Writing Through the Fiction

For a writer whose primary work happens in the head first, it's a daunting task to get it to paper. Like the musician who 'hears' the notes he cannot reproduce, the experience is often frustrating. But, we soldier on. Never give up. Never stop writing, as my tumblr - prolific daughter proclaims.

So now I am toying with an author page with a Pseudonym, a form of self-promoting writing that feels so foreign and almost like writing fiction about myself. Who is this person I've pictured and described? What is this work she's selling? Another fabrication from my own pen/mouse/cursor. The manuscript isn't even edited, published or critiqued, and yet I have a critic. She is with me always.

And so,  we soldier on. On the outside chance that someone else might want to read what we have written. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and/or my new author page. It's immensely comforting. I haven't invited the public yet. My newborn authorskin is still sensitive. But you are friends, readers, fellow authors. Comments, suggestions welcome!

Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth: A Review

Having been bulimic in my adolescent years, I gobbled up this tasty little soul treat by a women who knows whereof she speaks. Ms. Roth talks the talk because she has had her cake and eaten it, too!

From one compulsive eater to another, she puts pen to palate, explaining in masterful and poignant strokes the hidden current of hunger that drives many of us to food in place of so many other things.

I read on into the night when I first got hold of this gem for $3 in a bargain bin. Worth more than it's weight in chocolate, Women, Food and God will make you laugh, cry and think long and hard about the thing you do three times (or more) a day and why so many of us struggle with guilt, shame, and loathsome hatred of our bodies. After a few chapters with Geneen, you'll not only begin to appreciate yourself in a whole new way, but also begin to live by being present for your own life, something she claims we foodies have a hard time doing.

And the title's reference to God? While I would not call it a devoutly religious book, I found that it made me appreciate the way I was created and the wonder of life in its grand variety. According to my belief, God Himself intended to be the nourisher and feeder of our souls. Replacing His deeper gifts with a piece of chocolate cake is like wearing a cracker jacks ring at your wedding instead of a diamond.

If you're a woman, and you've ever struggled with your weight, or acceptance of your body-you've got to read this book!

When is it a Good Day to Die Hard?

Two men. One's a dad (played by veteran shoot 'em up actor Bruce Willis), in search of  a prodigal son. The other is a son, (played by newcomer Jai Courtney),  trying to run as far and as fast away from dad as possible. After the obligatory tough guy interaction with each other due to their recent estrangement, they find themselves working together intuitively to carry out an undercover operation that exposes political corruption in the Russian Chernobyl incident. Some bad guys die, and some others aren't what they seem to be. There's where the intuition comes in, powered by a few machine guns, of course. In the final analysis the apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree.

Why is it that you feel so good at the end of a Bruce Willis movie? Is it that the chasing, punching, lacerating, falling from great heights, machine gun shooting, explosions and expletives and car crashes finally end, or that something is a little 'righter' with the world when Willis' character completes his mission? Maybe it's a little bit of both.

A Review of The Fourth Fisherman by Joe Kissack

Three Mexican fishermen adrift at sea, fishing over the side of the boat to survive, with little hope of rescue. A former high ranking American businessman for a major motion picture company with a severe addiction problem, now jobless, with a failing marriage. The author weaves an almost unbelievable tale of connection between these two unlikely entities. He should know the story well. He was the businessman who met the fishermen and interviewed them after their miraculous rescue, which became a part of his own personal rescue.

With painstaking detail and a stranger than fiction quality this true story brings the reader to the realization that God is Sovereign in all of our paths, the good and the bad, and that He is in the business of rescuing.

I was given a complimentary copy of The Fourth Fishermen from Multnomah Press in exchange for my honest opinion about the book.

Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen : Delightful!

Amidst a backdrop of secrecy a young girl crosses class barriers to find love on the rugged Cornwall coast.
Emma Smallwood has lost her mother. Her bereaved father is a tutor by profession and as his assistant she's seen her quota of prankster boys. When she and her father are invited to live with the Westons to tutor the younger sons, Emma's recollection conjures up all the tricks the eldest, Henry Weston, a former pupil, had up his sleeve. It was his brother, Phillip, she was sweet on, though she hardly dared to admit it to herself.

Complete with a cold stepmother, a family secret in a forbidden wing of the house, a few harrowing scenes at high tide, and a gentle undertow of the Christian faith, The Tutor's daughter does not disappoint. I'd have to say the only weakness in the story was the reader's being able to gain insight into the hero's point of view a little too soon.

The book's cover cites Jane Eyre the book,  Jane Austen the author, and Downton Abbey the latest British PBS series, as influences for the author's  former works of historical fiction.  Since I am a fan of all three, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in return for my honest opinion.

Cybermentor Mom: Enjoy Every Moment Part 3

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today. So goes a song I used to sing in the eighties. Yes, yesterday is certainly gone. I will never have to change another diaper (except as a Grandma!) and there will be no more tooth fairy visits, or birthday pinatas. Those days are over for me.

I remember thinking at the time, as I listened to far wiser women, I must enjoy them while they're young-they grow up so quickly! It's hard to imagine that when you're in the busy years of child rearing. But it's so true!

At the risk of being cliche, I must say that you blink your eyes and they're grown!

So give yourself, your memory, and your children a gift. Purpose to live in the moment and enjoy your young children in the magical moments of childhood. (There will be dark magic times too!) Then, when you look back later, you can remember that you did indeed live every moment to the fullest, for it is certain that you cannot get those days back.

The Quake

Once in every life there is an earthquake. It shakes to the core everything you thought you were.

Scales fall from your eyes, long held illusions flee away and the foundations of self are obliterated. All is now rubble around you, the frail but eternal structure of life is all that remains. It matters not how old you are, or how you have lived your life, who you thought you had become, for now you are scrubbed raw like a newborn.

Some do not survive. They cave to the terror of the quake. They build a crust around the trauma, becoming a distorted version of who they could be. These are the bitter, the rancorous, the numb.

Those who do climb from the disaster with wonder still in their hearts will live to see a new day, to be that rock of experience which others grasp to be rescued. 

The pain of it cannot be compared to the delight in the newness of everything. First, the shock of seeing your true self reflected, then the rebirth of who you are, the promise of who you will become. For there is not a tremor without cause, without its redeeming quality. 

We that have emerged know. No pain need be wasted.