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to find Patti Singleton these days.

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Memoir Monday 1

The Memoir Monday feature will be posted every other Monday.

This memoir writing is tough stuff. Many of my online friends are from a circle of published or soon-to-publish memoir writers. Most are based on hard subjects; illness and injury, death by disease or suicide, and abuse or neglect. You have to wonder why these memoirs are so widely read. At first glance those subjects are sad or depressing.

Why do we read them? I have always read memoirs and biographies. Sometimes I’m drawn in by pure curiosity, other times the author is covering an experience that I have had, or someone close has had. I want to know how they got through it. I want a blatant or even a subtle message of hope. Yes, hope.

The author lived to write about it, so maybe they have a secret of survival to share with me. Maybe they write so well, with that just-right stroke of humor, that I will be whisked away on their magic carpet for a few hours. I hold onto the hope that the author not only survives, but thrives after their crisis. Hope. I read memoirs for hope.

Hope may also be the reason that I keep hitting delays in my own memoir. August will be five years since Paul’s death. The memoir keeps pulling me back to the hard memories, when I am beginning to see the light of happy memories of Paul, in my everyday life. Yet…we both truly wanted to share our journey with others. We wanted to offer help along the way, for others in a health crisis, and we wanted to offer hope.

That is why I took on Memoir Mondays. I need to get this show on the road! I want to share this part of the journey with my community. I would love some feedback. I plan on exploring the topic of memoir, as well as some resource links for others who are writing memoirs. I’ll review some memoirs and announce it when my friends publish their memoirs. There is a large community of memoir writers online, so this won’t all be new information, but it will be what I think is interesting, and what I think you might enjoy.

In the mean time, here is some of the writing from within my own thick “Memoir” file.

 

A little background: My husband, Paul, spent a year in and out of hospitals, and in short-term housing near the main hospital, while fighting Acute Myeloid Leukemia and the Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) that he got as a result of a bone marrow transplant. During that year, I kept family and friends updated by way of an online patient journal on Care Pages. The following excerpts are from the memoir I’m writing, and were written during a few days of the last hospital stay:

June 13, 2009 Last night we had our best sleep in a long time. That’s good, but really, we’re funnier when we go sleepless in Seattle. Since yesterday, Paul has a bit of medication-caused edema in his belly and arms. He is still taking walks around the hallway loop, 10-40 minutes a day. He’s trying to do his exercises, but his belly argues with too much movement.

The biopsies from Tuesday’s procedure showed that Paul has adeno virus in his stomach now. They have added two more drugs to fight it, and more fluids before and after the new antiviral. It’s a toss up which is worse, the virus or the treatment. The other drug protects him from the damage the antiviral causes. What a viscous circle. They continue to try and balance his glucose, but it keeps dropping low , then spiking high. They began a new plan today and it has stayed pretty even so far. Through it all, Paul pushes on to do everything he can to get better.

Wishing we were there,

Patti & Paul

June 14, 2009 (warning–talk of needles) Paul is doing better today. His cramping belly has let up a lot. This was ATG day, when they pre-medicate him, which sends him off to a pretty deep sleep. This eve he had his weekly x-ray. We walked earlier, and will walk again later.
Tomorrow is ECP day, when he is hooked up to a machine in his room for 3 1/2 hrs. I can’t remember if I told you all about it or not, but they put a large needle in a vein, then strap his arm to a small board to keep it immobile and straight. They take blood out, separate it, take one layer and treat it with a photosensitive drug, then pass the treated portion under UV lights, then the machine puts it all back inside Paul’s vein. I have read some encouraging studies about this therapy, and we are hopeful that it can help clear out the GVHD.
Everything they are doing will take time, so we are settled in for the long haul. We’re up for it, though. Whatever it takes to get us back home and Paul healed.
Husky stadium is outside our window, so we have been watching the flurry of graduation taking place this weekend. It is surreal to watch all these young people celebrating starting out their lives full of hope, from a hospital room window, where we fight for Paul’s life.
Paul says to tell you all, “Hi!” and thanks for all the support.
Paul & Patti

More background. Paul passed away in our bed at home on August 9, 2009. Less than a month later, I started back with my emails to friends and family, while I tunneled through grief and estate issues.

Sept 2, 2009 BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG—It’s all about me! (I really know it isn’t)

Just tonight, I realized that I miss doing the updates about Paul’s health and our daily lives as fighters-for-his-life in a foreign land (hospital in Seattle). I thought that I could continue in a private journal, although the feedback is disappointing :>) So now I will write about me fighting for my mental life in this foreign land of Paul Is Gone. I will share the journey with you, because it is a habit that I still need.

