Magical Memoir Moments
Sharing Nostalgia for Childhood at Christmas Time With Linda Gartz
Nostalgia. Comes from two Greek words meaning a longing for home. Probably Christmas brings out more nostalgia than any other time of the year. According to the New York Times, nostalgia is good for us. I’ve been sharing nostalgic photos of vintage decorations and ornaments with those of you who subscribe to my weekly Magical…
A Modern Farm Girl Bookworm Evaluates Blush and the Value of a Tobacco Worm Today
Meet Clara, my grand niece. Like all my “grands,” she’s amazing. Clara loves to read. She estimates she read fifty books in 2013. She’s eleven years old and attends Ephrata (Pennsylvania) Intermediate School. She bubbles with enthusiasm when asked about what she likes in books. But I was also warned by her Grandma Sue (my…
Do You Remember December 1, 1969? Another Chance to Publish Your Story!
I’m beginning to think about my college years, 1966-1970, since that’s where my memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World ends and where a second volume could begin. So I was very interested in the new memoir just about Denis R. O’Neill’s senior year of college at Dartmouth: WHIPLASH: When the Vietnam War…
Your Chance to be an Author! Tell a FriendStory
Some of the people who read this blog are authors and bloggers. Other people who read this blog have a closeted desire to write. They need a little push. So, here’s a perfect opportunity for both kinds of people. Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, an author friend, started a blog a year in advance of her next novel Bittersweet being published. Bittersweet is…
How Writing Helps Us Peel Back Meaning and Purpose One Layer at a Time
My publisher, Herald Press, asked me to do a guest blog on their MennoBytes site. Having written lots of guest posts, I decided to answer a different question, one I get a lot when I talk to groups about my memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World “How does this childhood story relate…
My Cousin, My Friend: How Memoir Photos Connect Us
If I had to pick the best friend of my childhood, the winner would have to be my cousin Mary Ann. She appears in both photos and stories in Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World. She’s there in the very beginning of my life, having preceded me in life by nine months, a…
After the First Blush: So, How's the Book Doing?
This morning the sun in the East illuminated the view in the West. I ran outside to try to experience the brilliant light. But when I tried to capture it, I found the result disappointing. Here’s the best example of a pool of November light below the mountains. November light flits and turns, bright, low…
Another Winner: Elfrieda Schroeder's New Beginnings Keep on Going and Going
For 100 Days Elfrieda Schroeder woke me up in the morning. She never forgot to write her New Beginning entry into the 100 Day Challenge Contest. I missed her after the days were over, and I want you to meet her. She wins the prize for internalizing the idea of that challenge. She inspires me….
Amish and Mennonite: What's the Difference?
Small groups like the Mennonites and Amish, which only surface in most people’s awareness when the national media pay attention, can confuse people. Especially when both these small groups contain a myriad of varieties. So it’s not surprising that MennoMedia’s Third-Way Cafe has become the go-to place online for people who ask: What’s the difference…
The Blessed Ties of Memoir: And A Chance at TWO Book Giveaways
Dairy maids don’t often make it into literature. A.A. Milne placed one in a poem about the King’s breakfast. And Thomas Hardy wrote The Milkmaid about a young woman disappointed in love. My favorite meditation on Vermeer’s The Milkmaid is this one by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s book In Quiet Light. It starts this way: There…