You are here: Home / Archives for Relationships

Memorial Day Poppies 5 cents with a Song

05/28/2011 By 2 Comments
CA Poppy

I feel fortunate to have clear memories of what Memorial Day signifies. When I was a kid growing up in North Dakota, this was a day where everyone I knew actually did commemorate the fallen American soldiers, who had died for our country as far back as the Civil War. Flowers were placed on the graves and memorials of these brave men and women to honor the fact that they made the ultimate sacrifice. A huge amount of patriotism was displayed as flags waved in most every yard and place of business, our national anthem – The Star Spangled Banner – boomed from horn and drum across our great land, and the smoke from charred hot dogs (gotta love ‘em) blanketed picnic grounds the country over.Thousands and thousands of bright red, paper poppies were sold all over the United States in support of World War II Veterans. These crinkly poppies went for a 5¢ piece, and were worn with pride by all Americans. To us kids, they were like badges of honor. Perhaps this is another reason why the

[Read More]

Feel a Story: Memoir Labyrinth No.12

05/20/2011 By Leave a Comment

There is no story without memory. What is a memory without feeling?Next time you walk the memoir labyrinth, put some thought into how you will allow your story to take shape and become a piece that captures your mother’s character and spirit. Think about what you need to bring into the story so that it will hold its shape and compel not just reading but connection.One way to begin your journey is to realize that you will start to build your memoir with memories of significance to place as the foundation of your story. The specific idea behind each memory can be thought of as a building block or brick, and what holds those bricks together is the mortar. From my point of view, the mortar of a story amounts to expressing the feelings emanating from the memories you’ve chosen. Accessing your true feelings and emotions and weaving them throughout will convey a solid connection between the memories and the people behind the memories. Your feelings accurately and honestly set down on

[Read More]

Mother’s Day Souvenir par Excellence

05/05/2011 By Leave a Comment
5-2-2011 1-13-23 PM

In one vibrant and creative swoop, you have the power to give Mom the most original, meaningful Mother’s Day souvenir ever. And it’s free!Did you know souvenir means “memory” in French?You might be thinking, “Well, maybe Mom’s memory isn't what it used to be, but she already has one, so why is The Story Woman suggesting I give her more of what she’s got?”“Give me a few moments of your time and I’ll explain. Now, there’s that word ‘moment’—just exactly what I was looking for.”Here is what you do:Reach inside your mind where the memories dwell.Find one moment in time that in the telling would let Mom know  how special she is to you and how much you appreciate her unique personality.Take pen in hand, place the ball point at the top of some nice writing paper, and in your handwriting record this memory of a significant past event.Simple? Yes and no—there is a catch. You'll catch moments that specifically relate to your mother’s character and spirit.

[Read More]

Salacious Spirit of Spring – Mother Nature’s Daughter

04/21/2011 By 2 Comments

Are you in love with Mother Nature or her daughter? I know you’re budding out, pert and peppy in all your glory, Spring. I feel you beckon me with your flirtatious ways, flowing sap and saucy spirit, so that I can’t resist your charms, but that only means trouble is looming on the horizon. Our love affair is fraught with predictable problems, and I should know better than to trust you after all these years. With you, Spring, I get bees that sting, sunburn, in spite of the block, and broken fingernails from poking around in your fertile bed. But that’s not the half of it. You make me hot – my temperature rises with hope held high for planting. Were it not for you, I wouldn’t envision brilliant flowers and juicy tomatoes that taste like tomatoes making their grand entrance all around after teasing them with gentle love and holy water. But I know my dreams will be dashed by loving you. You make me love you, and then you invite your ill-mannered friends to our garden

[Read More]

Imperfect Endings, Zoe F Carter’s Memoir

03/27/2011 By Leave a Comment
Zoe Carter

She Summoned DeathWhether or not one believes the choices this family made in Zoe Carter’s memoir, Imperfect Endings, are right or wrong, Carter is an undeniably powerful writer, who has an easy way with words on a complex, but timely issue. She has taken the difficult, to say the least, subject of life and death and crafted it into an unforgettable personal story laced with wit, wisdom, humor, compassion, insight, and abundant food for thought. To be honest, when I first picked it up I wondered if I wanted to “go there.” I’m glad I did—I found it incredibly moving.I know it took more than a little courage for Zoe Carter to write this provocative slice of life. Imperfect Endings meant paring familial façade to the bone and sucking out the marrow, which she did unabashedly.How does a daughter say, “Yes, Mom, I’ll watch you die slowly by your own hand.”  I’ll be a party to your staged sit-in with death.Hauntingly beautiful are the two words that washed over my