I went to the doc today because a sore throat kept me up all night. I just have some infection in my throat and sinuses. With a few antibiotics I’ll be on the mend. I feel like hell, okay? I’m only up now, because Mark (family friend, lives close) signaled with his gate bell, that he was dropping off provisions, along with a mocha from my Aunt Judee. I couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up to see if no news was still good news—yes, it is! That means no evil attacks about the estate today. Someone spread the “rumor” that there was going to be a sale here this Saturday. Friends and family think the rumor was spread just to worry me, ahhhh, success for whoever started it!

I feel like such a scholar; I added “Judee” and “ahhhh” to the dictionary! There’s just something empowering about adding words to a dictionary… my personal dictionary on my computer…but STILL!

Finally, I changed the auto insurance to only cover my truck. One more thing done. Oh, that would be two, as I also called to get paperwork started for a small pension.

From the long, wide deck overlooking the back yard and acreage; A little after 8 P.M., and here comes that moon, right on time. That was my entertainment last night; watching as Jupiter chases the moon up the hill and over the tree tops. Much better than My Name Is Earl—sorry, Paul, but anything is better than Earl. I just realized that the moon actually rises in front of, and then above Jupiter. When the moon finally takes the lead, Jupiter resumes the chase across the sky. That’s way better than that episode when Earl got stuck in jail. I do not miss television. I would watch unlimited hours to have Paul back.

#####################################################

Thanks for being here,

Patti


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A Blog Schedule? Me?

mail box

Ground mail. Rusty abandoned mail box.
PHALL PHOTO 2014

Yep, I’m going to break down and try the blog schedule thing. I also added a mission statement and a link to my Facebook to the sidebar, and I updated my HOME page.

So here’s the plan:

MEMOIR MONDAY- Every other Monday (beginning May 12th) will be all about memoir—yours, mine and theirs. An excerpt, poem or story from my memoir-in-progress, and/or links, news and reviews relating to memoir reading or writing.

NEWS DAY TUESDAY- Every other Tuesday (beginning May 6th) will be my writer-reader news roundup. Whatever I come across that is newsworthy and of interest to writers and readers.

PROMPTLY WEDNESDAY- If I join in a photo or writing prompt, I’ll post my entry on Wednesdays.

PHOTO FRIDAY- Beginning May 9th, I’ll add photos from the current week and/or photos from my archives to my PHALL PHOTO blog. I’ll pick my favorite photo and post it here, with a link to the photos I added on my photo blog. If inspired, I’ll include a poem, short story, or a quote relating to the photo.

Later, I may add THOSE WHO CARE THURSDAY for care-giver news, fiction and non-fiction stories and information.

So, each week I will have a Monday OR Tuesday post and Friday photos. The rest are occasional.

As usual, I’ll probably include one of my photos to each post, whether it’s relevant to the post, or not 🙂 If you have a post (yours or someone else’s) that relates to anything I post, feel free to add a link to it in your comments.

I doubt that I will be able to completely curb my wide streak of spontaneity, but this schedule will hopefully make my busy life easier, AND allow you to follow posts that interest you.

I’m sure you will, but please let me know what you think about this blog schedule plan. Do you have a schedule or have you tried to implement one? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Patti


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A-Z April Challenge; R is For Reviews and Ready to Publish?

Is your final product (your book!) a skunk or a rose?

Skunk Cabbage

Skunk Cabbage.
PHALL PHOTO 2014

Autumn Rose

Autumn Rose.
PHALL PHOTO 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Rebecca Lamoreaux wrote a recent A-Z Challenge post about many issues pertaining to writing book reviews. Here is part of my comment, as well as some further discussion and helpful links.

To be honest, these issues make me hesitate to publish. No one is perfect, but I think books need to be as close to perfect as they can be, BEFORE they are seen in public. In a perfect world, I’ve always thought that indie authors should have their books go through an indie author board (or a professional editor) before publishing. It would raise the quality by leaps and bounds. I will write a post and make sure you see it. Thanks for bringing this up.

The comment above, from :

http://rebeccalamoreaux-anauthorinprogress.blogspot.com/2014/04/r-reading-and-reviews.html

Good article about gauging your readiness to publish:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/01/are-you-good-enough-evaluating-whether.html

For self-publishers, an excellent article about the different kinds of editing and some awesome links for help finding an editor:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/59767-why-all-self-publishers-need-a-good-editor.html

What are your thoughts?

