO: The biggest surprises I’ve encountered were how much revisions and edits need to be done and how it feels like it will never end. The truth is no one is one hundred percent perfect and neither is a book. You do the best of your ability to catch all the typos etc., and if something slips through, so be it.
The other thing was the fact that I sent out well over a hundred queries to agents, and most responded with personal notes that they liked the story but felt they wouldn’t be the right person to promote the book. Then when I decided to check out the self-publishing option, the quotes I got from self-publishers were way beyond my budget and I didn’t see why I had to spend so much if I would be doing most of the work on promoting anyway. I went the other route. I hired someone to do my cover and the interior layout as well as upload it and I am doing all the promotion and marketing myself. It cost me much less and so far, it has worked for me.
KP: How much do you know about a book when you begin writing it?
GO: I knew where I wanted to start and where it would end. I made an outline, it changed a lot for the middle part but the start, and end points stayed the same. Most important is to know the end, then build up your story to that end. Knowing your conflicts, what is the character facing and how will they be resolved, helps, too.
KP: What business challenges have you faced as a writer?
GO: Lots. I knew I had to market my book and promote it. I’m not a marketer. I’m still learning. I have to figure out how to do lots of things, but I am lucky to have lots of contacts from before that I can turn to if I need help with a challenge. I’m not very versed in tech issues so I turn to my son for help with that. Other than that it is a lot of reading books, blogs, etc. as well as listening to webinars and so on to learn how to do things. All the information is out there, it just requires time to gather it and apply it as needed.
KP: How would you describe your style of writing?
GO: I would describe it as conversational. I’m relating a story to the reader. I want the reader to feel like he or she is there beside me. I try to use as simple language as possible.
KP: Do you have any memoir writing tips to share?
GO: Write your memoir as if you were writing a novel. Make it flow easily so it keeps your reader’s attention from start to end. Don’t try to put everything in, stick to what is pertinent to your topic and story. There was a lot I had put in the first draft that I felt was important, but it was dry, history related, so I pulled it out, rewrote it, and formed it into an article. Not everything has to be in the book.
***
Thank you, Gloria for sharing your adoption story and your memoir writing tips. Your successful search for your roots will give many adoptees hope for their own search.
***
Book Synopsis:
After growing up under the umbrella of secrecy, Gloria sets out to find her birth mother with all she knew about her: she was a Jewish teenager. Despite being told by anyone and everyone that it would be an impossible feat, her determination and motivation increased. Learning her birth father’s name upon reunion with her birth mother and a short time later that he passed away eight years before led to her getting involved in genealogy and through thisresearch medium she discovered that her first cousin seven times removed was Col. William Prescott of the Battle of Bunker Hill fame and more. Seven years later her story is brought full circle.
Author Bio and Contact Information:
Gloria Oren is an Author and Award winning Editor.
She has a powerful perspective of finding positivity in experiences on life’s roller coaster lurches that leave many in panic.
She is an editor for Muse It Up Publishing and also does freelance editing. When editing Gloria helps authors create the best book they can.
Founder of the Facebook group Women Writers Editors Agents and Publishers which has over 6,000 members (all women) and which continues growing day by day.
She is a member of the Redmond Association of Spokenword (RASP) and Society of Good Grammar (SPOGG).You can connect with Gloria:
http://gloriaoren.com
http://gloriascorner.com
http://familylinksmatter.blogspot.com/ She is also on Facebook and Twitter (@gloriaoren).
***
How about you? Do you have an adoption story to share?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 11/14/16:
“Freedom in Forgiveness by Laurie Buchanan, PhD”
Laurie is the author of Note to Self: A Seven-Step Pathway To Growth and Gratitude. She will give away an autographed copy of her book to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
November 7, 2016
What to Do When You Hit A Wall With Your Writing
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Our job isn’t to be perfect; it’s to get the story down.”~ Jim Hines, Author of Revisionary
Have you ever felt like you hit a wall with your writing?
Photo Credit: Quotesgram.com
When you put your manuscript aside for two months, choosing to not even think about, let alone write about it…
That’s me after finishing my first draft of my work-in-progress second memoir about being the mother of an addicted son.
I’ve never run a marathon but I’m told by those who do that they “hit a wall” around the 20-mile mark.
Writing, like a marathon, requires preparation, training and endurance…but what happens when you hit your writing wall after months or years of hard work? How do you break through your “20-mile mark” to get to that finish line?
I know this is part of the writing process and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is more common with memoir writers because of the emotional aspects of reliving one’s life story.
I stepped away because of the emotionally-charged aspect of reliving painful events and uncovering hidden memories. It also involves my children who have a stake in it. They are a key part of the story and deserve the time to process the information.
I know deep in my core that my story is important. I need to see it to fruition. I want to let it go.
My strong belief is that being connected to your purpose for writing your story will propel you through the ups and downs and get you to the finish line.
My two months is up and I am at a crossroads of deciding where to go from here while figuring out how to get there…
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons
Here are a few ways I have dealt with my hiatus-not from writing -but from my story:
Read, especially in other genres:
I just finished Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, a graphic and gripping portrayal of slavery in America, then I visited my favorite local bookstore, The Book Hound ,and gathered some contemporary and classic reads: Annie Lamott, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wolff and May Sarton.
I’m looking forward to more reading by the wood stove!
It seems to me a writer is always working, even when not writing. Reading fills the creative well.
Turn to other creative activities:
Playing the piano, even though it’s one-handed at the moment due to my healing fractured left wrist. One of my Occupational Therapy treatment goals is be able to play two-handed. Progress not perfection.
