Writing Home: Personal Essays & Newspaper Columns

by Cindy La Ferle

Both a "motherhood memoir" and a handbook for living, Writing Home is a heartwarming anthology of domestic essays and lifestyle columns by award-winning journalist Cindy La Ferle. This timeless collection speaks to every suburban parent who has ever attempted to combine work, parenthood, and homekeeping. La Ferle's essays address such key issues as losing a parent, aging gracefully, reinventing family traditions, facing the empty nest, and finding deeper meaning in the small but defining moments of everyday life. Writing Home has won four awards for creative nonfiction, including one from Midwest Independent Publisher's Association and another from Writer's Digest. Think Club Publications voted Writing Home Book of the Year in 2005, praising it for its values-driven content. Midwest Book Review describes Cindy La Ferle's essays as "Little gems of wisdom from a modern working woman who has a valuable and interesting philosophy on life." The book has been featured on Sirius Radio and in other national media.

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

A widely published essayist and author, Cindy La Ferle's inspirational writings have appeared in more than 40 different newspapers, national magazines, and literary anthologies. Her work has been recognized and awarded by Writer's Digest, Michigan Press Assoc., and Midwest Independent Publishers Association, among others.

Her newest essay collection, WRITING HOME, chronicles the years La Ferle worked from home while raising her only child. Celebrating all aspects of family living, from cooking to community building, this book is for everyone who ever doubted that you can go home again. Many of the pieces were previously published in national newspapers and magazines, including Better Homes & Gardens, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, and Reader's Digest.

WRITING HOME won several awards for creative nonfiction and was dubbed "an anthem for the thinking woman." La Ferle is the first Writer-in-Residence for the Royal Oak Public Library, in Royal Oak, MI, where she lives and hosts a variety of writing programs, classes, and author appearances for her community. "

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY! I've been meaning to read this for a long time ...

...

What a wonderful collection of essays! Cindy La Ferle is a great observer of human nature, and she is a brilliant writer with a calm and assuring voice. Many of her essays brought me to tears, especially the ones she wrote about her son. My children are in between the stages of childhood and teenage-hood. I look into their faces that keep changing yet staying true to who they are -- and I try to savor every moment with them. Her words remind me that this motherhood ride is an exciting one with the milestones speeding by in the blink of an eye.

"The sacred is in the ordinary. It is found in one's daily life -- in friends, family, and neighbors; in one's own backyard." Thanks, Cindy, for reminding me.

[Cynthia Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cindy LaFerle is a fearless and tender writer. Her creative non-fiction pieces have a way of getting to the heart of what it feels like to be here, at this time in history, in our country. She blends family, friends, motherhood, with her own struggles and successes. I say she's fearless because there is no subject she won't tackle, from being undone and helpless after hip replacement surgery to the joys of her Zen garden. Proceeds from this book support a local women's shelter. That just shows you Cindy's both a generous person and a writer worth reading.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of like reading better-than-average, pre-blog, blog entries. Each chapter stands alone and explores a single idea, usually about motherhood or life in Michigan. I really enjoyed her perspective and found her take on life to be calming and introspective, without being too serious.