Memoir

February 23, 2023

Kristin Louise Duncombe – Five Flights Up

Trailing spouse Kristin Louise Duncombe takes her readers on a riveting ride in her memoir Five Fights Up and in her debut book, Trailing: a memoir. Convinced by her charming Argentinian husband, Kristin follows him to Nairobi, Kenya, where he works as a humanitarian doctor. There\’s no lack of career fulfillment for him, but Kristin struggles with acclimating, job issues, and reconstructing her goals.

Expats together, their adventure begins with love and passion; however, as in many marriages, disagreements escalate and multiply. Housing, safety, the obligatory aperos (before-dinner drinks) with her husband Tano and his co-workers, where Kristin has to endure shop talk – all of it increases her anxiety.

She perseveres by finding friendships and work related to her education and prior occupation as a psychotherapist. Bits of joy and purpose uplift her, though, with Tano\’s travels, there are always feel-better solutions and temptations.

\”Marijuana [is] powerful, plentiful and cheap,\” Kristin Louise Duncombe says in, Trailing: a memoir.

Flirtatious women and men trickle into Kristin\’s and Tano\’s routines. Each faces a consequential choice. Trailing spouses often experience loneliness due to isolation from family and familiar friends. Seeking stimulation or sedation is common.

The trail continues to Kampala, Uganda, transporting three with the addition of their baby girl. Kristin eventually finds purposeful work but is sometimes uncomfortable due to the Ebola outbreak and other scary situations lurking in the background. And her housekeeper, who \”came with the house,\” practices witchcraft. Before Kristin\’s anxiety peaks, they luck out with Tano\’s new job in Paris, France. Kristin Louise Duncombe – trailing spouse – moves again.

Paris is the sweet spot for Kristin. Life is cozy in their 635 square feet apartment on a charming section of rue Oberkampf (now with second child – a son) amid food, shopping, and activity. Her work as a counselor is going well and her bilingual kids are happy – until Tano\’s transfer to Lyon, France, dictates another move. It is not a smooth transition.

From the front entrance to Kristin and her family\’s 5th-floor apartment, there are 98 steps! Kristin had cajoled Tano to sign the lease for their new home. In Lyon, they survive the stress of moving furniture and appliances to the fifth floor and begin anew. While Tano maintains his routine as a doctor, Kristin is plagued by indecisiveness concerning her career as a therapist. Hardship also defines mom-duties and her need for friends. Her thoughts turn to the women she sees as they wait for their children to exit the school building:

\”…I sit on the steps of Célestins, quietly measuring my feminine existence against those of the James Bond girls and in particular the Charlie\’s Angels, with the fascination of a voyeur. None of them seem my natural soul mate, but the absence of close friends is the glaring lacuna of my new life in Lyon…\”

Eventually, the three glamorous school moms befriend Kristin. In Five Flights Up, their conversations are especially absorbing and understandable to readers as Kristin\’s insecurities manifest.

Learning the ropes in Lyon presents colorful storytelling from Kristin Louise Duncombe in Five Flights Up. The same can be said for Trailing: a memoir. Regardless of which book you choose to read first, you\’ll want to read the other. Though the themes of both books are about life as a trailing spouse, the stories are broadly relatable concerning marriage, career, mental health, and children. Kristin\’s writing emanates through her vulnerability, strength, and self-deprecating humor and is a pleasure to read.

The daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service officer, Kristin Louise Duncombe spent her youth in the United States, Cote d\’Ivoire, Egypt, India, and Indonesia, earning her the \”diplomatic brat\” identification. Because of her familiarity with living abroad, she did not fear marrying a man who worked internationally; however, as an adult, myriad differences emerged.

Currently, Kristin Louise Duncombe lives in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a psychotherapist who specializes in working with international and expatriate families. Explore her press and articles on her website. She welcomes you to contact her.

Kristin! Just when we thought your postcard from Switzerland was lost in a snail-mail abyss, it shows up, but not before your second postcard began its journey. I’m happy to have both! And I appreciate your diligence in finding a place that sells them.

I googled the Château De Chillon and the Jet d’Eau fountain to learn more about these Lake Geneva places to see. Who knows? I may get there some day.
Thank you 🙂

~Anita~

Kristin\’s first postcard message says:

Hi Anita!
Greetings from Geneva, Switzerland. I am amazed at how hard it was to find a postcard to mail! Another thing that is being replaced by the internet! Thanks for the opportunity to go on this scavenger hunt!
Happy New Year,
Love Kristin!