Coloring in my Adult Coloring book for mindless, playful entertainment. It strikes me that doing a mindless activity can help you be more mindful..of the present moment.
Get outside, away from the computer:
This autumn has been a glorious time to soak up the kalaidoscope of colors and enjoy the brief, shining moments of my favorite season.
Keep writing on a daily basis, even if it’s only commenting on someone else’s blog or writing in a journal.
I had the opportunity to attend a fabulous local women’s writing workshop– Women’s Writers and Artists Matrix (WWAM)–over the weekend at Skidmore College in Saratoga, NY. Though I was only able to attend for one day, it was just what I needed to get those creative juices flowing again.
Workshop Takeaways…
Writing teacher (one of my favorites), June Gould explored, through the lens of poets Solmaz Sharif and Tony Hoagland, “What Women Are Writing About”. She reviewed Post-Modernism which defies convention, noting you don’t need to write what you know. “Meaning is made in the presence of community. It is up for grabs. ” Simply stated, trust the reader to fill in the blanks.
Story teller and story teacher Marni Gillard immersed us in the world of storytelling and discussed the concept of “delightful listening and appreciation”which we practiced with a partner. It was magical for me as I felt the wall I had hit starting the crumble. This opened the door for me to reconsider the heart of my story. It’s still a work-in-progress but I sense a new pathway developing. Stay tuned…
The WWAM Book Event:
It’s always a thrill to see my book displayed alongside those of fellow authors.
It’s even better to network with fellow women writers. Here I am with Lin Murphy. Lin is a Spiritual teacher and guide and gives Consciousness workshops in area colleges and churches.
***
We all have choices…
November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), WNFIN (Write Non-Fiction in November) and National Memoir Writing Month. I admire my colleagues who have taken up the challenge of writing every day and achieving a specific word count on a deadline. Maybe someday, I’ll participate but this year, I’m going with the flow and trusting in the process.
My best advice from this hiatus is:
Don’t fight it.
Turn to other creative activities…including a writer’s event if you are able.
Engage in self-care..massages, lunch with friends, sitting on the porch and soaking up the quiet and beauty of nature…whatever works for you.
Trust that you will get back on track when you are ready and when the story that has been marinating calls you back.
***
How about you? Have you experienced hitting a wall with your writing? What helps you break through your writing wall?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
This Week:
Thursday, 11/10/16:
“An Adoptee’s Search For Her Roots: An Interview with Memoir Author Gloria Oren.”
Gloria is the author of Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee’s Search for Roots. Her guest interview is part of the Bonded at Birth blog tour during November 2016 which coincides with National Adoption Month.
Next Week:
Monday, 11/14/16:
“Freedom in Forgiveness by Laurie Buchanan, PhD”
Laurie is the author of Note to Self: A Seven-Step Pathway To Growth and Gratitude. She will give away an autographed copy of her book to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
October 31, 2016
3 Creative Ways to Uncover Personal Stories for Your Memoir: A WOW Blog Tour with Nina Amir
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Nina Amir/@NinaAmir
I am very pleased to feature Creativity Coach and Author Nina Amir in her WOW Blog Tour for her latest book, Creativity for Writers. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Nina in person and have followed her online since I started my own writing journey in 2009. She provides a wealth of resources for writers with a generous and caring spirit and a wide range of knowledge and skill.
Welcome, Nina!
Creativity Coach and Author Nina Amir
3 Creative Ways to Uncover Personal Stories for Your Memoir
Uncovering personal stories from the past can prove a big challenge for memoirists. Events and conversations that happened years ago may not come to mind quickly, easily or accurately. Yet, writers need those details to write a memoir.
To reawaken memories, some writers pour over old journals and photos. Others visit their home towns and the houses where they grew up. Or they contact people from their past.
However, you can use three creative tools to access your memories.
Meditate
It’s amazing what information is stored in your mind. It’s like an enormous library, but you have to know where to find the books you need, which are filed on a high shelf in the furthest reaches of the building.
To access those mental volumes, bring them into your conscious awareness. Meditation assists in that process.
Many meditations ask you to empty your mind of thought. To access your memories, however, you want to give your mind something to chew on—like a dog with a bone—that sparks the memories and brings them into your conscious awareness. Most meditation practices quite the conscious mind with a mantra of some sort; that’s the bone. As you focus on something else consciously, subconscious thoughts begin to rise into your awareness.
Close your eyes to meditate. Then, tell your mind what you would like to “find” in your memory library. For example, you could say, “I want to discover memories from December 2008, when my husband left me.”
Then, begin to breathe deeply as you repeat the mantra “December 2008” over and over again. Just breath and repeat this phrase in your mind. Pay attention to any thoughts or mental pictures that arise in the process. Jot them down with your eyes closed (if possible).
When you complete your meditation, review your notes. Make them more legible and add detail as necessary.
Visualize
Creative visualization provides another way to meditate on the past. This is an active form of meditation that involves your imagination.
If you’ve ever been asked to do a guided meditation, this tool works in a similar way.
Close your eyes. Visualize yourself back in December 2008, and lead yourself through the events of that month. As you do so, notice details, conversations, what people were wearing, how you felt, how others behaved, and anything else you see in your mind’s eye.
Think about all the television shows you’ve seen where a police officer asks an observer or victim of a crime to place themselves back in the event mentally. They close their eyes, and suddenly remember the missing detail the police need to solve the crime.
