Guest Post & Give away ~ Mari McCarthy

Journal Writing: Showing Me My Life

When I lost the use of my body's right side to Multiple Sclerosis several years ago, I was advised to learn how to write with my left hand. So I used daily journaling as a way to practice my handwriting.

At the same time, I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, a book about reconnecting with creativity. Part of the discipline that Cameron suggests is the 'Morning Pages:' three handwritten pages of daily stream of consciousness whatever. NO thinking, NO old English class rules.

I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. For weeks and weeks and weeks. And I began to realize, like a child comes to understand language, that this writing could reveal enormous amounts of new information to me, about me and my soul and my opportunities. I began to write poetry for the first time. I started remembering pieces of my childhood. Best of all, I developed a stronger affection for myself.

After a time, I modified my Morning Pages practice, making it more a dialogue and less a data dump. I asked questions: "Where does that feeling come from?" "Who told me that?" "What's the logic behind that fear?"
The writing practice naturally spilled over into my daily life, so that I began to notice answers to my questions not only in my notebook but while doing dishes, walking in the garden, going to the store.

I'm still writing every day, these many years later; still finding huge rewards in the practice. It used to be that when I suffered, I had nowhere to turn. When life was hard or whenever I just had the blues, there was no way to make sense of it.

Journaling gave me a way to deal with hard times or difficult emotions. But here's the amazing thing: eventually journaling also taught me how to go beyond the control my emotions held over me. No longer did I feel at the mercy of my emotions. My attention shifted and I became enthralled with my own creative potential. Through my journal, I started to build my own happiness.

Journaling shows me how my imaginings can become reality, and how my attitude makes all the difference. Journaling leads me like the gentle, patient teacher that it is, towards a far wiser, more hopeful and peaceful me.

Therapeutic Journaling helps us move out of our head with its highly critical over-thinking and return to living in and communicating (on a first name basis) with our body.

My journal is my number one health resource, my primary care provider, working hand-in-hand with me to achieve my goal of Perfect Health.

About the author ~ 

When a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) exacerbation kidnapped my body's right side, I needed some way to teach myself how to write with my left hand. So I started free writing (stream of consciousness) in a journal notebook. I got more than a functioning left hand! What I discovered (and the discoveries continue) was my true Self, buried under the old, negative, hypercritical baggage (I call it crazycrap) I've been carrying around since childhood.


Working daily with My Journal Therapist, I'm curing my spiritual, mental and psychophysical diseases, like Shingles which we healed in less than 3 weeks. And with lots and lots of daily Journaling, we’re making progress in curing my diseases to achieve my goal of Perfect Health!

My self-therapy journaling helps me revise my thoughts and determine what I want to be, do and have in my life. It guides me in adjusting my attitudes, modifying my behavior and creating a happier relationship with myself. And my Journal is teaching me how to write again with my right hand!

Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started?  Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started?  Let’s meet (no cost, no obligation) and talk about how ‘Journaling for the Health of It’ ™  helps you create a healthy, happy life write now!

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Email Mari ~ Mari AT CreateWriteNow DOT com

 Mari's book ~ 

Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

The Ultimate Journal Writing Therapy Workbook!

Face down those voices in your head that always hold you back!
Finally leave behind the negative beliefs about yourself you've been carrying around since childhood!
Stop overthinking things that just don't matter!
Explore your creativity
Discover your passions
Are there changes you want to make in your life, but you just don't know where to start? Do you want to be happier in your life, but you can't figure out how to change the way you feel? Do you have a hard time identifying your goals, let alone reaching them?!

Personal growth and development is hard work, but this book makes it seem easy.

The Peace of Mind & Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness guide takes you on a step-by-step journey to identify exactly what it is you want -- and how to get there. In just 27 days, you'll find yourself on a clear path to achieving the peace of mind, health and happiness you want for your life. 

Check out Mari's video on how to get started on journaling ~ 

Thanks to the publicist, I have one (1) copy  of Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness to give away.

When filling out the form, please select if you would like the paper copy of the book or the e-copy of the book.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 3rd at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the author.

Guest Post & Giveaway ~ Sally Goldenbaum

Thanks so much for the invitation to drop by today, Lori. I feel a bit like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland—I’m late. I’m late, for a very important date! But the best part about readers (and those with wonderful blogs like Lori’s Reading Corner) is that they are kind and understanding.

And that’s one of the important reasons why I love to write…because of readers.