Kristin\’s second postcard message says:

Happy New Year, Anita!
Sorry the first card did not make it to you! Am glad to have met you & look forward to being in touch!
Kristin

Kristin Louise Duncombe – Five Flights Up

February 23, 2023

Kristin Louise Duncombe – Trailing: a memoir

–

Kristin’s two postcard transcripts

\”Marijuana [is] powerful, plentiful and cheap,\” Kristin Louise Duncombe says in, Trailing: a memoir.

From the front entrance to Kristin and her family\’s 5th-floor apartment, there are 98 steps! Kristin had cajoled Tano to sign the lease for their new home. In Lyon, they survive the stress of moving furniture and appliances to the fifth floor and begin again. While Tano maintains his routine as a doctor, Kristin is plagued by indecisiveness concerning her career as a therapist. Hardship also defines mom-duties and her need for friends. Her thoughts turn to the women she sees as they wait for their children to exit the school building:

Eventually, the three glamorous school moms befriend Kristin. In Five Flights Up, their conversations are especially absorbing and understandable to readers as Kristin\’s insecurities manifest.

I googled the Château De Chillon and the Jet d’Eau fountain to learn more about these Lake Geneva places to see. Who knows? I may get there some day.
Thank you 🙂

~Anita~

Kristin\’s first postcard message says:

Kristin\’s second postcard message says:

Happy New Year, Anita!
Sorry the first card did not make it to you! Am glad to have met you & look forward to being in touch!
Kristin

Kristin Louise Duncombe – Trailing: a memoir

October 27, 2022

All Because of a Love Note – Natalie June Reilly

Gratitude Changes Everything
-Natalie June Reilly

In All Because of a Love Note, Natalie June Reilly reflects on her relationship with her mother and how it led to a movement of people writing gratitude love notes. The recipients of the handwritten expressions are police officers, veterans, firefighters, and essential workers. Natalie feels especially connected to those who serve the citizens of our country and support our freedom. She subtitled her memoir, How I unwittingly penned my way into the heart of an epic love story while writing thousands of love notes to America\’s heroes.

The love notes, initially for veterans, began on Valentine\’s Day in 2016. Natalie and her mother, Hope, wrote fifty thank you notes, drove around, and passed them out to people they encountered, or they left the notes on vehicle windshields. The intended people were easily recognizable because of their uniforms, license tags, vehicle stickers, and cap emblems. Conversations began, along with heartfelt responses to Natalie and Hope.

On that memorable day, Hope was feeling bad. She\’d been undergoing chemotherapy for terminal cancer. Feeling sorry for her depressed mother, Natalie insisted they sit and write, thinking that gratitude to others would help with Hope\’s mood. Their outing lasted three hours, giving Hope one of her best days of laughter and excitement. They continued the acts of kindness together until Hope could no longer participate.

The dedication in All Because of a Love Note says:

For Mom, Tonight … we ride

Natalie June Reilly, named after Natalie Wood (her dad\’s Hollywood crush), adored her mother, whose name was Esperanza, Spanish for Hope. Natalie describes her Hispanic beauty as “flawless olive-toned skin and big almond-shaped brown eyes.” Lovingly, Natalie spoke of Hope as “5 foot nothing” because of her petite stature. Natalie\’s tall, blue-eyed dad was told his ancestors \”crossed over on a ship from Switzerland.\” The mixture of traits from her parents – in particular, Natalie\’s eyes – inspired Hope to tell her, “If I had your big, green eyes, I would walk out the door every day looking like Liz Taylor.” Though they thought each other beautiful, their hearts and love for people are what bonded them.

While All Because of a Love Note covers much about Natalie June Reilly\’s relationship with her mother, she also writes about her former husband. She\’s lucky to be one of a few women who had a peaceful divorce and continues to have a friendship with him. Together they raised their sons and are proud of their successful lives.

The love notes led to a relationship with a man she met several years after her divorce. A gratitude love note to (now) retired police officer Christopher Hoyer sparked a conversation. Coincidentally, he was an aspiring author, and Natalie helped him with his book. Chris became her boyfriend and is the other half of the “epic love story” in the subtitle of All Because of a Love Note.

The spontaneous and random notes that began on Valentine\’s Day in 2016 changed lives. Most who received a note expressed how much it meant to them. Natalie has received return letters and displayed some on the website\’s Bread & Butter Letters page. A significant outcome of one of the love notes is a friendship with JD, a man who chased Natalie in a parking lot to thank her after initially shouting at her for leaving what he thought was promotion literature on his vehicle. JD, now a big supporter, works with the Nothing But Love Notes foundation.

