Magical Memoir Moments
Reviewing 2013 and Setting Goals for 2014: Continuing the Search for Simplicity, Legacy
On January 1 of each year, I try to reflect on the good news of the past year, forgive the pain, and gaze upon the blank slate of the new with great anticipation. As I get older, I think of each new year as an amazing gift. A friend once wished me a happy birthday,…
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…
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…
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…
Seeing with Great Care: Richard Gilbert's Review of Blush
Meet Richard Gilbert, professor, writer, soon-to-be memoir author. Here he is on the “about” page of his blog called Draft No. 4. Richard has become a friend of my life journey by commenting frequently on this blog and by offering tasty memoir morsels on his own blog. He has also been my teacher. His MFA…
How a Romantic Getaway Led Me to An Ideal Reader: And Another Book Giveaway
Kathy Pooler is one of my most prolific and generous memoir writer friends. If you’ve been following this blog, you have met her talking about how to use Twitter to build meaningful relationships. Today she is featuring a guest blog from me about how I stumbled onto an “ideal reader” while on a romantic getaway…
A Fancy Review from a Former Plain Girl: And a Book Giveaway
The heading for Marian Beaman’s blog. She wore a larger covering than I did. Every writer hopes for a finely-tuned reader who will inspire her to place the best words on the page and who will challenge her to keep listening for even fairer music. As we write, we call upon our Muses as the…
The Day Before Launch: Going Home to Lititz During Harvest.
Who says you can’t go home again? Reporter Sarah Chain certainly disagrees. The official launch will be held tomorrow night at Lititz Mennonite Church, 165 Front Street, Lititz, Pennsylvania. 7 p.m. If you live close by, please join us! We’ll have a party, and we’ll relive a little Lancaster Conference Mennonite Church history in the…