Creative visualization prompts you to do the same. By imagining yourself back in time or present at an important life event, your mind calls up information you forgot—including additional events, people, and details.
All your memories are filed away in your mind. Creative visualization helps you access them.
Draw
The two hemispheres of your brain work in different ways. You may use one side of the brain more than another. Thus, you are either right brained or left brained.
Writers tend to be left brained. They are good with words and communication. Yet creativity and imagination reside on the right side of the brain (as does visualization). Therefore, writers—especially novelists—tend to use both sides of the brain naturally.
New research shows that we can do things that make both sides of the brain work together more efficiently. With a whole brain approach, you can access information in new ways.
To foster more whole-brain thinking and activate your mind’s ability to solve problems—”What really happened back in December 2008?—stop working with words and work with pictures instead.
Take out a piece of paper and some crayons or colored pencils. Now, draw what happened in your past. Keep a notebook handy. Notice what details show up on the page and what thoughts float through your mind. Write them down.
Keep these three tools for accessing forgotten memories in your memoir toolkit. Pull them out when you need to loosen the nails keep your past locked away.
***
About the Author
Nina Amir is an Amazon bestselling author of such books as How to Blog a Book, The Author Training Manual and the recently released Creative Visualization for Writers (October 2016). She is known as the Inspiration to Creation Coach because she helps writers, bloggers and other creative people combine their passion and purpose so they move from idea to inspired action and Achieve More Inspired Results. This helps them positively and meaningfully impact the world—with their words or other creations.
Nina is a hybrid author who has self-published 17 books and had as many as nine books on Amazon Top 100 lists and six on the same bestseller list (Authorship) at the same time.
As an Author Coach, Nina supports writers on the journey to successful authorship. Some of her clients have sold 300,000+ copies of their books, landed deals with major publishing houses and created thriving businesses around their books. She is the creator of a proprietary Author Training curriculum for writers and other coaches.
She is an international speaker and award-winning journalist and blogger as well as the founder of National Nonfiction Writing Month www.writenonfictioninnovember.com and the Nonfiction Writers’ University www.nonfictionwritersuniversity.com.
Nina also is one of 300 elite Certified High Performance Coaches working around the world.
For more information, visit www.ninaamir.com or check out her books at www.booksbyninaamir.com.
***
Creative Visualization for Writers: An Interactive Guide for Bringing Your Book Ideas – and Writing Career – to Life
To become a more creative, confident, and productive writer, you need to focus your attention, visualize your desires, set clearly defined goals, and take action toward your dreams. Let Creative Visualization for Writers be your guide on this journey of self-discovery. You’ll learn how to:
Evaluate your beliefs and shed self-defeating behaviors.
Determine your destination by visualizing your ideas and goals.
Develop an Author Attitude that will help you write, achieve, earn, and produce more.
Discover new ways to foster your creativity and productivity.
Affirm that you have what it takes to succeed.
Featuring more than 100 exercises and prompts to spark new writing ideas and give you a creative boost, as well as coloring pages to encourage relaxation, Creative Visualization for Writers helps you transform your dreams into reality and find joy in the creative process.
Genre: Writing Craft
Paperback: 224 pages
Writer’s Digest Books: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 9781440347184
More about the Author:
Nina Amir started as a journalist. She a BA in magazine journalism with a concentration in psychology. After working as an editor and writer for a variety of regional magazines, a national corporation in New York City, and a small consulting firm, she started my own freelance writing and design business.
Working on other writers’ manuscripts sparked her desire to write a book of on topics she felt passionate about: personal development and practical spirituality. More than publishing a book, she wanted to build a business around those books.
Setting out to learn all she could about the publishing industry she got involved with the San Francisco Writer’s Conference and started the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge (now known as National Nonfiction Writing Month). In April 2012, her first book How to Blog a Book was published, became an Amazon bestseller almost immediately, and has remained one ever since. The Author Training Manual was published by Writer’s Digest Books just two years later and was a bestseller before any books passed through the register on Amazon. In addition she’s self-published several more ebooks, all of which have made it onto the Amazon Top 100 right away. In fact, she’s had as many as four books on one Amazon Top 100 list at the same time!
How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time
The Author Training Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Books that Sell
Authorpreneur: How to Build a Business Around Your Book
The Nonfiction Book Proposal Demystified: An Easy Schmeasy Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Your Book
Blogging Basics for Authors: 30 Lessons to Help Writers Create Effective Blogs and Blog Content
The Write Nonfiction NOW! Guide to Writing and Publishing Articles
Find out more about Creative visualization for Writers by visiting online:
Website http://ninaamir.com/
Blog http://ninaamir.com/blog/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ninaamir
Twitter https://twitter.com/NinaAmir
This book is available as a print book at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1440347182/?tag=wowwomenonwri-20
as well as at your local independent bookstore.
***
How about you? Do you have other tools that help you access your memories?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
Next Week:
Monday, 11/07/16:
“What To Do When You Hit a Wall with Your Writing”
Thursday, 11/10/16:
“An Adoptee’s Search For Her Roots: An Interview with Memoir Author Gloria Oren.
Gloria is the author of Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee’s Search for Roots. Her guest interview is part of the Bonded at Birth blog tour during November 2016 which coincides with National Adoption Month.
October 27, 2016
Facing, Forgiving and Freeing the Past: A WOW Blog Tour with Mari McCarthy
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Mari McCarthy
I am very pleased to be hosting Mari L. McCarthy in her WOW Blog Tour for her new book, Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live. Mari will share her thoughts on facing, forgiving and freeing the past in this guest post.