For more about Natalie June Reilly\’s book and heartwarming inspiration, or to contact her, visit the Nothing But Love Notes website. The associated Facebook and Instagram accounts are also filled with acts of kindness and photos.

Plus, view Natalie\’s appearances on Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show! CNN also featured her in an article.

Two words saved my life, two modest, but mighty words—THANK YOU! The most compelling chapter of my story began with a Love Note, one simple handwritten gesture of love, Hope and gratitude.

~Natalie June Reilly

Dear Natalie,

Now I Thank You! Book cover postcards are always unique. 🙂
This postcard symbolizes love and gratitude – a perfect addition to my collection. We share the love of a heart symbol. I use them on my daily Instagram story.

You and your team are doing great work!

Best wishes with your memoir, All Because of a Love Note, and with the growth of Nothing But Love Notes! ❤️

~Anita

All Because of a Love Note – Natalie June Reilly

February 10, 2021

Kadine Christie – I Am Home Within Myself

Kadine Christie, author of I Am Home Within Myself, is pure Jamaican American beauty. She is young and fit with an intellectual air of sensuousness. A writer, wife, mother, educator, and entrepreneur, Kadine Christie smiles because of who she is; however, it took a while. Her exterior had not fully represented the challenging life revealed on the pages of I Am Home Within Myself. In her poetic stories, an underlying torment existed; a demon.

I was born into a kickass love story on the picturesque yet impoverished little island of Jamaica.

Her mother was Lorna; her father, Vivian – a farmworker. They were young, passionate, and in love. Two months after Kadine was born, her parents married at her grandparent’s countryside home, then began family life in a small, mountainside house that Vivian had already lived in and refurbished with his artistic handiwork. Their passion continued, and they loved Kadine and her two younger siblings affectionately; however, the bliss was tainted. Lorna was dedicated to her faith, and Vivian couldn’t give up his worldliness.

The Bible and the bar would continually remain the biggest contention in my parents’ relationship.

Coming of age, Kadine Christie, with her sister and brother, immigrated to the United States after living with their grandparents awhile – a cultural norm. They settled in New Jersey with their parents but realized they were in “the wrong zip code” and not living the American dream. When Kadine’s mother recognized the need for her daughter to attend a different school, she applied, via a phone call, for an apartment in another school district where Kadine would live during the weekdays. When they came face to face with the white landlord, they were told the apartment was taken.

When she saw us standing there, her initial glow dimmed like an overloaded electric circuit…. The landlady grew angry. Her words, “It’s taken,” pierced the air. She slammed the door shut in our faces. The wealth of choice was not ours.

The years following high school included college and a troubled lover. Together, they produced a child. It wasn\’t long before Kadine left him and began life as a single mother at age 22.

As readers traverse the pages of I Am Home Within Myself, Kadine’s demon, intermittently given voice, disappears and reappears within the chapters.

I stuffed my confusion into a space I pretended for years never existed.

But it did exist. There was the 23-year-old male cousin who lived at her grandparent’s home and sexually abused Kadine. And there was her father, the man who loved her and whose familial love she returned.

Daddy died 17 days after my 18th birthday. I buried our secret of fleeting pleasure and my longing shame behind the quaking of my chest. My insides were slowly rotting. Split and stuck, I cried often.

I Am Home Within Myself depicts various episodes of Kadine Christie’s life. Her struggle with endometriosis led her down a path of attempted healing methods, some quite bizarre. Kadine’s life with her seminarian husband Ontonio also presented fascinating stories as they managed life together. However, the demon that wounded her trust was still there. With Ontonio, she began to purge and heal.

My husband, on the night I cracked open and shattered, sat and held me while I fell apart. He stayed with me on the floor, wiping my face, his eyes full of tears mirroring mine.

From the back cover of I Am Home Within Myself:

Kadine Christie earned her BA in Sociology from Kean University and her MA in Counseling Studies from Capella University. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, Ontonio Christie, and they have three beautiful children, Zuri, Zahara and Markolee.

Visit Kadine’s engaging website to read her blog musings. View a list of publications featuring her work and enjoy her family and nature photos. You’ll also find her gorgeous hand-knitted blankets! Sign up for her newsletter while you’re there.

