I'm pleased to share information about Katie R. Aune's new book, Finding Katya, part memoir and part travelogue. Wouldn't we all want to have the opportunity to start over and tour another part of our world? Well, you can do it by reading Katie's compelling book. Here's some information about it. *** Book Summary Finding Katya is the inspiring and compelling story of one woman who ditches everything to embark on an unconventional adventure through the former Soviet Union. On her 35th birthday, Katie Aune was at a crossroads. Still reeling from a difficult breakup and longing to find more meaning in her life, she hopped on a one-way flight to start a year-long journey of discovery. Once a Russian and East European Studies major in college, Aune plotted a course that would take her through all 15 states of the former Soviet Union. In a book that is part memoir, part travelogue, Aune takes readers along as she discovers places that are far off the … [Read more...]
The gift
I wrote the following piece many years ago about a time my mother and I had lunch together. She didn't want to eat and surprisingly the gift did the trick. The Gift by Madeline Sharples Laura saw him standing quietly by the door. He turned and put a quarter into the vending machine. The next time she looked up he was holding a white stuffed bear dressed in blue plaid overalls, a bow tie and baseball hat. The brightly lit restaurant was almost empty except for the waiter, a woman sitting alone in the front booth, and Laura and her mother sitting across from each other in the booth by the window. Laura was in her mid 50s, slim with short graying hair and a look on her face that said, “I want to be any place but here.” Her mother was so short her head of pure white whispy hair barely reached the top of the booth. “I’m not even hungry,” the older woman said. “Nothing ever tastes good to me.” “Mom, you look so pale, you have to eat something,” Laura said. “What are … [Read more...]
A trip to a burlesque theater
We lied. Instead of telling our parents we were going downtown to a burlesque show, we told them we were going to the movies and that Joe Fell who had a VW van was driving. There were six of us: Lee, Tom, Ann, Wendy, Joe and me. And we were all members of the staff of our high school newspaper so we pretended this was part of our latest research project. After all, every student soon to graduate from high school had to know what the inside of a burlesque theater was like. While Joe drove, his passengers kept up a steady banter about what we expected to see. Beautiful and sexy and big bosomed girls in almost no clothes. They would have patches on their nipples with ribbons hanging from them that they could twirl in time with the music. We assumed the girls would do a lot of high kicks and squats and pole climbing that would give us a hint of what was underneath their tiny amount of clothes. We were not disappointed when we arrived at the theater in downtown Chicago. Joe got there … [Read more...]
Women’s roles changed since the 60s
I met a man at our dinner table last night who not only was from Chicago, he also worked at TRW where my husband and I worked for many years in California. That reminded me of the speech I gave at a luncheon about the changing roles of women over the last few decades – changes I’ve personally experienced. Here it is: I hired into this company –now called Northrop Grumman and then called Space Technology Laboratories – for the first time in 1963, the dark ages, as one of my young colleagues likes to say. It was a few months before Oswald killed President Kennedy. Just to set the stage: Only four buildings were on the Space Park campus – the first three research R buildings and an one executive E building. The next year Building S the service building was opened and, we called the room next to the cafeteria the Waitress Dining Room. Now it’s a gift shop. There was: no such thing as a women’s history month and Women of Achievement award, no such thing as a bring … [Read more...]
Why I became a writer
When my son Paul died in 1999 at age twenty-seven, I took the advice of several people to see a therapist. The one I chose to see led a survivors of suicide support group sponsored by the Didi Hirsch Mental Health center. The group met once a week for six weeks and consisted of people who had lost friends, loved ones, and acquaintances to suicide. There was one other mother in the group who also lost a son – she found his body hanging from their second floor stair well. She hated the group as much as I did and was brave enough to quit after two or three sessions. I lasted the whole six weeks. But after I went to a private session with the leader – who finally admitted to me that she didn’t lose anyone one she loved to suicide, I quit her too. I made up my mind not to see anyone who had not experienced the kind of loss I was going through. That’s when I turned to writing. Four months after Paul died I began going to Jack Grapes’ writing class. I went every Wednesday morning and … [Read more...]
Sheila Olson is back and giving great writing tips
We're pleased to have another guest post from Sheila Olson who wrote some months ago about the importance of getting enough "beauty" sleep. Today her post is about the steps to take to become a successful writer. Writing Success Means Promoting Yourself by Sheila Olson As an up-and-coming author, whether you write short stories, poetry, or something else, your success depends on your exposure. Fortunately, there are many inexpensive ways to promote your writings that might just thrust you into the spotlight you desire. Today, I share tips for new writers on how to get discovered doing what you love. Launch a website. The first and ostensibly most important thing you can do as a new writer is to create a website. You can do this yourself with the website builder; the Website Planet blog explains that you may be able to find a free trial until you narrow down what you like. Having a website gives you somewhere to share your words and collect the email addresses of … [Read more...]
