During this Hanukkah and Christmas season I can't help feeling grateful for all that this past year has provided. I'm especially grateful to my dear writing friends - some I've met in person and some not - who have brought me continued wisdom about the writing process and such joy in knowing them and their writing work. First of all thanks to Kathy Pooler, author of her new memoir: Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse, for tagging me to participate in this blog tour. Kathy's memoir is a must read if you haven't yet. So here goes: My Work in Progress Synopsis and story idea : My novel, Papa's Shoes, is the story of a family immigrating to America in the early 1900s and a daughter's coming of age in the 1920s in downstate Illinois and Chicago. Some other things going on in the book life in a Polish stetl, early 19th century Chicago and Illinois, a woman's role in society at that time, religious prejudice, interfaith marriage, and a feisty … [Read more...]
Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera’s creative writing journey, Part Two
Thank you for returning to read the rest of Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera's story. I'm so pleased she offered to write a guest post here on Choices. In Part Two she relates how she wrote Quiet Water, the first novel in her Golden Raven Series trilogy. Part One was posted on January 22. Part Two The Writing of Quiet Water and the Golden Raven Series The following week in Dr. Miles' class just as usual she started with a guided meditation. When I relaxed into meditation I saw an image of a woman sitting on a curb. This woman started talking to me. She said her name was Tess Whitaker and she just moved to the apartment she was sitting in front of. I was surprised by what I was being shown but I told myself to just allow the images and words to come. I wrote quickly what she related to me and then over the next six months she spoke to me daily telling me her story. Some days I could not type fast enough. Quiet Water was born. I finished the book and it was published in September … [Read more...]
Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera’s creative writing journey, Part One
I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera to Choices. I find her background, research and writing about past life regression fascinating. What do you think? Do you believe in reincarnation and past life regression? Do you believe past life regression therapy can heal? Whether or not you do, I'll bet you'll be drawn to this topic as much as I. Here is Part One of Dr. Rivera's journey in becoming a creative writer and how she wrote her first novel, Quiet Water. *** Part One How I Found My Creative Writing Voice After what felt like a lifetime of school and the all-consuming doctoral dissertation I had something akin to empty nest syndrome. Some have called this phenomenon Post Dissertation Stress Disorder. For years I had structure, purpose and a goal and then finally the day arrives and I receive the letters I dreamt about many times . . . PhD. In an instant my life completely changed. No more books to tackle, no more tests to cram for, and no more papers to write … [Read more...]
Company is coming: Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera
Heather Friedman Rivera, Ph.D. in Parapsychic Science and co-founder with her husband Mark of the PLR Institute, an organization for advancing past life research, will be my guest here on Choices this coming Wednesday January 22 and next Sunday January 26. She'll discuss how her second book, Quiet Water a past life novel, released in September 2013, and the first of a trilogy called the Golden Raven Series, came about. It's a fascinating story. Please come back for Parts One and Two next week. I read Heather's first book Healing the Present from the Past: The Personal Journey of a Past Life Researcher (January 2013) last year. It is about her recent research and her healing journey through past life regression. Here is my review. As you will see I am still skeptical about this whole subject matter, but I am drawn to it as well. I give author Heather Friedman Rivera huge kudos for getting this reader to read and finish Healing the Present from the Past: The Personal Journey … [Read more...]