Kadine, So great that I have your first postcard in my collection! It\’s very serene. Thank you for making it special with your note. I hope you’ll buy or find another postcard, mail it, and surprise someone. 🙂

~Anita

Postcard by Scenic Florida Distributors
Info on Anna Maria Island, Florida

Kadine Christie – I Am Home Within Myself

January 25, 2021

Yi Shun Lai – Pin Ups

Yi Shun Lai, author of Pin Ups, does not fit the mold – whatever that is. When she was a pre-teen, Yi Shun\’s mother tried to curb her physical energy by giving her a subscription to \’Teen magazine, hoping it might influence her to be more of a girl. However, instead of absorbing makeup and clothing advice, Yi Shun clipped articles of girls who raced BMX bikes, played powder puff football, skied, and surfed. She pinned them all to her wall, creating a vision board for her ideal future.

How Yi Shun Lai achieved her goals was a bumpy ride, literally and figuratively. In third grade, the character Mole in the classic children\’s book Wind in the Willows became her beacon. Already, at a very young age, Yi Shun was looking for something she couldn\’t find or define, like Mole, who was looking for home with his best friend Ratty.

Childhood feelings and activities morphed into teen and then adult experiences. At 16 years old, Yi Shun Lai studied abroad in Austria, living with a family in a tiny village. It was there that she felt the exhilaration and freedom of living an outdoor life while bike riding through the woods with her host sister. The biking seed was planted. She would later develop her athletic skills in mountain biking, adventure racing, long-distance running, orienteering, skiing, volleyball, and more – some being quite a challenge. Outdoor sports seemed to be reserved mostly for men – at least that\’s what Yi Shun initially witnessed. Therefore, she gravitated toward super athletic guys, though the female athletes represented by the magazine clippings pinned to her childhood wall were also out there. She found women \”tribes\” and began to team up with them, too.

And then there\’s the Asian thing, the elephant in the room. Taiwanese American Yi Shun Lai grew up privileged in a community of White Americans in Southern California and not singling herself out as different. However, as she pursued the outdoor sports life, she realized that that\’s how people saw her – different. She was Asian and was supposed to be soft-spoken, more intellectual than athletic, and even foreign. In Pin Ups, she wrote about the annoying encounters and expressed the way she sometimes felt:

You know, I used to think it was good to stand out. But now I know better. You get tired of being the girl who\’s \”so articulate.\” Or \”so outgoing.\” Or \”so loud.\” Or \”so outdoorsy.\” Because all of that stuff, if you\’re living here in America, comes with the unspoken addendum: \”…for an Asian girl.\”

Yi Shun Lai has moved beyond the uncertainties of fitting into outdoor life and has discovered other women of color – Asian, Brown, and Black – who hike alone and do other things not expected of them. Pin Ups, Yi Shun\’s mini-memoir (extended essay), reflects how she has found, and can easily define, the fulfillment of physical activity and comfort in freely displaying it. Mole from Wind in the Willows would be happy for her.

\”Dirt is bad; good girls don\’t get dirty.\” Yi Shun heard this as a child but sensed the belief\’s inaccuracy and continued to \”play\” in the dirt – then and now – and named her website, The Good Dirt. Visit it to read more about Pin Ups and her other books, including Not a Self-help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu, an impressive Semi-Finalist for the Thurber Prize in American Humor. Yi Shun Lai was in good company with Trevor Noah, who won that year.

As a writer and editor, Yi Shun Lai teaches in MFA programs. She also speaks regularly on communication, both business and literature. And when not busy there, Yi Shun writes her column for The Writer and is the Features Editor for Undomesticated, a travel website for, by, and about women. These are two of her many writing projects. She also volunteers for ShelterBox, an international disaster-relief organization.

Sign up for Yi Shun Lai\’s monthly newsletter, Reads & Eats, a book and foodstuff combination that highlights emerging writers.

Yi Shun, I love that this postcard is from your trip to Seoul, South Korea! It\’s beautiful, and I feel specially chosen to have it. Thank you for the note, too, with your added doodles and stickers. (Yes, I love the fish stamp.) Like you, I feel lucky to belong to the social media book community tribe!

Best wishes, Yi Shun. 🙂

~Anita~

For those who can\’t read sideways (which makes this postcard even more impressive), this is the written note:

Dear Anita,

Can you believe it\’s December already? How this odd, odd, year [2020] has flown by. Launching a book during a pandemic isn\’t something I would have said I would appreciate. But it has allowed me to see how deep the book community – readers, authors, & practitioners of great literary community like yourself – runs.

My extended essay, Pin Ups, is now on the shelves of a retailer I\’ve always wanted to work with, in part because of that community.

This postcard is from Seoul, where I visited 4 years ago. I have been hoarding if for just the right reason. Looks like I found it! Cheers –

Yi Shun

Pin Ups is published by Little Bound Books and can be found at Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), major book retailers, and Indie book stores.