Patti

Hey, I hope you find time to check out some of the other A-Z April Challenge blogs here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2014.html


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One Year on Word Press. Thanks!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Yes, it has been a year since I began blogging. Even though it was very lonely the first few months, you eventually found me and have kept me going with your support and encouragement ever since. The secret to bringing folks to your blog is so simple: Get out and visit, comment and “like” other blogs. That’s it. Go forth and make friends :>)

PHALL PHOTO 2013

PHALL PHOTO 2013

Here’s how the first 6 months went for me. I didn’t know one blogger and had no idea how to blog. After a couple months of loneliness, I started searching for info about memoir and children’s writing and publishing. During my quest for info I started visiting other blogs, I made some friends. Adding photos to my posts seemed to bring more people to this little community. Popping in on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, really brought some new faces to The Write Place.

I hope to add some highlights of the second half of my first year in the next few days, but for now, here is what I was up to my first six months…

PHALL PHOTO 2013

PHALL PHOTO 2013

Six entries in March 2013, including things like:

I posted a quote that seemed to fit my state of mind as I began this new endeavor of public blogging, writing and (hopefully) publishing. “Do not hurry, do not rest,” by Goethe. As fast as I wanted to get started, I knew that I also wanted to take my time and not make a bunch of (public) mistakes.

I was unsure of what/how to begin, but decided to use my long dormant maiden name for my writing. I posted a poem inspired by my mother, who instilled the love of reading and humor in me. Another poem that I posted that first month reflected the pain of the sudden and unexpected loss of one of my sisters the year before.

Sunrise at Westhaven Beach 3

Sunrise at Westhaven Beach, WA w/Coast Guard Tower. Phall Photo 2013  

The post, Keeper Book Synopsis, http://wp.me/p3i5jo-x tells the genesis story of the handcrafted “Keepers” that my friend (Leslee) and I created years ago. My hopes are to publish the stories that I wrote for each one. I also finished typing a 2500 word story that I wrote for my children in 1996.

The last entry of March 2013 says, in part, “I woke up this morning, well, it was really almost 11. Anyway, I was looking around and my eye caught on some star wands that I need to give my granddaughters, from a mutual friend. Soon I had a story rumbling in my head and I was off. I have been writing and editing all damn day long, and half the night! I made some coffee, finally ate a snack, packed some things for my move [home relocation] tomorrow and wrote like crazy. I completed a children’s story 10 words shy of 4000 words. Crazy. It just came out. Does it happen like that for you? And, hey, I have no illusions that this would not get whittled in half by a real editor, but I’m good with that. It is the process that is so…gripping, so addictive.”

April- 12 entries. This was my third month going to the local writer group that I joined, and I posted,  “Have been checking out and “following” several other writer blogs. Have been “invited” to join a writer site that allows us to give and receive feed-back. I am learning about the current trends in writing and publishing…” Another entry, Good Grief, A Widow Writes A Memoir, http://wp.me/p3i5jo-V explains some of the things I was learning about memoir writing and how painful it can be to write about Paul’s illness and death. Still is.

Breakfast for fawn. Across from my driveway. PHALL PHOTO 2013

Breakfast for fawn. Across from my driveway.
PHALL PHOTO 2013

I posted about a writer retreat and a writer conference in Homer, Alaska, which is also home to one of my sisters and her husband. I began taking a writing class taught by a local writer, and I met several other writers there. I posted a poem that I wrote for Paul’s 60th birthday in 2007. I made an ambitious attempt at a blogging schedule. Hilarious, if you really know me; the “s” word and me are not close.

I signed onto several more social media venues and shared some sites with helpful information for writers. I touched on some newsy information in one post, about the way technology is taking away our privacy. I wrote a poem about the deaths and injuries in the Boston marathon bombing and the explosion in Texas. I posted a short story about a child molester/monster.

Kites down on beach. PHALL PHOTO 2013

Kites down on beach.
PHALL PHOTO 2013

I moved Maggie (my trailer/cave/home) from the bay outside of Westport, into Westport proper and closer to the beach. The worst shock and heartache of my life happened on the 26th, when my grandson died. Still dealing with the other recent losses in my life, I stopped blogging for awhile.

May- 13 entries. I lost my mind a bit, but returned to blogging late in the month, with 2 poems on grief and loss. Lady In The Cave http://wp.me/p3i5jo-1N and Treasured Souls http://wp.me/p3i5jo-1P  were followed by a post complaining about the new parameters for the medical definition of grief. I wrote a few other poems/essays and shared some of the writing/publishing information that I was learning. Still very few visitors or followers on my blog, but I kept on. This was my first poetry/photo combo post: Beach Bird Bliss http://wp.me/p3i5jo-2c and it made me realize how much readers enjoy photos along with the words.