Welcome, Mari!
Facing, Forgiving and Freeing the Past
Are you “stuck” in the past, ruminating about and reprocessing all the things that your caregivers didn’t do for you as a child?
That was me for many years until I discovered the transformational power of writing therapy. It seemed like a chance discovery at the time, but it turned my life around.
I’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and had been desperately running from one specialist to another, hoping for a medical breakthrough which somehow never arrived. No matter how many new drugs I tried, my MS symptoms got worse until finally I had to sell my successful management consulting business.
I experimented with daily journaling as a physical therapy, hoping it would enable me to write with my left hand (I’d lost most of the function in the right side of my body).
But something incredible happened when I started writing. Not only did my MS symptoms improve, but I began to reconnect to my body and spiritual self. Memories began flooding in. I used my journal to start figuring out who I was. Here and Now.
I recalled an incident when the nuns at St. Bernard’s School yelled at me for being two minutes late to pick up my ill younger brother’s homework. I remembered how shy and afraid the incident had made me feel. I noticed that I was still carrying those feelings with me. Connecting with my feelings scared me to begin with. It was a shock to realize that the frightened child of my past was still living inside my body, and that the emotions I had repressed as a young girl still pained me.
But I found expressing my feelings on paper cathartic. I kept writing away––and eighteen years later I am still penning several pages a day and reaping the holistic health benefits. I have regained 70% of the function in my right side, I no longer take prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs. I’ve made peace with family members and friends before and after they’ve passed on.
Medical science is backing up what I have personally experienced. Evidence from 300 scientifically controlled studies carried out in the past 30 years shows conclusively that expressive writing helps many people to heal, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
James Pennebaker, the pioneer of this research, said: “Writing may make you sad for a brief time, but the long-term effects are far more positive. Across multiple studies, people who engage in expressive writing report feeling happier and less negative than they felt before writing”
Journaling has given me a sense of perspective on my past that has brought me inner peace. There is no doubt I was deprived of affection as a child, but I have allowed myself to feel this deprivation consciously and move on to the point of forgiveness. I have learned how to put my past where it belongs–behind me and I’m creating the happy, healthy life I’m now free to live.
Journaling Power Prompt:
Who Am I…Today?
***
Thank you, Mari, for sharing your insights into the healing aspects of writing and journaling. Your story will give many who suffer from chronic illness hope for a happy, healthy life.
***
About the Book:
Journaling Power teaches you how to put the ultimate self-healing tool right at your fingertips–journaling. Through Mari L. McCarthy’s moving personal story, you’ll discover how pen-to-paper journaling leads to self-growth and life-changing transformation. You’ll also learn that numerous medical studies prove journaling literally unleashes a healing agent that empowers your life in ways you’ve never imagined.
About the Author:
Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Power Guide and founder of CreateWriteNow.com. Her blog (http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog) provides journaling for personal transformation and healthy living ideas, information and inspiration for keeping a daily pen-to-page Journaling for the Health of It™ Practice. You can also download the FREE e-book, How to use Your Journal to Cure Writer’s Block Now (http://www.createwritenow.com/download-free-writers-block-tips). More life-changing e-books (http://www.createwritenow.com/journaling-ebooks) can be found in Mari’s Personal Transformation Journaling Library and in CreateWriteNow’s store (http://store.createwritenow.com/).
Book Trailer:
Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Journaling-Power-Create-Happy-Healthy/dp/1988071216//?tag=wowwomenonwri-20
***
How about you? Has writing/journaling helped you to heal and find improved health?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
ANNOUNCEMENT:
In honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Kindle version of my memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse will be on sale for $.99 until 10/31 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo and Apple iTune Store.
Next Week:
Monday, 10/31/16:
“3 Creative Ways to Uncover Personal Stories for Your Memoir: A WOW Blog Tour with Nina Amir”
Nina is the author of Creative Visualizations for Writers: An Interactive Guide for Bringing Your Book Ideas–and Writing Career–to Life.
October 2016 Newsletter: Updates, Memoir Musings and Max Moments”:
“The Road LessTraveled”
If you are interested in receiving this monthly newsletter via email, please sign up on the right sidebar. I’d love to have you along!
October 24, 2016
Bullying is Killing Our Kids: A Memoir Moment
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Bullying is killing our kids. Being different is killing our kids and the kids who are bullying are dying inside. We have to save our kids whether they are bullied or they are bullying. They are all in pain.”~ Cat Cora
Photo credit: simpleacts.org
Despite all the publicity and efforts by schools to identify and report bullying, many children are suffering. In some cases, the children are so overwrought that they feel they have no choice but to take their own lives.
Bullying came to the forefront in our own family when my 11- year-old grandson, Jacob, admitted he had been bullied in grades four and five.
Our hearts broke open when we realized that he had suffered in silence for months as a handful of fellow classmates taunted him during recess and in the hallways when adults were not around.
How could our bright-eyed, happy little guy have suffered so much and how could we not have known about it?
Jacob was anxious about starting middle school this year as the memories of the name-calling and isolation surfaced. Thankfully for his loving, responsive parents—my daughter Leigh Ann and her husband Dave—Jacob has been able to talk about his experience and work on effective strategies for holding his own in the schoolyard.
In one of his first English classes as a sixth grader, his male teacher asked the students who felt brave enough to write a personal story.
This is Jacob’s story and it is with his enthusiastic endorsement that I share it with you.
“I like my last line the best, Nana,” he said, nodding and smiling.