Okay, I know. That sounds simplistic. But it’s really more than the fact books need to be read. Readers are critical to my whole writing process. And here are four reasons why:

1.      Readers keep me honest. I write about a group of friends who live on Cape Ann, north of Boston. I live in Kansas. And although I spend as much time as possible on Cape Ann, my readers fill in on the fine points I sometimes miss. For example, when I named a Seaside Harbor pier “Pelican Pier,” an astute reader quickly wrote that no self-respecting Pelican would dip into those chilly waters. They much prefer Florida. (To maintain my honor, I researched it and discovered there was a sighting of a brown pelican on Cape Ann years ago—so I wrote a scene in the next book that explained the naming of the pier—Birdie’s first husband had spotted the pelican, and thought it would add a touch of humor to name the pier after it.) Thank you, wonderful reader, not only for the correction, but for giving me a nice side story for Moon Spinners!

2.      Readers remind me that I’m not alone. Big chunks of writing are in solitary confinement, and on days when I keep the aluminum siding salesmen on the phone because I am desperate for someone to talk to, readers provide a much-preferred alternative. Not that we necessarily talk. But emails fill that lonely gap and convince me that there are other living, breathing souls out there.

3.      Readers HELP me, help my characters, and help my books. For example, I’ve received wonderful notes from generous reader-knitters who have shared the charities for which they knit. And the seaside knitters have jumped right in, providing hats for head huggers and blanket squares for knit-a-square. And readers share their projects with me, sending photos and tips to add into the Seaside Knitters’ Thursday night session.

In The Wedding Shawl, my most recent mystery, I had access to an amazing shawl pattern, knit by a talented PhD student who let me share it with everyone. It became Izzy’s wedding shawl, knit for her by her three closest friends.

And one more thing—at this very moment, one very talented designer is creating a beautiful pattern for Birdie’s granddaughter’s sweater. It will occupy Nell’s fingers throughout the next year’s Seaside Knitters mystery. Generous readers. Talented designers.

4.      And last, but definitely not least, readers make me want to open up my computer every morning. They inspire me by letting me share in their amazing and unique lives. For example, Louise wrote that during a long convalescence from a serious illness, books became her companions during the long days in bed—the knitters helped her heal. And an Arizona grandmother who is helping raise her granddaughter, wrote that she shares the mysteries with her Mya, and then, together, they knit the patterns and send me photos of Mya modeling them.

And finally, there is my dear reader-friend in Florida who wrote: “The anniversary of my husband’s death will be in early June, and I’ll remember him in some special way with my family.

But one thing I know I’ll do, is that I’ll spend a bit of the day on my back porch or down at the seashore…thinking of my Johnny. And I’ll relish the rest of Moon Spinners while I’m there.”

And that’s why I love and need readers. Every single one of them. That’s why I write.

Thank you so much, Lori. And a thank you to all your readers!

Sally's Bio ~ 

I am quite inept at writing about my life--it's been a very nice one so far, but in the repeating it may sound a bit tedious. So I will hit the highlights and offer you a very speedy read.

I was born in Manitowoc, Wisc, a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan where my father was a shipbuilder. We spent summers baking on Lake Michigan (before the days of sun alerts) and enjoyed the perks that growing up in a small town provides. I went to high school in Green Bay, Wisc, a boarder in an all-girls academy, just like my sister, mother and her seven sisters before her had done.

College was Fontbonne in St. Louis, and graduate school (philosophy) was Indiana U in Bloomington where I met my husband. In between all of that I was a Catholic nun for several years. A checkered past, to be sure.

Writing...

has always been a part of my life, from fictionalizing my diary when I was a teen to working in public television in Pittsburgh, Pa, to teaching philosophy, to editing a bioethics journal. I always wrote. And in the back of my head was the novel I'd write someday. But it didn't happen until one day when I was sitting in a sandbox in a park, watching my children play. I was new to Kansas CIty, looking for company. There was another mother there, Adrienne Staff, a transplanted New Yorker. And as those things go, the ex-nun and nice Jewish girl from New York  glommed on to each other and discovered we not only liked one other a lot, but we both had a burning desire to write. And so we did. Together. We found a wonderful agent and published (some together, some alone) 25 to 30 novels.

Though Adrienne went on to other things, I started writing mysteries some 10 years later, again inspired and helped along by a life-time friend, this time Nancy Pickard (See "Sally's Porch" for Nancy's mug shot).

My life today...

After lots of years of writing early in the morning before heading out to my editing job in a publishing house, I now have the wonderful luxury of writing full-time--sitting on my porch or in a coffee shop or library. Or tootling off to Cape Ann (where the seaside knitters series is set) to research new adventures for the knitters, and in between, to visit my daughter Aria, her husband John--and Luke and Ruby—who live in Gloucester on Cape Ann.

My son Todd lives in California with his wife, Laila, and Danny, our youngest, is here in Kansas City with Claudia and their two sons, Atticus and Julian. It's a lovely time of life for Don and me, filled with the joy four grandchildren bring.And their parents are pretty terrific people as well. Photos on the right are the lights of our life (from top to bottom): Atticus Sage, Ruby Jane, Luke Robert, and Julian James.

And that's all she wrote....for now....