Fresh seed pod on tree. PHALL PHOTO 2013 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS19

Fresh seed pod on tree.
PHALL PHOTO 2013
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS19

June- 22 entries. This was a very busy writing month and I had some fun with the essay, Things That Go Rrrrr, Crash, and Drip In The Night http://wp.me/p3i5jo-4w. I also got better at working with photos and started posting photos for Word Press Daily Prompts and Weekly Photo Challenges. I posted quite a bit under Writing Journal as I learned about and organized for successful memoir writing. The post, New! Dedicated Memoir Page and Sneak Peek of Prologue http://wp.me/p3i5jo-3m tells the story of how I got from the house that Paul and I shared, to living at the beach. What I Would Tell You Now http://wp.me/p3i5jo-3v is a letter to my late husband, written long after he was gone. I also started writing and submitting book reviews this month.

Butterfly on Flower in my friend's garden. Phall Photo 2013

Butterfly on Flower in my friend’s garden.
Phall Photo 2013

These are busy days, but I will try to post the summary of July-December 2013, in the next few days… Still not smoking and happy about it, over 2 months later!!!!!!!! Was thrilled to know that one of my sisters quit smoking 4 days ago too. So cool.

Happy Almost Spring!

Patti

Thistles PHALL PHOTO 2013

Thistles
PHALL PHOTO 2013

 


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EDDD 10; Is Writing Your Business?

crabMy horoscope for today, written by me. Some planets appear to be nearing collision point, which has caused a sh**tstorm of emotions for you today, dear Cancer. You are a water sign, hence the tears and the feeling of sinking, even though you are swimming as fast as you can. You will be forced to make hard decisions relating to family, caves and plants. You will hide in your shell, enjoy uplifting friendships online, share amazing wonders and put decisions off to another day. After all, you are a crab.

Is Writing Your Business?

Yes? Then you’ve probably already run across these two dynamos; Kristine Kathryn Rusch at http://kriswrites.com/ and her husband/business partner Dean Wesley Smith at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/.

Kris and Dean are not only some of the most prolific writers that I have seen, but they also have the business end of writing down to a science. I have been enjoying Kris’s Free Fiction Friday and her business e-newsletter for many months. Dean is a proponent of indie authors not giving their work away, and he backs it up with examples. Both have sound author and freelance business advise.

That’s my gem for today, “see” you all tomorrow. I have officially blown this deadline. Computer crashed and I couldn’t get back on in time. I guess I should start hours ahead of midnight?

 

Peace,

Patti

From writing challenge Every Damn Day December at http://treatmentofvisions.com/2013/11/26/evdadadec/


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EDDD 9; Do You Have Any Comments on Commenting?

Here’s my own horoscope for today, written by me. You will continue to sleep sporadically, which allows you to have active friendships online with people all over the world. You will add to some (FB & blog) conversations, dropping helpful links, opinions, ideas and names as you can. You will take away helpful links, names, ideas and be grateful for your growing circle of creative business and personal friendships. You WILL get those dishes done (yep). You will write and edit one story (1/2 yep). Don’t forget Every Damn Day December before midnight:>)

Sunset begins at Brady's Oysters and the Elk River Bridge outside of Westport, Wa. PHALL PHOTO 2013

Sunset begins at Brady’s Oysters and the Elk River Bridge, outside of Westport, Wa.
PHALL PHOTO 2013

READING COMMENTS:

After reading a well written, verrrry long article in an online journal earlier today, I began to wonder if others do as I do when reading online. I read the article or post, and form my opinions and thoughts about it as I go along. Next, I read about the author, and then I start in on the comments.

Sometimes, I learn more from the comments than I did from the article/post. I learn about making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. Those comments often help me think differently. Sometimes the comments sway my initial opinion, but usually they help me make a more thoughtful comment of my own, and give me a fuller understanding of the topic. And sometimes I get an “ah ha” moment, when a point is brought up that I never even considered.

It is obvious from reading the comments, that not everyone reads the previously written comments before posting their own. When several people ask the same question, it can get irritating. I scroll past those that are written from a soap box. Unless it gets out of hand and becomes a personal attack, I usually enjoy a good back and forth discussion/argument.

My biggest pet peeve is when I see that all the comments are floating in the ether, because the author of the article/post is not responding at all. Even that can turn out okay if the readers interact with each other, but that doesn’t often happen. If the author is too busy to respond to their readers/audience, how about just turning off the comment option?