Postcard by Somssi

November 7, 2020

Gladys B. West, Ph.D. – It Began With A Dream

Dr. Gladys B. West is the author of It Began With A Dream and a retired mathematician who was on the Global Positioning System (GPS) development team. Often asked advice for anyone who has a particular ambition or vision, she answers, work hard. Her other words of wisdom are:

Be and do your best.
Set goals.
Be yourself and don’t compare yourself to others.
Treat others as you want to be treated.
Be encouraged by every little thing.
Have a mentor.
Follow your own heart and your own path.
Never give up.

It is how Dr.West has lived her life and continues to do so.

At ninety years old, Dr. Gladys B. West is experiencing a shower of media attention as she and her co-author, writer-producer Marvin H. Jackson, promote her memoir: It Began With a Dream. As a humble woman who puts maximum effort into every job she does, instead of self-congratulations, Dr. West was surprised by a request from her AKA sister (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.). Gwen James asked if she could get her story into a local newspaper, which happened. The Associated Press then picked it up. America now had another hidden figure. Dr. West’s story joined those of other women whose lives and highly significant contributions were written about in Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and in Code Girls by Liza Mundy.

In 1956, Dr. Gladys B. West (then Gladys Brown) was selected by the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, for a mathematician position. At the time, she was working as a high school math teacher in Martinsville, Virginia. Before her job there, she’d graduated first in her high school class and graduated from Virginia State College (now University), a historically black college (HBCU), with a mathematics degree. She taught at two high schools, saved her money, and enrolled at Virginia State College again to earn her master’s degree in mathematics. The decision to accept the job at Dahlgren required considerable thought, given its recent desegregation; however, the salary would be double what she earned as a teacher and it was a good career opportunity. Dr. West trusted her faith in God and began service to her country that lasted 42 years.

Initially, Dr. West’s position involved computing range tables for weapons systems. It was the start of the satellite era. The Department of Defense (DoD) had the task of making sure there was an accurate and stable satellite navigation system available. Dr. West describes her job:

One of my duties was to calculate the geoid, the hypothetical shape of the earth, coinciding with mean sea level and its imagined extension under, or over land areas. Thus, it was more complicated if you were getting satellite data from over water, and this is where most of my work was done. Since the earth is not perfectly round, we had to figure out the precise shape, depending on what point of the earth was being measured.

In the book, she explains why without her calculations and contributions, determining a position on earth would not be possible. There was a moment during this project when the team discovered there was an error somewhere in the system. Dr. West remembers:

Nobody could figure it out, not even the big directors and scientists. After a while, I figured out where the error was located. Little me had figured out the problem before anyone else, including some folks who I considered on the “genius” level. Everyone thanked me, and I even got some applause from a few of them. It was not exactly my 15 minutes of fame as they say, because back then, we had to get it right and keep moving towards our goal. There was never time to waste, but in my mind, it was an “aha” moment that led to the solution of a problem that no one else had solved. Maybe I should have declared “eureka,” but I just kept on working like it was something I did every day.

An excellent explanation of the significance of Dr. Gladys B. West’s contributions can be heard on Command_Line Heroes, season 6, episode 2. Host Saron Yitbarek interviews Dr. West. Then Paul Ceruzzi, Gavin Schrock, and Todd Humphreys, experts in the field of geodesy, share the reasons why Dr. West’s work impacted almost everyone throughout the world. Also in the episode are comments from Marvin H. Jackson, who defines Dr. West as “recently recognized,” adding, “she was always there;” and Gwen James who speaks of Dr. West and other Black men and women in the fields of engineering, mathematics, and the sciences. “They are not anomalies,” she said.

Gladys Brown was the second child of four born into her family. Her mother and father were farmers in rural, segregated Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Gladys and her siblings worked the farm from sunrise to sunset during the summers and after school the rest of the year. Mr. and Mrs. Brown provided their children with strong values, prayer, and an enduring work ethic; however, young Gladys, after visiting the “city” of Petersburg, VA, knew she needed to educate herself well to be able to leave farm life.

During her tenure at the Naval Proving Ground, Gladys Brown married Ira West, also a mathematician, and added his name to hers. As they navigated being professionals in an environment with, initially, only four Black people, they succeeded in being outstanding employees amidst discrimination. Dr. Gladys B. West says that it was not blatant, but that they were not mentored nor given the same promotional opportunities as their White counterparts in the same time frames. However, she says they had friendly relationships as their co-workers began to get to know them.