Welcome Alle C. Hall and her strong authorial voice
Choices is so pleased to host Alle C. Hall during her WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR of her book: As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back. It's a runaway story with a whole different twist. Alle has also written a guest post for us about how creativity and trauma are linked. We certainly agree with that. Choices has had many essays about how healing writing is. Here's Alle C. Hall. The Link Between Creativity and Trauma by Alle C. Hall Trauma sits like a stone over the part of the brain that stimulates creativity, squashing it. Children who grow up effected by trauma use their creativity primarily to stay alive. In the U.S. alone, five In the U.S. in 2021, an estimated 1,820 children died from abuse and neglect. There are other trauma responses, as well. For example, the survivor might plunge obsessively into their art, or computer programming. A second way of coping might result in worldly success. While nice for the bottom line and the ego, fame … [Read more...]
Over fifty and hiking the John Muir trail – WOW!
We're pleased to introduce you to Joan Griffin and her book Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail. It's astonishing that she and her friends did this after the age of fifty - something we should all aspire to do. Joan as also honored us with a guest post: "Why You Should Write Your Life Story." There's some very good advice in her words. Here's Joan: Why You Should Write Your Life Story by Joan M. Griffin I have an antique wooden box filled to the brim with cherished old letters tied into bundles with faded satin ribbons. The box contains every letter my father wrote to my mother during World War II. A young man, he’s an officer in the Navy in the Pacific Arena. In the first letters, he sounds like the boy he was, kind of foolish, kind of full of himself, kind of shy. His later letters are serious, with his stress coming through between the lines of his attempted jokes. When the war was over and Dad came home, the … [Read more...]
Not a crack – it was a total break!
As another woman who broke through the glass ceiling in the 60s and 70s, I can really relate to Marilyn Howard's book. Please read The Writing on the Wall to find out how she and her associates did it. I know it wasn't easy for me when I started working in the aerospace industry in 1963. At that time there were no women's faces on company organization charts - can you imagine? I also invite you to read Marilyn's guest post: "Learn the Science of Palm Reading." That should keep you busy. Here's Marilyn: Learn the Science of Palm Reading by Marilyn Howard Is there a personal destiny? Many would like to know. An industry of psychics dating back to ancient civilization has developed. We all know there are many frauds in the psychic and palm reading arena. I dismissed all palm reading and psychics as charlatans, yet they held me curious. I've since learned there is a scientific basis in palm reading. Except for the brain, the fingers possess twenty times … [Read more...]
Learn about book marketing and publishing here
Choices is pleased to host Claudine Wolk and Julie Murkette on their WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour. They have written the essential book marketing and publishing guide called: Get Your Book Seen and Sold. Also, Claudine has honored us with a guest post titled: You Can’t Do Everything To Promote Your Book. The Good News Is That You Don’t Have To! Here's Claudine: The breadth of what is possible to market and promote your book is endless. Keep reading this post, though. There is hope for you to do right by your book. No author can do everything to promote their book. But the good news is that you don’t have to do everything. You MUST promote your book, though. If you don’t promote your book, it won’t sell, plain and simple. So, what is an author to do to get their book seen and sold? First, get comfortable with book marketing as a discipline. Like any other discipline it is a bit of a new language… take some time to learn the new language. How … [Read more...]
Reunion – interesting, not fantastic
I think it’s a good time to write about my recent weekend trip to the Chicago area. I went to celebrate my sixty-fifth high school reunion. I’d been to many other reunions but this one was very different from previous ones. Before we always stayed with a group of former high school newspaper colleagues at the home of Joe and Karen Fell in Winnetka IL – very close to the school we all attended. But in the last few years Joe developed Parkinson’s and slight dementia so they decided to sell their house and move to a house on a lake in Wisconsin. Our place to stay became the Sheraton Hotel in Northbrook IL – also not far from the school. Besides me the Fell’s and John and Judy Riley stayed there for two nights. Unfortunately, others from the high school news staff did not attend – either because they are no longer alive or suffering from cancer and unable to travel. These facts again brought to mind what we all are encountering as we grow older. These were … [Read more...]
Do you have the right attitude?
I participate in two writing groups. One - the memoir class - meets weekly. The other called Fem Ring meets the first and third Tuesdays of the month. We write in the group at Fem Ring whether we meet in person or on Zoom, so it's quite a challenge. that's why our leader sends us a prompt to ponder about a day in advance. The following is the last prompt: Right Attitude. "If you are trying to have a different experience than the one you are having, you will never be able to see the present moment clearly," by Sayadane U Tojaniya. And here is what I came up with in the forty-five minutes I was given to write. The Not So Right Attitude I think I’m trying to ignore all the experiences I’m being offered rather than trying to have different experiences. From the list of activities that are on the weekly schedule I could get older and exhausted sooner if I tried to do them all. It’s hard enough to do the ones I choose to do – like Tai Chi, sound bath meditation, one day … [Read more...]
Children’s poet Raven Howell is with us today!