What do you think about comments? Do you have a “system” for reading and commenting? Do you think authors should reply to the comments that their writing generates? We’d love to know what you think.

Peace,

Patti

From writing challenge at Every Damn Day December http://treatmentofvisions.com/2013/11/26/evdadadec/

And sunset ends at Bonge Beach, Westport, Wa. PHALL PHOTO 2013

And sunset ends at Bonge Beach, Westport, Wa.
PHALL PHOTO 2013


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My Favorite Writer Resource Sites, What are Yours?

The moon from my porch a few nights ago. Click on this and be amazed. I was! PHALL PHOTO 2013

The moon from my porch a few nights ago. Click on this and be amazed. I was!
PHALL PHOTO 2013

Add your great writer links and we will soon have a comprehensive community-built list! I think the value of this is sharing resources that we are using ourselves. Putting this list together gave me motivation to visit some of these resources more often, to make better use of what they offer. It’s always hard for me to maintain a healthy balance between researching and actually writing. How about you? Do you get carried away with researching and learning more about the craft of writing?

GREAT WRITER LINKS!!!!

Here is my list of great sites for writers. Please leave a comment to add other great sites to this list. Also, if you find some that are right up your alley, don’t forget to check out their other social media homes; FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, etc.

http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/  Freelance writers can look here for job leads, writing tips and more.

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/  Look on the resource page for helpful writer links from a published author.

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/  From Hope Clark’s site, “This website has been awarded as a Best Writing Website. Sponsored by Writer’s Digest,Writer’s Market, Writer’s Digest University & Writer’s Digest Shop. Selected for the last 13 years in a row.” Hope is another no-nonsense writer’s friend who has valuable resources to share.

http://www.rachellegardner.com/  Rachelle says about her site, “My passion is partnering with authors to bring worthwhile books to publication. I started this blog as a way to create a community of writers, both published and seeking publication. I write about a wide variety of topics of interest to writers, and I consider the reader comments even more important than my own posts.”

http://annerallen.blogspot.com/  Anne’s is another well-known Best Writing Website. I get her newsletter and it is always helpful and engaging.

http://kriswrites.com/  Kris is a prolific (I mean really prolific!) author and has very cut and dried writing business advise, along with other helpful writing tips. Her newsletters are very wordy, but worth every minute spent reading them. There are no pretty pictures of fluffy fill, she just gets her point across.

http://winningwriters.com/index.php  Writing contests, free and otherwise. Regularly updated with reliable contest information.

http://www.everywritersresource.com/literarymagazines/  I love this place. I’ll use their own words to explain who they are, “We hope that everything we do benefits publishers, editors, and writers. We are concerned for the well-being and preservation of literary magazines and small publishers. Writing and editing is a business, but it is also a passion. Here we hope to promote both the well-being and community of writers, editors, and publishers. Everything on our site is a free public service.”

http://zguta.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/indie-review-sites/  Elisabeth Zguta’s Indie Review list. She is friendly and has many other resources for writers.

http://editminion.com/  EditMinion is a robotic copy editor to help you refine your writing by finding common mistakes. You just cut and paste a sample of your writing.

http://figment.com/   A community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you’re into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here.

http://janefriedman.com/   Jane has an article for every writer’s interest. She is up-to-date on all things writing, publishing, and editing. She’s big, but I did find a number of broken links. No worries, because there are always more links about the same topic.

http://grubdaily.org/  The blog is filled with great articles by a list of professionals in the business. Here’s part of their long, but worthy story, “Grub Street is the second largest independent center for creative writing in the United States. Our mission is to be an innovative, rigorous, and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find audience, and elevate the literary arts for all. We accomplish this by offering the highest quality classes and services for writers at all stages of development, by educating writers through the entire writing process from inspiration to publication and promotion, by putting a premium on teaching excellence, by welcoming as many writers as possible through generous scholarships and free outreach programming, by creating fulfilling employment for writers, by connecting people and ideas through writing, and by empowering writers to fully embrace new opportunities ushered in by the digital age.”

http://beyondthemargins.com/  Speaking of the former listing, these folks at BTM came from Grub Street. Here’s a bit of what they are up to, “A blog, a sounding board, a daily dose of insight. It offers essays on the craft of writing and the business of publishing. There are tips on creating memorable scenes and great dialogue. Interviews with authors, editors and agents. Humorous pokes at the craft, the industry and at ourselves. Think literary magazine run amok.”

http://nathanbransford.com/   Among the best and most well-known writer’s helper on the web.

http://writerunboxed.com/   Tons of good info here. In my top three best sites for writers. As a matter of fact, many of the people on my list are contributors on this site. Okay, and all of the people I missed are also on this site! When you are done exploring the general contents, start at the top and work your way down the list of contributors on the right-hand side of the main page. See ya in a few years :>)

http://pred-ed.com/  Preditors & Editors. A guide to publishers, and publishing services for serious writers since 1997. All writers should get familiar with this site.