Jacob’s Story
The theme of the song is all people are different. When the song says, “I’m the beggar on the corner, you’ve passed me on the street”, the author is trying to tell you that you shouldn’t make fun of people just because they’re poor, disabled or different. When the song says, “Don’t laugh at me. Don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pleasure”, the author is trying to say, you don’t need to call people names, laugh at them or just plainly make fun of them just because you are having a bad day.
I have been bullied before in 4th grade. I tried to be cool and hang out with certain kids. But then they would be nice to me one day and not the next And once we got to the end of the year, it started getting physical, like one time I got punched in the arm several times, another time I was hanging on a low pole and this kid kicked me in the stomach. So I told my parents and they told to my teacher and he talked to the kids and the last week of school they stopped being mean. I got to 5th grade excited because a lot of my friends were in my class but I later regretted being excited. In the first two weeks of school were fine but then I started to get mean names like fat, annoying and disgusting and I tried to ignore it but in the last three weeks of school it went out of control.
Just like how fast it is to snap a football, everything was gone, my best friend, my other friends, my pride, my strength, and my heart. All of that stuff felt like it would be lost forever, but then summer came and most the stuff on that list came back and I felt good. I was a little worried about this year but I got over it on my first day of school.
I know that I want bullying to stop this instant. It’s mean and hurtful and I’ve heard some have suicide thoughts and who have done suicide. I think bullying should be a law, if you break it then you 1st get suspended and if you do it again then have to pay a fine of $100.
I feel sad for everyone in the world who are getting bullied because I know how it felt. We should stomp out bullying before bullying stomps us out
***
Jacob has found his voice and has learned a tough lesson at an early age. As with any abuse, breaking the silence will help increase awareness and prevention. I am very grateful to his loving parents and to his English teacher who offered Jacob the opportunity to tell his story then validated his experience through his supportive and affirming feedback:
“Excellent specific ideas”,
“Hard lesson to learn, that’s horrible”,
“Wow! that is not going to happen this year”,
“Thank you for being so honest. If anything starts up again, even for a second, Please tell me.”
“You are a really great thinker and this writing is exceptional.”
Jacob not only was able to express his feelings through his writing while calling attention to a serious problem but he also built up his support system at school.
I’m happy to report that he’s having a great 6th grade year so far.
***
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month and a perfect time to spread Jacob’s message of “stomping out” abuse.
We live in a world of bullies of all ages. If we teach our children how to recognize and handle them, we are going to go a long way in protecting their mental, physical and spiritual well-being and in preventing or minimizing the harmful, even life-threatening impact of bullying. For more information on bullying, interventions, check out: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-interventions.html and http://simpleacts.org/bullying-prevention/
Photo Credit: www.saharconsulting.wordpress.com
***
How about you? Have you ever experienced bullying in your family? What did you learn from the experience?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
ANNOUNCEMENT:
In honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Kindle version of my memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse will be on sale for $.99 until 10/31 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo and Apple iTune Store.
***
This Week:
Thursday, 10/27/16:
“Facing and Forgiving the Past: A WOW Blog Tour with Mari McCarthy”
Mary is the author of Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live.
Next Week:
Monday, 10/31/16:
“3 Creative Ways to Uncover Personal Stories for Your Memoir: A WOW Blog Tour with Nina Amir”
Nina is the author of Creative Visualizations for Writers: An Interactive Guide for Bringing Your Book Ideas–and Writing Career–to Life.
October 2016 Newsletter: Updates, Memoir Musings and Max Moments:
October 17, 2016
Transition: A Doorway to a Deeper Self by Memoir Author Barbara Techel
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Barbara Techel/@joyfulpaws
Photo credit: www.lightedpathcoaching.com
It gives me great pleasure to welcome back memoir author and animal advocate Barbara Techel in this guest post about how she found peace and serenity after a major life transition. It is the topic of her newly released second memoir, Wisdom Found in the Pause: Joie’s Story. In her first memoir, Through Frankie’s Eyes: One Woman’s Journey to Her Authentic Self and the Dog on Wheels Who Led the Way, Barbara show us how her dachshund, Frankie led her to establish Frankie’s Wheelchairs, a mission to help paralyzed pets. In both memoirs, she shows how her pets have provided valuable life lessons.
My reviews of Wisdom in the Pause can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThings and Riffle.
Welcome back, Barbara!
Barbara Techel with Joie
Transition: A Doorway to a Deeper Self
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons
When it first began, I’d only hear it now and then. But as a pivotal chapter in my life was coming to a close, it became harder for me to ignore an inner whisper trying hard to get my attention. Yet I kept pushing down the feelings I didn’t want to deal with.
I knew a transitional time for me was right around the corner, but it was too painful to think about. It meant I needed to let go of what was, and give thought to what was next.
I had found what many seek and some never define– a purpose. For six years I had a passion to bring positive awareness to disabled pets and help children and adults see their challenges in a positive way. I did this through the example of my dachshund, Frankie, who was in a wheelchair due to paralysis of her hind legs. It was what made me bounce out of bed each morning.
Joie in her caterpillar sweater
After Frankie died, my purpose, so it seemed, went with her. I adopted another special needs dachshund four months later, naming her Joie. I thought perhaps I’d carry on with what I’d always done—though that whisper that continued to nudge at my heart was still trying to tell me otherwise.
What I’d come to realize is that I’d tied my identity so closely to Frankie and my work with her, that I’d lost in some ways, my sense of self. I was on this treadmill of going, going, going all the time—to now just stop felt very uncomfortable, even though there was this intensifying need to journey inward.