As more people become aware of Dr. Gladys West and her memoir, the expressions of love, respect, and admiration continue to grow. It Began With A Dream stems from her contribution to the GPS; however, it also evokes readers’ different emotions. They are impressed with her knowledge, smile as the love story begins with Ira, and are sad during the heartbreaks in her life. They learn that this mother of a daughter and two sons could (with her husband, Ira) care for them and raise them well while being employed full time in a demanding job. Several great photos in the book add to the story.

Readers also experience a journey through decades of history. As a Dahlgren employee, Dr. West was privy to developments resulting from the U.S. satellite launching of Explorer I followed by the Soviet Union’s Sputnik I and Sputnik II. Civil rights challenges and advances, wars, presidents, and more – all happened as she stayed on track and continued to progress. At age 70, she added a Ph.D. to her many accomplishments, and in 2018, Dr. West was the first black woman inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame.

Dr. Gladys B. West is thankful and feels very blessed by her faith in God. In It Began With a Dream, she lists several people and organizations, beginning with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She is notably thankful to Marvin H. Jackson, her co-author, and his circle of family and friends who connected the two of them. And she is deeply honored by Lt. General Stayce D. Harris, USAF (Retired), who wrote the book\’s forward and acknowledged Dr. West\’s influence and example for her achievements in STEM.

Dr. Gladys B. West would love to hear from you via her Facebook page and Twitter account!

Dr. West, I am thankful that It Began With a Dream was given to me as a gift, and I enjoyed reading it. I wish you and Marvin joy and success as you continue to share your story. The postcard you sent for my collection is perfect. I hope all eyes upon it will translate to belief in your message. Thank you. 🙂

~Anita~

September 18, 2020

Margaret Davis Ghielmetti – Brave(ish)

The Davis Family Handbook was “not written in ink on paper,” Margaret Davis Ghielmetti wrote in Brave(ish): A Memoir of a Recovering Perfectionist, “but bestowed upon me at birth by my parents, and engraved upon my consciousness.” Inescapable, Margaret applied the rules to every aspect of her life. The first rule was, Repeat, “How lucky am I?” and the last was, Above all, JUST DO IT, with other admonitions in the middle that taught her to be kind, stoic, and efficient.

At 40 years old, Margaret Davis Ghielmetti braves a major life change; she gives up her career to support her husband’s position as a luxury hotel general manager. Leaving New York City, their first stop abroad is in Paris for a short stay during the summer of 2000. After Paris is 15 years of homes in multiple cities in Egypt, Thailand, and Singapore, including trips to India and Switzerland. Margaret is an official expatriate and acknowledges her status as a Trailing Spouse, though not fond of the term.

As an ex-pat, initially, her goal is to be a perfect spouse, host, and tour guide for her many visitors. Margaret also plans to write a novel. Seen by friends as lucky and living the dream, she experiences bouts of loneliness and identity loss. However, as time passes, she gradually transforms into a woman who allows herself to fully enjoy the experiences of living and learning in a foreign country (though not new because she’d briefly lived in Italy when she was in her early twenties). The language barriers, cultural differences, and a few faux pas don’t deter her. On occasion, Margaret finds herself in awkward situations because of her naïveté, wondering if she should be afraid. Often, she has to summon the courage to continue her journey of self-discovery.

Life in four continents ultimately returns to where it began, back in the United States. Chicago is again home for Margaret and Patrick, and timely, as she can care for her aging parents. As Margaret reacclimates, she finds fulfillment as a Live Lit Storyteller, winning two StorySLAMs with The Moth. Worthy of note is her solo show, “Fierce,” that she writes and performs. It is about re-discovering her creative expression. She is also passionate about sharing the beauty of the world through her photos.

It’s now 2020. And the book she was supposed to be writing? Well it didn’t happen as planned, i.e., not the novel, but this memoir, which for many readers, is a novel! Brave(ish) is getting outstanding reviews based on Margaret Davis Ghielmetti’s engaging and witty prose that takes you along as she navigates both the beauty and complexities of unfamiliar terrain. She also shares her struggles and imparts her primary message: It’s never too late to reconnect with our authentic selves—if we dare to put our own lives first at last. Margaret displays it on the homepage of her website. Visit! And while you’re there, watch her funny and spirited performances.

Margaret welcomes your emails and visits to her social media. The icons are on her contact page.

Margaret, this globetrotter postcard is perfect! I suppose I should not have expected anything less from a recovering perfectionist. 🙂 And love your note, too. Thank you for the obvious thought given – the hearts, the hang-time closing (insider humor), the lookin’ and hearin’ southernisms from my website\’s Participate Page… all a joy.

