Tag Archives: amazon

Change It Up!

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Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000039_00069]My book Something About Nothing has been out for a few months. I felt the cover didn’t convey the heart of the book. It is a book meant to be read little by little. It is a book of my thoughts and my meanderings that I put on paper and used for my column in the Albert Lea Tribune and other Southern Minnesota newspapers. With my writing I want to leave my readers with fuel for the day, with inspiration to go on with their life and with moments that we all share in our lives that bond us together to make the world a better place. Some of the chapters are silly and some are serious. Here is one of the chapters from the book. Feel free to share and tell people there really is Something About Nothing. In the nothings we speak every day there is something in our hearts needing to be said. Oh an don’t panic if the old cover is on the print book. Amazon is working on this. There is snafu in what it is showing.

CRYING

I have writer’s block this week. There are weeks when I can think of a thousand things to write about. Ok maybe a few dozen. There are weeks when I think about those few dozen things and don’t put them to paper right away. I then forget the thousand things or few dozen things that I thought about. This happens to be one of those weeks. I think it is called old age.

Today, the only thing I can think to write about is crying because I have been crying this week. Ok, I admit it. I do cry. I have been crying this week because I have felt happy. I have been crying this week because I have felt sad and mad. I have been crying this week because I have watched tear jerker movies and cried with friends who were also sad. I have been crying this week for no reason. I have been crying this week because of injustice in this world. As you have gathered, this has been a crying week. I am not going to apologize for that. I always feel better after I cry. I feel stronger and I am always ready to move on.

Lesley Gore sang, “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, I’ll cry if I want to. You would cry, too, if it happened to you.” I think we should all follow her instructions. If you want to cry, then let it all out. It is okay to cry, as long as you can quit crying at some point. If you can’t, then it is time to ask for help.

In the 50s and 60s, many artists wrote songs about crying. Some of them are: “Crying In The Rain,” “Don’t Cry For Me,” “All My Tears,” “Tears On My Pillow,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” “Crying,” to name a few. We loved those songs. They put words to our feelings.

I remember someone telling me once a long time ago that crying never solved anything. I tried to follow that advice when I was younger. I remember walking down the aisle after my dad’s funeral. I had been told that I had to be strong for my mom. I was pregnant, my dad died, and I was being strong, no tears. All of a sudden, I heard someone crying. I heard someone sobbing her heart out. To my surprise, it was me. You see, I had been strong. At the most unexpected moment, the dam broke and I could not hold back my tears. It wasn’t what I planned. It wasn’t the way I chose to behave in public, it just happened beyond my control. I felt so much better afterward. I could then be strong. The advice I wish I would have received was “Cry, let it all out.” Perhaps that would have been better than scaring everyone as I walked out of church.

I know we whine a lot, at least I do. But would we possibly whine less if we could have a good cry and get it all out? A couple of movies I saw this weekend featured the main character sobbing on her friend’s shoulders. How many of us do that? When was the last time you let yourself cry with someone? It’s okay if someone calls you a crybaby. It means that you have an outlet for your emotions. Maybe if we allowed ourselves to have a good cry, we would have less anger and violence in the world. There is some part about crying that is healthy. My opinion only. I have no idea what the experts would tell you.

And for men who are reading this, it takes a strong man to show his feelings and cry. You are not weak if you cry. You are strong because you are not afraid to own what you feel.

Before I go and weep a little more, I leave you with this paragraph. Remember “It’s My Party,” so you can cry if you want to. Maybe I’ll see you “Crying In The Chapel.” If I meet you and you are “Crying In The Rain,” I will give you an umbrella and a handkerchief. “Don’t Let Your Teardrops Be Lonely.” It’s not true that if you “Cry, You’ll Cry Alone.” There might be “Tears On My Pillow” or even yours, but “As The Tears Go By,” for a while after the “Crying” there will be “No More Tears.”

“Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart do not know how to laugh either.” (Author unknown

I’m Questioning You!

