Sorry I haven’t posted in a while . . . I’ve been BUSY! In addition to working on marketing for my new memoir, PILGRIM INTERRUPTED (coming June 7) I just signed a book deal for another anthology I’m editing. ALL NIGHT, ALL DAY: LIFE, DEATH, AND ANGELS, my ninth book, will be released in June of 2023. More about that later. Much later.
So, welcome to my hodgepodge of the goings-on in my life recently.
HAWAII and EUROPE
I’ve also been traveling (to Hawaii with our daughter Beth Davis and her family during her daughters’ spring break in March) and preparing for more traveling (to the French and Italian Rivieras in May, a trip originally planned for 2020, then 2021, and now finally happening, God willing!). I’ve been having fun shopping for clothes for Europe, and got a kick out this site which gives fashion tips for visiting the French Riviera. (Although I think it might be a bit chilly for some of those styles . . . the article did make me re-think my mostly black yoga/athletic wear, which this site says is more appropriate for New York City.)
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
(No segue here . . . just jumping around!) This morning I spoke at the Hermitage Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I was invited to speak about my journey as a writer. They didn’t even know that in 1968 I was given a “DAR Good Citizenship Award” while I was a student at Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi. I never did know why I was chosen. Maybe one of my teachers nominated me, although I wasn’t a top student. I did participate in lots of extra-curricular activities . . . so much that, in retrospect, my classroom activities seemed more “extra” than the time I spent on the school newspaper, theater guild, and student council. This is me with Sandy Walsh, Recording Secretary of the Hermitage Chapter, who invited me to speak. She worked with my husband at the VA Medical Center for over 30 years and is a good friend.
WHAT I’m READING NOW
Meanwhile . . . I’m always reading more than one book at a time, as well as various blogs. Here’s a taste of my current literary fare:
BLOGS
Ellen Morris Prewitt’s blog, including this new post, “Reparations: Why Creative Writing.”
Father Stephen Freeman’s blog, “Glory to God For All Things,” which I read regularly, and find especially helpful during Great Lent. I loved his recent post, “God’s Tattoos.” (I had fun watching my 6 and 9-year old granddaughters get hemp (temporary) tattoos while we were in Hawaii in March.
BOOKS
Sonju by Wondra Chang, set in Seoul, South Korea, where two of our adopted children are from.
The Prayer of a Broken Heart: An Orthodox Christian Reflection on African American Spirituality by Rev. Paul Abernathy, an African American Orthodox priest.
Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days by T. K. Thorne. Read more about it on T.K.’s blog, here.
No Names to be Given by Julia Brewer Daily, a novel about unwed mothers in 1960s New Orleans. Julia is a former Mississippian who was adopted as a child.
LOOKING FORWARD
I doubt that I will ever return to posting three times a week as I did for so many years before I got busy publishing books. But I’ll try to make it here once a week. No promises, but please don’t leave me!
Congratulations, Susan, on all your publishing successes! When I first found your blog through your son, you had yet to publish a book. You give me hope that I may eventually get to publish a book of my own.
I’m so happy that you got to visit Hawai’i. One of my daughters lived there for a number of years and met and married her husband there. Another daughter who specializes in conservation biology of plants spent a formative semester in the Islands. I think Hawai’i is one of the most beautiful places on earth and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks for always being so supportive, Joanne! And yes, Hawaii is beautiful! What are you writing?
I have two poetry manuscripts that I’m sending out these days. One is a chapbook centered around my mother’s last years dealing with heart failure. The other is a full-length collection centered around the North Adams, MA area where I grew up, my and my family’s relationship with it, and the changes it has experienced over time. North Adams is currently the home of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art where I have spent a week in residence with the Boiler House Poets Collective for six of the last seven years. There are a number of ekphrastic poems in the collection based on art in the Museum.