Best wishes as you continue your journey, always incorporating those valuable lessons learned. ❤️

~Anita~

August 12, 2020

Loreen Lilyn Lee – The Lava Never Sleeps

This act of writing opened up other secret doors inside me. Writing is an act of inquiry. It requires curiosity and an inclination to pursue answers.

-Loreen Lilyn Lee

On the cover is little three-year-old Loreen, dressed in a ti leaf skirt made by her mother; leis around her head, neck, and wrist. Her arms are in a Hula dance position. She is a pretty girl. Does she know? Does she feel loved? Everyone has a story. In The Lava Never Sleeps: A Honolulu Memoir, Loreen Lilyn Lee tells hers.

Loreen Lilyn Lee is Chinese American, born in Honolulu, T.H. (Territory of Hawai’i), during the first few years of the baby boom. Her father, who was born in China, was steeped in the Chinese tradition of the day and ruled his wife and seven children – patriarchy that actually spans the globe. However, the strictness of his particular actions that excluded affection, praise, and equitable education for his daughters, in comparison to his sons, began Loreen’s accumulation of wounds and scars. Attention and protection were not there.

In 2006, Tarana Burke coined the phrase “Me Too,” forty-seven years after ten-year-old Loreen Lilyn Lee was raped. Because of the details and circumstances, no one would know until years later when Loreen was able to process what had happened to her. Me Too wasn’t available to help express her torment, but nevertheless, she persisted.

Joy did not escape Loreen, as she was determined to have meaningful relationships beyond what her dysfunctional family lacked. The road was bumpy, but periods of smoothness seeped its way into employment, writing groups, and spiritual communities – fulfillment that kept Loreen going. Though much of her adult life was lived in other states, Loreen, who is Hawaiian at heart, includes a cultural and geographic journey in The Lava Never Sleeps. She is a “local girl.” Her habits, food, and lingo are a blend of Chinese and Hawaiian, but Loreen will not say she\’s Hawaiian, which is her decision to respect indigenous people and their history.

Readers, reviewers, and authors who have endorsed The Lava Never Sleeps appreciate the depth of how Loreen Lilyn Lee’s story is told, in prose that is straightforward and compelling. Willow Books awarded her a Grand Prize for Literature. Loreen has also received fellowships from Hedgebrook and the Jack Straw Writers Program.

A bonus to The Lava Never Sleeps is on Loreen’s website. Her blog posts are filled with photos and a diverse selection of topics that range from support for women, to book and movie reviews, to world issues. Loreen welcomes your comments on her blog posts and notes via her contact page.

Loreen, I love the green of nature that fills this postcard! Thank you for choosing and sending it for my collection. It’s a perfect complement to your photo on the cover of The Lava Never Sleeps.

Aloha 🙂

~Anita~

Loreen Lilyn Lee – The Lava Never Sleeps

July 6, 2020

Kim Kluxen Meredith – Listen for the Whispers

Although we can neither touch nor see it, grief produces a true physical pain that is palpable and intimidating and demands to be noticed.

-Kim Kluxen Meredith

They had 15 years together, and then he was gone. In Listen for the Whispers: Coping With Grief and Learning to Live Again, Kim Kluxen Meredith relives the tragic one-car accident of her husband David that paralyzes him from the neck down, and his subsequent death two weeks later. The year was 1993. She was 40 years old.

During the following twelve or so months, Kim journaled her thoughts, a catharsis to contain her grief and its varied elements from her pre-teen children – an effort to maintain normalcy. As a woman of faith, she relied on whispers that she believed were from God, messages to guide her on the healing path. It was those messages that would ultimately find a home on the pages of Listen for the Whispers. More would reveal themselves during the years of rebuilding her life. Kim describes the journey as “…a few tentative baby steps that slowly progressed to self-assured strides.” Her daughter, Samantha, would eventually encourage her to pursue publication.

Not only does Listen for the Whispers address emotional issues, it’s also a guide to necessary to-do-list tasks, yet eloquently written. Readers have imagined Kim Kluxen Meredith sitting and talking directly to them, and feel that her book is a real help in navigating the grief process. An Amazon reviewer said, “This is not a ‘I feel sad and sorry for myself book’ – but one about a rebirth of purpose and love… both moving and inspiring.”

On the About page of Kim Kluxen Meredith’s website, she ends her mini-bio with, “I am fortunate to have this opportunity to sit back, reflect and write about my joyful life.” Kim is a testimony to anyone who feels that life has dealt them an unfair hand, whether it’s the death of a loved one, the fallout from a pandemic, or the pain of a country in transition. Her spirited personality, which fed her Spanish teacher career and college theater acting, exudes hope. Kim’s work as a contributing author is in three books in the Chicken for the Soul series. She also has stories in anthologies published by the Military Writers Society of America.