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questioningIt’s time to have a little fun. I haven’t given anything away lately. So lets play with a question. I ask a question today and you all can have fun answering. In the morning I will pick a random or a few random winners. I have 5 audiobooks of Granny Hooks A Crook to giveaway and I will also give away one Granny Forks a Fugitive choice of paperback or e-book. If you don’t do audiobooks and you want to gift it to someone in your life that is allowed. So have some fun with this question. And make sure to ask others to come on over and join the fun.

For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

A Book That May Change The Way I Write!

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The Life We Bury

I write Cozy Mysteries. My mysteries are silly, fun, and highlight unique characters living in an unusual community. I thought I always wanted to only write lighthearted mysteries, until a book I read this past month touched me in a way that might change my mind.

A few weeks ago my oldest son said to me, “Mom, why don’t you write a serious book that everyone will want to read. You have it in you.” I laughed and was honored  he thought I might be able to pull something like that off. I am happy writing fluff which makes people laugh.  Then I read a book that made me change my mind. That book is a mystery called The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens.

Usually I read cozies, occasionally deviating from that practice to read something inspirational or a book that is a little more graphic.

I decided to read Author Allen Eskens book  because I have met the author and liked him. I had read the reviews. The plot and cover drew me in.

I read  books by friends and I am honest when I review them. If I feel I need to say something negative about the book I will email the author, or leave no review at all. I also don’t expect all my friends and family to like my books. I preface this before I talk about this book because I don’t feel in any way that I am obligated to comment about The Life We Bury. The fact is Mr. Eskens doesn’t need me to give a review or say anything, because I am small fish in a big pond and he is receiving accolades from the publishing world with his writing. My heart tells me I need to say something about this book because The Life We Bury took my breath away for many reasons.

The Life We Bury takes place in my own backyard of Southern Minnesota. The places Mr. Eskens mentioned are familiar to me. The book revolves around writing student Joe Talbert who must complete a writing assignment for an English Class. Carl Iverson is a convicted murderer and a Vietnam Veteran who is dying in a nursing home. His interview is going to be Joe Talbert’s assignment.

I could say so much more about the story, but much has been already written about the content.  What struck me most about the book was the writer and his interpretation of the events in the book. Perhaps the reason I feel the need to comment is because I am a writer of fluff,  but could feel the emotion inside of myself brought out by this story, this mystery, and a need to write for myself a story that shakes the depth of someone’s soul because there is a hidden life in all of us that we shy away from or we dismiss so we can live in today’s world.

It takes a great writer to show their emotion in their writing and  let that emotion transport a reader into the story and perhaps remind them of hidden jewels of emotion in their own lives. That is what this book did for me. I felt I was inside Joe Talbert’s heart when he dealt with his mother’s alcoholism and the effect it had on his brother. I felt my husband’s pain when Mr. Eskens wrote about Vietnam. I know my spouse has experienced some of the same gut wrenching emotions while serving in Vietnam and kept those emotions hidden for a long time, somewhat like Carl Iverson.

As a writer of a very different genre I was awestruck when in the midst of a paragraph Mr. Eskens would toss in a little tidbit about the past. Doing that was genius and brings the reader back to the little things of the past we had forgotten.  It wouldn’t have been anything I would have thought of adding to a mystery, but those little tidbits, which I don’t want to give you details so as to spoil the surprise, are little jewels making you feel as if  you are a kid in a candy store receiving a treat.

I am an emotional person and I read this book with my emotions. That was the gift from an outstanding writer. I believe the author has to be in touch with the compassionate side of his soul and knows how to feel joy, love, anger, bitterness, and gives himself the freedom to share himself and those emotions with us through his writing.

Whether that is true or not, he did all that for me,  as I lost myself in the book. I want to experience putting my soul and emotions into a book, a mystery, touching something deep in someone else.  No other book that I have read has  drawn that part of me to the surface.  The Life We Bury did. For the reader I have a feeling  each person who reads the book will find something different drawn out of themselves if they let themselves experience the emotion of the book.

It does not matter to me if the inspiration of this writer on my life results in a book that is noticed by the public. What matters to a writer is letting themselves feel their writing and translate that feeling to their readers. Can I give my readers that experience? Only time will tell. Thank you Allen Eskens for giving me the desire to change the story I write.

Read Allen Eskens best selling book The Life We Bury.
It will be a journey you won’t regret.