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/  Jill has some very good advice, and free or inexpensive downloads, and specifically;

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/blog/2013/building-your-author-brand-checklist/

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/blog/2013/ten-tips-for-building-an-audience-platform/

Please let me know if you have issues with any of these sites.

Peace,

Patti


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Writing Journal; Does Gardening Count?

179

Sunset fire with pelicans heading home on Half-Moon Bay, Westport, WA

PHALL PHOTO 2013

Secret garden

We have water! The little waterfall is flowing and Greg (neighbor friend) also put in a head that sprays a bell-shape of water in the pond. He has been placing beautiful chunks of petrified wood to camouflage the edge of the pond. I hope to do the plantings tomorrow. The sound of flowing water is so wonderful! Greg will work on lighting soon, although I have some pretty little metal tea light holders that I’m going to add tomorrow. We have a long way to go, but getting the water flowing was a great motivator :>)

Writing…or not

I’ve done some book reviews on Goodreads here and Amazon here. I posted a lengthy response on Georgia’s blog about JK Rowling using a male name for her latest book here. I’ve also been active on Facebook here. I did a word cloud challenge from Zoe’s site  here.  The result, below, was written with ONLY the words from a specific “cloud” of words:

Stolen Breath

I swear, at present, I know fifteen ladies,
been living on the run, on the road, for years.
Not trying for truth or gods,
but breath.

Maybe you believe there was a stolen car,
a robbed bank,
but you would be at fault; wrong!

Truth is, maybe fifteen ladies
had a chap that robbed that breath…

Patti

What haven’t I done? You would ask! I haven’t worked on the memoir, or the postcards book. I haven’t posted my new features for writers and caregivers. I’ve written the first couple of them and they sit and wait for me in the drafts folder. I just seem a little emotionally hungover from August and, well, stalled.

So there you have it. Hope you stop in and say hi, maybe tell me what you’ve been up to. Tamed any lions lately?

Patti


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Runaway Writer Found on Beach, Heart Broken, but Alive!

For those of you who were not able to make it to the contest, here’s 2nd place winner, “My Gutsy Story,” for those of you who are sick of reading about this: sorry, one last time and I will put it to bed:>)

Runaway Writer Found on Beach, Heart Broken, but Alive!

One of the best moves I’ve ever made was to run away from home when I was almost fifty-one years-old. Once I made the move, my life changed. I did meet a small new circle of friends, but the biggest change was in my writing life.

It had been over 10 years since I was actively writing online. Back then I was writing for online magazines, a weekly column on the now defunct “She’s Got” network, and I ran a site for young writers. I wrote children’s stories, poetry, and a novel, while plotting my moves to publish them all. Then life took another swing at me and my writing life was back to just me and my journal, which satisfied me for a time.

In 2008 a personal tragedy brought writing back into my life; I wrote online updates to friends and family about my husband’s fight with leukemia. I wrote from Paul’s hospital bedside and from the desk at our temporary housing near the hospital and clinic. I wrote about our thoughts and feelings, about the latest medicines, and their cruel side effects. I tried to keep positive and I tried to make our weird humor an ingredient of my updates. Amazingly to me, I kept getting comments on my updates like, “I hope you’re saving this for a book,” and “This is going in the book isn’t it,” and “You have to write a book to help others through what you and Paul have been through.”

Patti Hall and Paul

Patti Hall and Paul

Almost a year from the day he was diagnosed, Paul passed away at home in our bed. Even stunned by his death though, I missed writing those updates, and the connections that they brought. A few weeks later I began an email journal of my painful progress through nightmare estate issues and my stunted grief process. My email journal went out (and still does) to our same circle from the leukemia updates, with pictures, poetry, and reader comments. My audience continues to laugh, cry and cheer for me.

It was six months after Paul’s death that I ran away from home. Our home was home no more; it was a torn shell that had once been the comfortable shelter of our love. Home was now held hostage in a gripping tug-of-war between lawyers and heirs. All I could focus on during those first six months was Paul and my driving need to be near the ocean; a need that pulled me like the moon tugs at the tides. Some of our most fun and soothing times had been spent walking sandy shores.

