Any Shiny Thing - Life after 50
Midlife Fiction
A midlife fiction book recommendation
A widow in her sixties sets out to learn the truth about her family of origin, while the story of her childhood is told in flashback. A richly drawn saga based in the South in 1968.
[Read more…]
Revisiting a memory of happy summers in North Dakota.
When traveling home with my siblings for Mom’s funeral in Dickinson, ND recently, we visited Grandma’s old neighborhood, and I got a stunning surprise.
[Read more…]
Hush, hold your breath
Don’t move, I can feel you
The heart waits
The mind waits
Delirious, cacophonous noise awaits movement
Dissonant chords, twanging vibrato
Delicious, drumming and humming to
Invisible, silent beats
Don’t speak, she said
Don’t make a sound, she pled
She waits
A limb quakes
I’m afraid
I’m frail
I’m full
I’m overwhelmed.
Don’t breath, she said
Her exhale rocks the sea
but all she said was
hear
me.
Isn’t that fantastic? The poem is entitled “A Voice” and it’s by Kathy Shattuck who is in my critique group. I don’t feel comfortable critiquing poetry, because poetry to me is like art – I read it for the emotional impact I feel (or don’t).
I’d like to tell you what it makes me feel, and see: Most of the poem is waiting quietly, as if a curtain is about to go up, when people shush each other good-naturedly in excitement and anticipation. The a woman steps forward, suddenly finding her strength and voice, her breath rocking the sea with the power of this simple demand: Hear me.
Kindle readers can contact me at Lmspreen@yahoo.com.
I have looked for good books about middle-age, but 95% of them seem to be frothy upgrades of young adulthood. [Read more…]
I apologize, but the link I originally included with this post was taken down. However, if you’re writing anything at all, including memoir, read anything Jane Friedman has to say, and you’ll feel so much smarter. For example, here’s a post called Using the Fallacy of Memory to Create Effective Memoir. Thanks for visiting.
Everybody’s writing memoirs! Here is some of the most practical memoir-writing advice I think I’ve ever read , from editor and publisher Alan Rinzler. If you have any additional suggestions, please let me know and I’ll post them!
Recent Comments