Update: Some people are emailing their comments, so that works, too, if you'd rather: lynn(at)telltalesouls(dot)com. Tell me how Using COMMON SENSE Makes Perfect Sense THE STORY WOMAN'S TWO-PART COMMON SENSE CONTEST Social, Intellectual, Religious, Political– you name it! Winner of Part 1 receives my “how-to” book, Give the Gift of Story: TellTale Souls’ Essential Guide to Tap Memory & Write Memoir in Five Acts, since learning to capture the character of a loved one in story makes Perfect Sense. Winner of Part 2 receives $25 USD from The Story Woman™, since my Common Sense tells me people like cash; it’s as simple as that. Threads of Common Sense run throughout the Mother Memoirs of TellTale Souls, but collecting pieces, examples, or bits of Common Sense is not the purpose of the bio-vignettes that daughters and sons write about their mothers. However, the purpose of this contest is to do just that. This is a very simple contest with very simple rules
Obsession, Passion, & Transformation Make for Accordion Dreams
I was lured into Blair Kilpatrick’s memoir, Accordion Dreams: A Journey into Cajun and Creole Music, the moment I saw the charming cover depicting a happy little girl holding her accordion, although I was surprisingly unprepared for the extent of the adventure she’d lead me on in this extraordinary musical memoir. Before I even opened the book, a small voice in the recesses of my mind encouraged me to find my BeauSoleil album, Bayou Cadillac, which I hadn’t listened to for ages. Find it I did, and as the first beats of Bon Temps Rouler resounded, I settled back in a comfortable chair and darn near didn’t get up until I’d read this entire, enchanting book. To my delight, within the first dozen pages, Kilpatrick talked about how she had excitedly ripped the plastic from her newly purchased BeauSoleil cassette, which shows off the battered red Cadillac convertible, upended in a swamp. Now the hook in me worked itself deeper and deeper. Her compelling, obsessive journey
Captivating Throne of Passion, Juana la Loca of Spain
I'm posting this book review on an historical novel by C.W. Gortner because I think The Last Queen is a great read and highlights the difficulties women have had throughout history attempting to be taken seriously whether they are royalty or not. Gortner will be honored this October 15th at an event for National Reading Group Month by Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter. See links below for more information. Juana’s courage, strength, and passion amazed me as The Last Queen came of age so vividly under C.W. Gortner’s admirable pen. This historical novel is fraught with crushing battles of power and chilling intrigue throughout the courts of her parents, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, and of her husband, Philip of Flanders, as the Infanta of Spain attempts to take her rightful place on the thrown she inherited from her mother. My soul was struck as I witnessed, through Gortner’s well paced story, the agony Juana endured as her
Love Made of Heart Strikes a Universal Chord
Teresa LeYung Ryan's, Love Made of Heart, is a stirring look at the intricacies of familial relationships, including mental illness and abuse, that for Ruby Lin, the narrator, have taken the bright, clear color from her world as she struggles to grow up as an American girl drowning in a sea of distinctly Asian values. Although the intricacies of the mother-daughter bond are the overall theme of this heartfelt story, there is a convoluted push and pull in Ruby's psyche as she clashes with her father, her Chinese husband, and in-laws, while leaning heavily on the powerful goodness and understanding she discovers in her sister and an adopted Jewish grandmother who has become her beacon in this violent coming of age saga. LeYung Ryan has Ruby slowly awaken through self-reflection to a universal truth as she works over time with her psychologist. Dr. Thatcher encourages her to unravel the conflicts and mysteries within by speaking with a clarity that resonated with Ruby (as it does
Teacher’s Pet Goes Back to School
I close my eyes; I'm back there banging fat felt eraser blocks together making chock dust clouds slide down the slanted rays of sunshine coming through the open window on this golden afternoon the first week of 3rd grade. I try not to breathe that fuzzy stuff in, but it doesn't really matter because I am elated with my elevated position. I feel special. Close my eyes again to travel back even further; I smell the suffocating odor of steaming hot wool as the nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital wrapped my paralyzed limbs in these cooked blankets rather than let me start 2nd grade with my friends. Hot packs they were called; the doctors said if I was a good girl and let them wrap me up as though I were a sausage several times a day I might someday wiggle my toes again. Well, did I have a choice? I was a good girl, but try as I might, not one of the ten moved. But that didn't really matter because I wasn't in an iron lung like some of the kids - I could breathe on my own. (Jonas Salk's
Memoir Submission Guidelines for TellTale Souls
TellTale Souls: Keeping Spirits Alive One Memoir at a Time by Lynn Henriksen Simply do this: 1. Write a short, true story of 600-1500 words in answer to my trademark question: “If you could tell just one small story that would capture your Mother’s character and keep her spirit alive, what would it be?” In other words, the story I am encouraging you to write embraces a special kind of memoir that takes a look at the heart and soul of an important woman in your life by looking at her as an individual. 2. Mother is meant in a broad way; write about any woman who has/had a significant impact on your life, e.g., grandmother, aunt, mentor. Not all memories are positive, nor are all mothers; that’s the way it is in life. If you find portraying your mother’s character brings to mind mostly negative images, write about those memories since they are every bit as real and honest as positive ones, and writing about them is cathartic and brings about greater
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