Our culture has instilled in many of us that having goals and accumulating material things is what defines us as successful and to keep pushing forward. What I’ve found, which I feel isn’t valued enough, is that there will be periods of transition in our lives where going inward serves as the most beneficial thing we can do in order to move forward again.
Whether it is changing jobs, moving, losing a loved one or a pet, getting divorced, having kids, caring for an ailing parent, the thing is, we are more often than not, in transition.
For me, the unexpected death of Joie, only ten months after the passing of Frankie, is what finally got my attention. With Joie now gone, I truly felt my sense of purpose had left. In many ways, I felt I had nothing to lose, but to take a sabbatical from everything I’d been working hard on for so many years. I was scared and there was this deep, hollow feeling inside of me I’d not experienced before. For someone who had enjoyed encouraging and inspiring others for so long, I now felt like I had nothing left to give.
It was time for me to release my need to do and take a self-imposed voyage into the center of my soul. Letting go of a full schedule wasn’t easy. As my two-month sabbatical began, there were times I wanted to jump right out of my skin!
Journaling, and turning to books that had helped me before, such as Joan Anderson’s The Second Journey, plus using oracle cards as tools to guide me each day, became the stepping stones to going beneath the surface.
Reviewing where I had been and what I’d learned and accomplished provided me with the security that I knew I could move forward again when the time was right. Envisioning possibilities of exploration gave me hope that I could indeed have more than one defined purpose for my life.
As I relaxed into this buoyant way of being, I realized that letting go of controlling an outcome would serve me best, and help shift me back into alignment with my sense of self again.
During this time of self-reflection and traveling the inner recesses of my mind and soul I began to melt into this gift of what felt sacred and true. While one door had closed and the next door was not yet quite open, I could sense that if I allowed Spirit to work within me, that I’d be granted the gift of clarity.
What became clear to me is that transition has many blessed offerings if we can learn to move within its flow and not struggle against it. Transition is a doorway unto itself – and if we take the time to really be with it, it will present to us a new perspective. And by doing so, we are granted another piece to the puzzle that makes up all the many facets of who we truly are.
For me, it helped heal parts of me that felt broken, and opened up new channels I didn’t realize I had within me. I began to see a doorway illuminating with possibilities — a doorway that may not have presented itself had I not learned to appreciate the gift that transition can be.
I also learned that when we lose something we love, we truly never lose it, and something will come to fill that ache in our heart once again. It also occurred to me that this is why we are ultimately here on this earthly plane —to continue to expand our hearts and our understanding of being human.
This is the purpose — to deepen our compassion, to walk in more conscious awareness, and to tune into our inner world for answers. By doing so, the wisdom one gains is that joy and peace come from within — and that which will ultimately walk us home.
Photo credit: JohnWiskind.com
***
Barbara, thank you for sharing the wisdom you gained from your own deep loss. You give us hope that we can find a deeper sense of self when we take the time to step back from all the doing and concentrate on just being. And for animal lovers, your memoir will resonate when they see the major role Joie played in your spiritual growth.
***
Author’s Bio:
Barbara Techel is a passionate advocate for dogs with Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) and dogs in wheelchairs. She is also passionate about helping others see their challenges in a positive way. After her dachshund, Frankie suffered a spinal injury she was custom-fitted for a wheelchair and Barbara realized the beautiful opportunity she had to spread a positive message that animals with disabilities can and do live quality lives if given a chance.
In August 2012 she founded National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day in memory of Frankie and in honor of all dogs in wheelchairs. She also started the Frankie Wheelchair Fund which helps dogs who need wheelchairs whose families may not be able to afford them, or for dogs in rescue.
She is the award-winning author of the children’s book series “Frankie, the Walk ‘N Roll Dog” which are true, inspirational stories about her paralyzed dachshund. Frankie teaches us that no matter our challenges, we can persevere with a positive attitude. And despite our challenges we can each give back in our own, unique way. Frankie is Wisconsin Pet Hall of Fame Companion Dog.
Barbara’s books have received National Best Book for children’s picturebook, Merial Human-Animal Bond award, Editor’s Choice from Allbooks Review, Indie Excellence finalist and Indie Excellence winner.
Frankie’s story also appears in “Every Dog Has a Gift” by Rachel McPhearson, published by Penguin/Tarcher March 2010 and “Dogs and the Women Who Love Them: Extraordinary True Stories of Love, Healing and Inspiration” by Linda and Allen Anderson published Fall 2010 by New World Library (recommended by Oprah’s O Magazine).
Also featured in Woman’s World magazine, The American Dog, Dog Living magazine, USAToday.com and AOL PawNation.
Barbara can be reached at:
Website: www.joyfulpaws.com
Twitter @joyfulpaws
Facebook: www.facebook.com/joyfulpaws
Book Synopsis:
When we get lost while driving, it is common sense to pull over, reroute the GPS, and perhaps change course. When it comes to the course of our lives, however, we often take a very different approach. Each of us has an “internal GPS” – that still, small voice inside us guiding us to our best and highest good. But what if that small voice is begging us to slow down and re-evaluate our lives? If you’re like most people, you judge this as a waste of time or being lazy. In Wisdom Found in the Pause, Barbara Techel explores both the real-time beauty and long-term benefits of life’s transitional periods.