The whispers continue. Kim Kluxen Meredith’s latest book is Ocean Whispers. A collection of seashell photographs, each has an accompanying whisper. Kim chose a seashell every morning as she walked along the shoreline of Ocean City, New Jersey, during summer vacation. Uplifting and insightful, Ocean Whispers is a small book that is easy to pick up for a quick boost or a time of reflection. It\’s carried mostly in specialty and gift stores; however, it can purchased via Kim’s website.

Kim Kluxen Meredith is a freelance writer and a public speaker. She is available for print and podcast interviews. (contact info) Kim’s past audio media events are on her website via links (scroll down).

Kim,
One of my favorite vacations included a visit to the Amish Country in Lancaster County. My family and I enjoyed a conversation with an Amish man on his buggy and a stop at his family’s dairy farm. This beautiful postcard you chose to send for my collection is a perfect reminder of that fun time.
I feel the same as you when viewing the images on postcards. Thank you! And how special that you’re sending postcards to your grandchildren. At least one of them will be a lifelong collector. 🙂

Kim Kluxen Meredith – Listen for the Whispers

April 27, 2020

Susan Cushman – Friends of the Library

Browsing the social media accounts of Susan Cushman, author of Friends of the Library, is an encounter with her love of writing, author peers, family, and an abundance of varied interests. Her smile beams as she poses with her beautiful multiracial family, and when she’s supporting fellow writers at events or signing her books and having her picture taken with readers. She’s also a woman of faith, and she collects peacocks! All of this vibrancy from a woman who found Friends of the Library to be cathartic, telling short stories permeated with angst, stories that emanated from her own life and challenging circumstances.

On her website, Susan Cushman describes Friends of the Library as:

When Adele Covington becomes an author in her sixties, she goes on a book tour to speak to the Friends of the Library groups in ten small towns in her home state of Mississippi. Chasing her personal demons through the Christ-haunted South of her childhood, Adele befriends an eclectic group of wounded people and decides to tell their stories. From Eupora to Meridian, from a budding artist with an abusive husband to a seven-year-old with a rare form of cancer, each story contains elements of hope and healing and honors the heart, soul, and history of the Magnolia State.

In the many interviews Susan Cushman has done, she’s often asked about her similarities to Adele. Susan responds by saying that she did visit libraries in ten small towns in her home state of Mississippi while promoting her book and that she and Adele are so much alike. Both were sexually abused as children, battled addictions and eating disorders, and survived cancer. One of the stories in Friends of the Library is about Shelby, a cancer patient. Susan is especially impassioned because the story includes a weeping icon. In the past, Susan studied iconography and painted icons. She feels blessed to have had several experiences of seeing weeping icons.

The road to Friends of the Library began in 2007 with Susan Cushman’s blog, Pen and Palette, a place where she often wrote about her mother, Effie Johnson, who had Alzheimer’s Disease. Susan chose essays from eight years of blog posts that became her first book, Tangles and Plaques: A Mother and Daughter Face Alzheimer’s – a title that describes what was going on in her mother’s brain, as well as in their changing relationship.

Also interspersed throughout Pen and Palette are posts Susan has written about depression, a sporadic condition she has experienced for many years; something she has chosen not to hide, but instead to share with her readers. The specific posts are tagged depression, anxiety, and a few other related words. This platform ties in with her need to help people, a theme in Friends of the Library.

Blogger-to-author has worked well for Susan Cushman. Another book in her repertoire is Cherry Bomb, a novel. She has also edited three collections of essays that include esteemed writers Anne Lamott, Mary Karr, and Beth Ann Fennelly, the current Poet Laureate of Mississippi. The most recent collection is The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years!, who awarded her Author-of-the-Month for April 2020 at the Pulpwood Academy. Congratulations, Susan!

With boundless energy, Susan has directed and co-directed conferences and workshops and has been a panelist multiple times at major festivals and conferences. She continues to be sought after by her literary peers and by the press for articles and interviews. Not bad for a writer who began this full-time journey in her fifties!

Susan, I’m happy to have another vintage postcard in my collection. These little 3.5” x 5.5” postcards are a treasure and another bit of history. Thank you for sending it! I’ll bet West Point, Mississippi has changed in appearance from the time of this photo to how it looked when you visited and gathered stories for Friends of the Library. 🙂

~Anita~

A meaningful quote to Susan, is: “It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” ~~ E.E. Cummings