During those six months before I ran away, I thought of other times that I had found sanctuary on the beach. As a young divorced mother, I had often bundled up my nursing son and my toddler-daughter and made excursions to a friend’s beach cottage, or to the sands of Ocean Shores Washington. I recalled treasured memories of Huntington Beach California, with my beautiful red-headed sister and our young families.

As beach memories crowded my thoughts, automatic pilot (that self-protective part of me) managed the details of the next episode of my life. Without that autopilot, I could never have abandoned our home; that sacred place of “us.” Autopilot shielded me from sinking into fear and served up a pair of wings for my flight to the beach.

Maggie’s as safe as the closet that our dog, Jake, snuggled into during fireworks or storms (and she’s not much bigger than that closet!). Maggie is a travel trailer who beats her chest with happiness when salty winds batter her metal skin. She sings along with the chimes I hang, and apologizes unceasingly when her plumbing proves imperfect. Maggie is home, and only a short walk to the beach.

Once settled into my new life, the addiction began. I dug out old work. I produced new work. I started writing under my maiden name, which I had not used since 1977. The solitary writer’s life I led now had little resemblance to any of the former lives I’d led the past 36 years, so a new (old) name made perfect sense to me.

I polished a children’s book written for my children when they were young, and then I wrote a 4000-word story based on my granddaughters. I pulled out a series of poem-stories that I wrote years ago; I had drawn little booklet covers and attached the poem-stories to whimsical creatures that my girlfriend made for sale.

I spent hours researching and educating myself on writing and publishing in this new modern world. I joined a local writer’s class in the arts center and an online memoir class. I began attending a local writing group at my library. There, I presented a new story I was writing based on the superhero flights of fancy of one of my grandsons, but written for all three of them.

More research. I followed a course online on building a writer’s platform. I made my website to blog my future readers. I joined Twitter and Facebook. I passed the initiation and became a member of several online writing groups. I was writing new material every day and blogging most of it. The feedback was encouraging, more than encouraging, as several professional and/or published writers were insisting I publish my work. I was on a roll.

I’m still on that roll. I’ve had two other very close deaths recently that almost stopped me in my tracks again. The grief is overwhelming, but what I can do is write. I can write of the cold dark hours and long, never-ending days of my grief. I can even write and photograph the joyful minutes that I allow myself to see and feel the miracles of nature; the raging waves reaching for the shore, the dancing birds on the sand who rejoice in flight, the moss-covered shack I capture being swallowed by vegetation. I’m at my beach and I’m writing a memoir. I’m alive and I’m hopeful.


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Time To Renew My Welcome. Please Enter Through The Garden Gate

garden, Alaska

Mom’s Garden. Last summer I took care of mom when she was badly injured. Caring for mom meant caring for her garden…what a pleasure:>)
PHALL PHOTO 2012

Apparently, some (old and new) visitors are missing my tabs at the top of the home page. I’ve combined “BIO” and “Welcome To The Neighborhood” in this post in hopes that everyone knows a little about me and where to find this info in the future.

Also, I thank you all for your votes and am happy with 2nd place and to be gearing up for a new contest that begins Monday…details this weekend. Congrats to my new friend, Sharon Cook Leaf who got 1st place! We had a fun race:>)

Without further ado…

I am a writer, daughter, sister, mom, grani, niece, aunt & friend. I strive to do the best that I can in each of these roles, while staying focused on writing and publishing. I live near the beach in Washington State and enjoy my solitude. I spend my time on the beach, writing, reading, gardening, taking photos, traveling and digging into family history.

My name is Patti Hall, nice to meet you! Please introduce yourself in the “comment” section of any post on this blog.

I was born (3 of 7) in Oklahoma City, while dad was in the Air Force; we left when I was two. I spent the next 14 years living with my family on O’Malley Road, just outside of Anchorage. I spent some wandering years and ended up settling? in Centralia, WA, surrounded by my aunt, uncle and cousins.

I raised 2 incredible children in Lewis County, WA and they paid me back with a bunch of precocious, lively little grands. My Grani role is my favorite role yet. Oh, the freedom and delight!

In 2005 I moved in with an old friend, who became my new best friend and love. It was everything that we both needed and wanted. We just fell into happiness and left heartaches behind. Then he got sick.

Part of who I am today is defined by the recent losses in my life. I lost (still looking for him) my perfect fit by way of leukemia in 2009, my feline pal since 1997, in 2010, my fun and loving sis in 2012, and one of my precious grands (age 3) in April 2013. One of the reasons I’m writing is to find my way through this heavy load of grief.