In what has become Techel’s trademark, Wisdom Found in the Pause shares the profound life lessons we can learn from animals. Her first book, Through Frankie’s Eyes: One woman’s journey to her authentic self, and the dog on wheels who led the way, told the story of how a paralyzed dachshund named Frankie led Barbara to groundbreaking work with children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. After Frankie’s death, Barbara often felt called to embark on another direction, yet she was reluctant to let go of the purpose and identity she had so closely tied herself to.
Wisdom Found in the Pause is the story of Joie, another paralyzed dachshund, who would serve as Barbara’s teacher, friend, and ultimately angel. Joie’s unexpected death would remind Barbara that the only way to really change our lives is from within. Along the way she received spiritual signposts – some subtle, some profound – that convinced her she was on the right path. Through this journey she realized the most valuable gift we can give ourselves is the time to slow down, hear and heed our inner thoughts, for this is how we will welcome that sweet stillness of being, that wisdom found in the pause.
***
How about you? How do you tend to handle life transitions? What helps you find a deeper sense of self?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
***
Next Week:
Monday, 10/24/16:
“Bullying is Killing Our Kids: A Memoir Moment”
Thursday, 10/27/16:
“Facing and Forgiving the Past: A WOW Women on Writing Blog Tour with Mari McCarthy”
Mary is the author of Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live.
October 10, 2016
Indie Author Day 2016 at Our Local Library
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
― Sidney Sheldon
I have always loved libraries so when the opportunity arose to participate in Indie Author Day at The Amsterdam Free Library on October 8, 2016, I jumped at it. It was a lot of fun!
Book table at Amsterdam Free Library for Indie Author Day, 2016
What is Indie Author Day?
It was billed as an opportunity for indie authors across the country to collaborate with their local libraries.
As described on their website:
“Indie Author Day is an opportunity for libraries, indie authors and publishing industry specialists to connect in both a local and global way. Over 275 libraries will host local events across North America for this international celebration. At 2 pm EST, a panel of publishing industry leaders was live-streamed from the Indie Author Day YouTube channel and watched by all participating libraries. The panel will feature Jon Fine, previously from Amazon, as the moderator, and panelists Kiera Parrott of Library Journal, Robin Cutler of IngramSpark, 2012 Mover and Shaker award-winning librarian Jim Blanton and BCALA award-winning author L. Penelope.
After October 8th, we will continue to keep the Indie Author Day spirit alive with scheduled webinars and other programs that will help support indie authors and libraries all year long. Then, libraries are invited to get involved again.”
***
From Amsterdam, NY:
Our amazing librarian, Nicole Helmsley, was on board and gathered local authors for a panel to share our process of both writing and publishing our works.
L-R: Sandy Lane, Maureen Hand, Kathy Pooler, Bob Cudmore, Judith Prest
Meet the Authors:
Sandy Lane is a horticulturist turned writer. Her Great Great Aunt Lucy Ladd Stratton traveled all around the world painting wildflowers and journaling about it from 1882-1914. Sandy has photographed many of these paintings and inserted them into her aunt’s prose to bring her story alive again and make it available for future generations. Part One, The Trail of Wildflowers covers the period 1882-84 when Lucy traveled Through Vermont and Great Britain. Sandy is planning Part Two and Three which will cover her travels throughout Europe until 1914. Her 1500+ paintings were given to the Library of Congress. Sandy can be reached at her email: se23lane@nycap.rr.com
Maureen Hand taught high school English and writing–including memoir writing and poetry writing workshops in Amsterdam and Saratoga, NY. Her writings have appeared in magazines, journals, newspapers and she is the author of Write the Snapshots of Your Life, a book on memoir writing and Lemon Meringue Pie at Midnight, a potpourri of poems that showcase the human condition. Maureen’s poems portray a panorama of emotions felt from birth to death.
Bob Cudmore is a native of Amsterdam, NY, who has written a regular column for the Daily Gazette for over ten years. He is a radio and talk show host in the Capitol District and the host and producer of “The Historians”, a weekly audio interview podcast. In 2000, he published You Can’t Go Wrong: Stories From Nero, NY and Other Tales, a satirical look at Upstate life. He has published a series of Stories From The Mohawk Valley through The History Press. To learn more about Bob’s books, visit his Amazon Author Page. Bob also has a website at bobcudmore.com.
Judith Prest is a poet, mixed media artist and expressive arts practitioner. She is a certified facilitator of SoulCollage. Since her retirement from school social work in 2009, Judith has been doing her “real work”, which is conducting creativity and healing workshops in retreat centers, prisons, addiction treatment facilities, community agencies and schools. Judith loves working with individuals and groups to help them discover their “inner artist/poet.” She believes creativity is a healing force and that creative expression is our birthright. She has authored several poetry books, which include her own photography, Elemental Connections, Late Day Light, The Geography of Loss, Sailing on Spirit Wind. Judith’s website is Spirit Wind Studio
Kathy Pooler– for those who don’t know — is a retired family nurse practitioner turned writer who has published one memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse and is working on her second memoir about being the mother of an addict. She believes that hope matters and that we are all enriched, inspired and enlightened when we share our stories. She blogs weekly about the memoir writing process and features other writers and their work on her blog twice a month.
What We Talked About:
We discussed our individual paths to publication which included small presses and self-publishing through Create Space and Troy Bookmakers.
Questions from the audience focused on legal aspects of publishing, the factors that make a book compelling and the process of writing–where to start, how to keep going. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint.
We all agreed that marketing was the hardest yet essential part if you want to reach readers.