Visit Sally's website

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Sally's latest book ~ 

 

The Wedding Shawl: A Seaside Knitters Mystery 

Izzy Chambers is about to get married, but much remains to be done. Then the wedding plans get complicated when the wedding party's hair stylist begins missing appointments. When she's found dead, things really begin to unravel. Rumors circulate about the stylist's past and her connection to an unsolved murder years ago.

All the Seaside Knitters really know is they must rally to find some answers, so Izzy can don the wedding shawl they're surprising her with- and replace the whispers about town with wedding bells.

Thanks to the author, I have one (1) copy of  The Wedding Shawl: A Seaside Knitters Mysteryto give away.

THIS GIVEAWAY WILL BE FOR THE KINDLE VERSION OF THE BOOK.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 31st at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winner is contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

Other books by Sally ~

Giveaway ~ Save Me by Lisa Scottoline (ARC)

Save Me
Author ~ Lisa Scottoline
Publisher ~ St. Martin's Press
Publication date ~ April 12, 2011

About the book ~

Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly’s school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who’s been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos. Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety. She believes she has accomplished both, only to discover that Amanda, for an unknown reason, ran back into the school once out of Rose's sight. In an instance, Rose goes from hero to villain as the small community blames Amanda’s injuries on her. In the days that follow, Rose's life starts to fall to pieces, Amanda’s mother decides to sue, her marriage is put to the test, and worse, when her daughter returns to school, the bullying only intensifies. Rose must take matters into her own hands and get down to the truth of what really happened that fateful day in order to save herself, her marriage and her family.

In the way that Look Again had readers questioning everything they thought they knew about family, Save Me will have readers wondering just how far they would go to save the ones they love. Lisa Scottoline is writing about real issues that resonate with real women, and the results are emotional, heartbreaking and honest.

Click HERE to read my review

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on April 16th at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the me. 

Book Spotlight & Giveaway ~ The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

The Murderer's Daughters
Author ~ Randy Susan Meyers
Publisher ~ St. Martin's Press
Publication date ~ January 19, 2011

A beautifully written, compulsively readable debut that deals with the aftermath of a shocking act of violence that leaves two young sisters with nothing but each other—in the tradition of White Oleander, this haunting novel is a testament to the power of family and the ties that bind us together, even as they threaten to tear us apart

Mama was “no macaroni-necklace-wearing kind of mother.” She was a lipstick and perfume-wearing mother, a flirt whose estranged husband still hungered for her. After Mama threw him out, she warned the girls to never let Daddy in the house, an admonition that tears at ten-year-old Lulu whenever she thinks about the day she opened the door for her drunken father, and watched as he killed her mother, stabbed her five-year-old sister Merry and tried to take his own life.

Effectively orphaned by their mother’s death and father’s imprisonment, Lulu and Merry, unwanted by family members and abandoned to a terrifying group home, spend their young lives carrying more than just the visible scars from the tragedy. Even as their plan to be taken in by a well-to-do foster family succeeds, they come to learn they’ll never really belong anywhere or to anyone—that all they have to hold onto is each other.

As they grow into women, Lulu holds fast to her anger, denies her father’s existence and forces Merry into a web of lies about his death that eventually ensnares her own husband and daughters. Merry, certain their safety rests on placating her needy father, dutifully visits him, seeking his approval and love at the expense of her own relationships. As they strive to carve lives of their own, thespecter of their father, unrepentant and manipulative even from behind bars, haunts them. And when they learn he’s about to be paroled, the house of cards they’ve built their lives on teeters on the brink of collapse.

About the author ~

The dark drama of Randy Susan Meyers' debut novel is informed by her years of work with batterers, domestic violence victims, and at-risk youth impacted by family violence.
Randy Susan Meyers’ short stories have been published in the Fog City Review, Perigee: Publication for the Arts, and the Grub Street Free Press.

In Brooklyn, where Randy was born and raised, her local library was close enough to visit daily and she walked there from the time she figured out the route. In many ways, she was raised by books, each adding to her sense of who she could be in this world. Some marked her for horror. Reading In Cold Blood at too tender an age assured that she’d never stay alone in a country house. Others, like Heidi by Johanna Spyri, made her worship her grandfather even more.
Some taught her faith in the future.         
                                                      
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith was the only bible Randy ever owned, her personal talisman of hopefulness. Each time she read it, she was struck anew by how this author knew so much and dared to write it.

Randy now lives in Boston with her husband and is the mother of two grown daughters. She teaches writing seminars at the Grub Street Writers’ Center in Boston.

Find Randy here ~ 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Email ~ randy AT randysusanmeyers DOT com

In celebration of the release of this book, the publisher is providing me with two (2) copies of The Murderer's Daughters to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of US and Canada only

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* The contest will end on February 14th at 11:59PM EST; 2 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.