Thank you for joining Raven Howell's WOW! Women of Writing tour of Santa’s Slip Up about when Santa shows up on Halloween on accident. In addition Ravel has written us a special essay on how to write rhyming poetry. As a poet who never writes in rhyme, this Choices author needs this lesson in rhyme very badly. Here's Raven: Tricks of the Trade to Writing Rhyme By Raven Howell So how about that iambic tetrameter? Ha! Nothing like scaring off a prospective poet or young author who is trying to learn the ins and outs of rhyming. Writing rhyme should be fun and you don’t want to start off intimidated. There are many ways to accomplish good rhyme. I recited rhyme before I learned to write it, and remember being surrounded by word books and rhyming stories during my childhood years. When I learned to write, my favorite thing to do was to make up my own poems, stories, rhymes, and plays. I’ve been writing professionally full time for the … [Read more...]
Do you get enough beauty rest?
If you're like me you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep most nights. That's why i'm so glad to welcome Sheila Olson's very savvy piece about how to get a good night's sleep, aka Beauty Rest. I will surely take her advice seriously and follow her lead. I hope you will too. Here's Sheila: Image via Pixabay 3 Tips for Getting Your Best Beauty Rest We’ve all heard that we need to get our beauty rest, but do we really take this seriously? According to Healthy Magazine, not getting enough sleep can make you appear older by causing wrinkles and under-eye bags to develop on your face. If you get a good night’s rest, your skin will be healthier because deep sleep allows you to create new skin cells. If your skin is constantly dry and dull, it might be because you’re skimping on your beauty rest. You should be shooting for around eight hours of quality sleep per night. Courtesy of Madeline Sharples, author of Leaving the Hall Light On and Papa’s Shoes, here are … [Read more...]
Listening to myself
Listening to Myself: Has there been a time in your life when you thought you knew what you needed to do, but an inner voice kept telling you to go a different direction? Did you wind up “trusting your gut”? And if so, did your hindsight later validate your decision? If you didn’t listen to your instinct, did you have regrets? How were you changed by the experience? Sometimes, listening to ourselves means being able to discern which of our several inner voices to listen to. How do you know which to trust?’ My reliable intuition told me immediately not to marry the handsome guy who swept me off my feet during the summer of 1961. We had just met, and we were so, so different. And sure enough I ended up with huge regrets. Thankfully, I was able to put an early end to it, but that marriage decision changed my life forever. It was the summer between my junior and senior years of college. I was student at the University of Wisconsin, a well-established journalism student, a member of … [Read more...]
More about my meditation story
Meditation and I have never really stretched into a lazy, warm silence. My brain doesn’t know how to be turned off by regular breathing. Instead, my mind pours out and doesn’t allow me to shut down. As much as I try and I try now more than ever, I cannot just listen to my regular breathing. I even try saying Ohm and counting my breaths, but I even lose the ability to concentrate on that. I say Ohm 1, Ohm 2, Ohm 3, and by then I’m thinking about the noises I hear outside and the chores I haven’t finished and the writing work I’ve either just finished or need to finish. And then I try counting my Ohms again. And my brain of course interrupts again. But I never say no to a meditation session – even the sound bath technique has come into play. I want to be successful at it, so I don’t give up. No matter how many times I unsuccessfully try, I’m willing to try again. The only thing that scares me is going to a meditation retreat where people sit and meditate for hours in the … [Read more...]
Want to write a book? Read this!
Please welcome, Naomi Nakashima, our WOW! Women On Writing guest today. She is the author of Write Out Loud, a way to gain enough confidence in our writing to enable us to write a book. She has also written us a wonderful guest post on this same subject, ways to get over our writing fears, complete with some amazing writing prompts. Unleashing Your Inner Wordsmith: Unconventional Writing Hacks and Tips That Actually Work by Naomi Nakashima Writing a book is equal parts exciting and exhausting, creative and challenging. When the words are flowing, we live on cloud 9. But when the words stop, or when we start struggling to find the time to write, or feeling stuck in our creative process, writing a book becomes a source of anxiety and self-doubt. When you need that extra boost of inspiration to get you started, writing hacks and tips can help. These unconventional approaches can help you get past writer's block, ignite your creativity, and ultimately write the novel that’s … [Read more...]
A thriller author is with us today!!!
Author Ronald Chapman as written another thriller, The Dark Side of Grace, a sequel to his best seller, A Killer’s Grace. Please welcome Ron to Choices today and don't miss his guest post titled: Agnostic But Faithful. Now here's Ronald's guest post: Agnostic But Faithful by Ronald Chapman Many years ago, very early in my recovery from alcoholism, one of my mentors was an enigma to me. While I had been raised and immersed in faith communities for much of my life, Patrick was an avowed agnostic, having no knowledge of a Higher Power. Yet he prayed, meditated and rigorously practiced contemplation. I asked Patrick one day how he reconciled that for himself. “Ron, I don’t have to believe in something in order to experience it.” That kind of clarity mystified me. Yet as I watched him and others being transformed in their recoveries through common practices, it became obvious that what we believe is far less important than the actions we take, which are based on … [Read more...]