Our takeaways for our audience:
Writing is hard work. We all have stories to share but if you want to write a book, it requires a commitment to learning the art and craft of writing.
Reading is an excellent preparation for being a writer.
If you want to write, keep writing.
While there are many activities a writer can learn to do themselves, hiring a professional editor is essential to ensure your work is vetted.
***
It was a great discussion with readers and writers and I look forward to participating in more events at our local library.
***
How about you? Did you participate in Indie Author Day at your local library? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 10/17/16
“Transition: A Doorway to a Deeper Sense of Self by Memoir Author Barbara Techel”
Barbara is the author of a newly released second memoir, Wisdom in the Pause: Joie’s Gift.
Indie Author Day 2016 in Our Local Library
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
― Sidney Sheldon
I have always loved libraries so when the opportunity arose to participate in Indie Author Day at The Amsterdam Free Library on October 8, 2016, I jumped at it. It was a lot of fun!
Book table at Amsterdam Free Library for Indie Author Day, 2016
What is Indie Author Day?
It was billed as an opportunity for indie authors across the country to collaborate with their local libraries.
As described on their website:
“Indie Author Day is an opportunity for libraries, indie authors and publishing industry specialists to connect in both a local and global way. Over 275 libraries will host local events across North America for this international celebration. At 2 pm EST, a panel of publishing industry leaders was live-streamed from the Indie Author Day YouTube channel and watched by all participating libraries. The panel will feature Jon Fine, previously from Amazon, as the moderator, and panelists Kiera Parrott of Library Journal, Robin Cutler of IngramSpark, 2012 Mover and Shaker award-winning librarian Jim Blanton and BCALA award-winning author L. Penelope.
After October 8th, we will continue to keep the Indie Author Day spirit alive with scheduled webinars and other programs that will help support indie authors and libraries all year long. Then, libraries are invited to get involved again.”
***
From Amsterdam, NY:
Our amazing librarian, Nicole Helmsley, was on board and gathered local authors for a panel to share our process of both writing and publishing our works.
L-R: Sandy Lane, Maureen Hand, Kathy Pooler, Bob Cudmore, Judith Prest
Meet the Authors:
Sandy Lane is a horticulturist turned writer. Her Great Great Aunt Lucy Ladd Stratton traveled all around the world painting wildflowers and journaling about it from 1882-1914. Sandy has photographed many of these paintings and inserted them into her aunt’s prose to bring her story alive again and make it available for future generations. Part One, The Trail of Wildflowers covers the period 1882-84 when Lucy traveled Through Vermont and Great Britain. Sandy is planning Part Two and Three which will cover her travels throughout Europe until 1914. Her 1500+ paintings were given to the Library of Congress. Sandy can be reached at her email: se23lane@nycap.rr.com
Maureen Hand taught high school English and writing–including memoir writing and poetry writing workshops in Amsterdam and Saratoga, NY. Her writings have appeared in magazines, journals, newspapers and she is the author of Write the Snapshots of Your Life, a book on memoir writing and Lemon Meringue Pie at Midnight, a potpourri of poems that showcase the human condition. Maureen’s poems portray a panorama of emotions felt from birth to death.
Bob Cudmore is a native of Amsterdam, NY, who has written a regular column for the Daily Gazette for over ten years. He is a radio and talk show host in the Capitol District and the host and producer of “The Historians”, a weekly audio interview podcast. In 2000, he published You Can’t Go Wrong: Stories From Nero, NY and Other Tales, a satirical look at Upstate life. He has published a series of Stories From The Mohawk Valley through The History Press. To learn more about Bob’s books, visit his Amazon Author Page. Bob also has a website at bobcudmore.com.
Judith Prest is a poet, mixed media artist and expressive arts practitioner. She is a certified facilitator of SoulCollage. Since her retirement from school social work in 2009, Judith has been doing her “real work”, which is conducting creativity and healing workshops in retreat centers, prisons, addiction treatment facilities, community agencies and schools. Judith loves working with individuals and groups to help them discover their “inner artist/poet.” She believes creativity is a healing force and that creative expression is our birthright. She has authored several poetry books, which include her own photography, Elemental Connections, Late Day Light, The Geography of Loss, Sailing on Spirit Wind. Judith’s website is Spirit Wind Studio
Kathy Pooler– for those who don’t know — is a retired family nurse practitioner turned writer who has published one memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse and is working on her second memoir about being the mother of an addict. She believes that hope matters and that we are all enriched, inspired and enlightened when we share our stories. She blogs weekly about the memoir writing process and features other writers and their work on her blog twice a month.
What We Talked About:
We discussed our individual paths to publication which included small presses and self-publishing through Create Space and Troy Bookmakers.
Questions from the audience focused on legal aspects of publishing, the factors that make a book compelling and the process of writing–where to start, how to keep going. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint.
We all agreed that marketing was the hardest yet essential part if you want to reach readers.
Our takeaways for our audience:
Writing is hard work. We all have stories to share but if you want to write a book, it requires a commitment to learning the art and craft of writing.
Reading is an excellent preparation for being a writer.
If you want to write, keep writing.
While there are many activities a writer can learn to do themselves, hiring a professional editor is essential to ensure your work is vetted.
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It was a great discussion with readers and writers and I look forward to participating in more events at our local library.
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How about you? Did you participate in Indie Author Day at your local library? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 10/17/16
“Transition: A Doorway to a Deeper Sense of Self by Memoir Author Barbara Techel”
Barbara is the author of a newly released second memoir, Wisdom in the Pause: Joie’s Gift.
