wife

Of Cinco de Mayo, an iPad and Mothering…

Friday afternoon I felt as if I would crack. Each one of my children, ages, 11-years-old to 23 years needed me for emotional support as they struggled to attain their goals. My eldest was working hard on a paper search for a 15-page graduate research paper she must write.

Our 11th grader needed guidance on how to organize her study and tutoring sessions for her Chemistry and Algebra finals along with preparing an outline for her 3rd and thankfully, last term paper. And our youngest, having been home for the holiday in observance of honoring Cinco de Mayo, simply wanted to go out.

Having had a strenuous week of trying to play catch-up on my writing–I had spent last weekend helping our middle edit the first two term papers 12-15 pages each–I was scoured with fatigue.

Dinner with my husband at our favorite restaurant down by the water in Berkeley would have been a godsend.

Of Cinco de Mayo, an iPad and Mothering… Read More »

Men, Women and The Taboo of Love and Romance in Marriage…

Author, poet, novelist, and writing teacher, David Mura states: “Identifying what compels you to write, reveals the reason we are driven to write each or our works.”

To complicate things, I find that not only is the reason that I write multi-faceted, it also evolves and shifts at various intervals in my life.

I initially began to write because I wanted to read stories of characters with whom I could identify with by culture and race.

On a deeper level, I wanted to read about characters who shared not only my race and culture as an African American woman of the American South, but of a middle class background, who in many ways could appear quite Waspish, but was not.

Men, Women and The Taboo of Love and Romance in Marriage… Read More »

Perfectionism, Fears and Good Husbands…

Readying your book for publication, i.e. the printing and binding of the words you have penned is an illuminating process.

First of all, if you’re like me, a perfectionist, nothing you read of the novel or story seems right.

All the sentences you spent hours upon hours crafting, shaping, editing, refining and then re-writing sound horrible. I read my stories and novels aloud during the last stages of editing.

Perhaps the words sound awkward because I don’t want to believe that I’ve reached this point. And under my own steam.

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Publishing Contracts, Motherhood, Dreams, Hopes and Wishes…

I’ve been busy these last few weeks refining and making last changes to the document files for interior and book cover of my novel, “The House”. It’s been an interesting experience bringing this piece of work, “The House” to fruition.

My first book, a collection of short stories, “Keeper of Secrets…Translations of an Incident”, was traditionally published. The decision to self-publish my novel came quite easily.

October 2008 was not a good time for economics in America. The publishing industry that has long been languishing, and like other areas is presently struggling with balancing their books.

Writers lucky enough to get a contract with a publishing contract despite the industry’s recent financial struggles that have folded into present challenges walk a tight rope and need to be able to donate their time to following through on the contract to which they have agreed.

I don’t believe in seeking the opportunity to take on or agreeing to follow through on a task to which I cannot give over my best.

A wife of 28 years, and a mother and psychotherapist with three children at strategic points in their lives I feel a strong commitment to seeing my children in place before venturing wholeheartedly into manifesting my dreams through involvements and contracts that require enormous amounts of time.

Publishing Contracts, Motherhood, Dreams, Hopes and Wishes… Read More »

Of Long Weekends, Discipline and Time for Dreaming…

This past weekend was a holiday weekend. I relish long weekends. They give me more time with my husband and children.

The greatest challenge of any writer is finding enough time.

Time to write and time with family and friends.

The true writer writes. She or he doesn’t talk or dream about writing.

They develop a discipline unique to their psyche and life structure that allows for the writing, crafting, revision and ultimate completion of a story or novel.

Each stage of creating a literary work requires time. Time given to the very writing and re-writing of the piece, and then there is the time given over to gestation, allowing our ideas and words to percolate and perhaps metamorphose.

Of Long Weekends, Discipline and Time for Dreaming… Read More »