[Read More]

Trust the Messenger and the Message

03/08/2011 By Leave a Comment

That’s you, the messenger. It’s there, your voice. It is right there bubbling up inside you—you already knew that, didn’t you? But do you believe it? Do you trust it? Maybe you are thinking, “I just babble.” Well, I think I babble on and on, too, sometimes, but then I snap out of it and become coherent. You will find that very voice that knows what to say and how to say it so that the character and spirit of your mother will be revealed through your telling tale. It is simply a matter of hearing the authentic voice inside yourself and allowing it to guide your writing style. Speak from your heart directly onto the written page. No one but you can discover your voice. It is entirely up to you to find what is waiting there inside—awaiting your confidence and trust in it.Simply put, voice informs memoir—it is the instrument you will use to tell your story. You are the narrator, the storyteller, and it is through your voice alone the story is told and controlled. Through

[Read More]

Listen as Judith Marshall Discusses “Husbands” on Blogtalkradio

02/25/2011 By Leave a Comment

Judith Marshall is a friend and colleague who has an interesting story to tell about her writing journey in fiction, based on the lives of lifelong girlfriends and the husbands who passed through, so I'm linking you to her recent interview on Blogtalkradio. Her award-winning novel, "Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever," was published in late 2009 and has recently been optioned for the big screen. Listen to Judith discuss her page turner with Nanci Arvizu on Page Readers. She will not only inspire you to take your writing to the next level, she’ll share with you which steps to take to get there.

[Read More]

Write It or Lose It – Memoir Works

02/08/2011 By Leave a Comment
book_front_lores

 You know you have memories you don't want left behind...Learn how to move them into an unforgettable memoir.KEEPING SPIRITS ALIVE • with Lynn HenriksenMemoir Writing WorkshopWhere: Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA When: Saturday, March 5, 2011 -- 1:30-4:30 pm • $65Call Book Passage, Corte Madera (415) 927-0960 ext.1, to reserve.  If you don’t write it down, it will be lost. Wouldn’t that be a shame? Lynn Henriksen invites you to join her to embrace a special kind of memoir where you’ll capture the character and spirit of an important person in your life as only you can. On this journey of discovery you’ll find your unique voice, move a memory gem into memoir through intriguing prompts, guided activities, partner sharing, and feedback. Find out how truth and imagination merge with all ‘six’ of your senses to awaken understanding, and why you won’t let your loved ones simply slip away. Henriksen has guided hundreds to Tap Memory & Write Memoir and is the

[Read More]

Destiny de Medici

01/07/2011 By 2 Comments
CW Gornter Catherine de Medici 2011

Okay, so I received a few books for Christmas that I can't help but tell you about. Here's The Story Woman's review of another great read:Once again, C.W. Gortner doesn’t disappoint. The Confessions of Catherine de Medici bring a terrible, bloody time in European history to light through the thoughts and actions of “the Italian Jezebel,” the label her detractors gleefully hung on her. As this intriguing, ambitious, intelligent, often desperate and deceitful woman struggled to maintain Valois–Medici power in France during the 16th century’s religious wars between the Catholics and the Huguenots, I was torn between appreciating Catherine’s heroism and being wary of her insensitivity toward both her immediate family and the thousands of innocent people who perished due to her treacherous, although often ineffective, conniving.Gortner skillfully marries fact and myth, pairs the seers, Catherine and Nostradamus, and places the duty of royalty above all else, in such a way that I

[Read More]

Happiness is Reading Alice Munro

12/27/2010 By Leave a Comment
Munro Too Much Happiness

Alice Munro is one of the few authors I have read who so artfully relates the throes of the human condition through her characters’ active and reactive thoughts revolving around people with whom they are intimate and others whom they’ve simply met on their path through life. Having just devoured Too Much Happiness, Munro’s book of short stories, I am reeling from the power of her words. I have the habit, when reading brilliant authors’ works, of writing down certain passages that strike me with their eloquence or bite me with their awful truths. The following are several extracts, in italics, from the ten stories in Munro’s newest book (short thoughts from me tagged on without italics). While reading these clips, as they flow down the page and with the characters’ thoughts out of context, I’m hoping the effect will not be too strange. If you take your time with each, and I believe the protagonists’ inner thoughts will grab hold of you like they did me so you’ll be

[Read More]