Today I’m a 54 year veteran of this life. I ran away from  home, in the winter of 2010, to a little fishing/tourist/beach town on the Washington Coast. This is where I am…content for now.

And here you’ve found me at “The Write Place to build a community.” I brought along my friends and family and we welcome you and yours to come along with us on this journey. It’s sometimes sad here, mixed with my own brand of humor, and always a place of truth, stories and beauty (I play at photography).

Of course, I do swish the truth around a little in my poetry and children’s adventure stories.

I take everyone here with me as I get my writing act together and start publishing. On the site, I include worldly news, a bit of my daily grind, and writerly tips as I find them. Sometimes I join one of WordPresses’ daily prompts and post the results on the site.

So, welcome, and I hope you stay awhile.

Patti

Frivolous odds & ends about me…

  1. I love the sound of chimes; I even have some hanging on a curtain that I brush past regularly.
  2. I love smelling like camp fire.
  3. I sleep with a blanket, sheet or pillow over my head.
  4. I sing, talk, shout and memorize poetry while beach combing.
  5. I don’t watch or have a TV.
  6. I love to fish, especially in Katchemak Bay, Alaska.
  7. I love to free-style dance to jazz and blues.
  8. I swerve to miss frogs on rainy days and nights (watch out!).
  9. Our family raised a pet raccoon, Ricky, who retired to the Alaska Children’s Zoo.
  10. I have been in every state in the U.S., including Hawaii.
  11. I have email subscriptions to Hawaiian and Greek newspapers (written in English!)

Author Bio

Patti Hall’s current writing includes poetry, blogging, fiction (essays, stories, children’s books), and non-fiction (memoir and journals). My main writing focus is a 3-part memoir, Souvenirs from My Heart, about love, illness and loss. I am 3/4 of the way through the “illness” book, The Patient Patient Advocate.

Writing Background 1989-2010: Patti wrote online articles and a weekly column for the now defunct “She’s Got” network. Her site, Rising Writers, for aspiring young writers was voted Top 101 Writers Web Sites in Writer’s Digest for 2000. Patti was contributing editor to an online home school newsletter, and her poetry and essays  have won several awards and honors. While attending The Evergreen State College Patti presented her women’s anthology, “Finding Our Voices” at an out of state college symposium. She was editor of the Centralia College newspaper and, as assistant Public Information Officer for the college, wrote articles for the local newspaper.  Patti taught  a writing class for inmates at a women’s prison and another for parents and children at a homeschooling conference. She has composed newsletters for communities and businesses, and has always been the go-to writer for her friends, family & community.


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Celebrate A New Book! Briana Vedsted Is HERE!

CORD-Flat

Come join the celebration and get Briana’s new book!

A Girl Named Cord by Briana Vedsted will be published on Amazon.com July 31st, 2013 as both a paperback and an eBook.

Book description: Cord had to work hard to earn her living as a cow puncher, and she was getting along just fine until a wealthy rancher moves into the county and threatens the lives of her and her friends. Cord rises up to meet every challenge, but the death of friends, both old and new, plague her at every turn. And just when everything seems like it is going to go back to being peacefully normal, a secret comes to light, putting Cord and her future family in danger. Will Cord let go of her sorrow filled past and revengeful wishes long enough to save her loved ones and pull her life back out of the bottomless pit it seems to be stuck in?
“But let me tell you this: peace in the heart is much more comforting than blood in the sand.“
Cover art by: Dirk Porsche at http://shiggyenterprises.wordpress.com/
Find out more about Briana on her blog, http://whenibecameanauthor.wordpress.com/
And check out Briana’s other books here:
and


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Writer’s Journal; Thanks, Writer’s Group, Gutsy, Memoir

Kite Festival on a marine layer morn. Grayland Beach, WA Phall Photo 2013

Kite Festival on a marine layer morn. Grayland Beach, WA
Phall Photo 2013

Photo has nothing whatsoever to do with this post :>) I just wanted some color.

Things are moving along so quickly. You know the sayings, “feast or famine,” and “when it rains, it pours”? That’s the situation I am in right now—a soaking wet feast of activity. There are umbrellas in that antique coat rack by the door; better grab one :<) Sure it’s raining in here, but coffee, tea, cookies and fruit are on the buffet by the window, help yourself.

Kudos to You!

You, my old and new friends, are the best and have been incredibly responsive in this little community at The Write Place. So many connections are being made, and friendships being forged here. You are not just supporting me, but you are spreading that support to each other, all over the web. Thank you.

South Beach Writer’s Group (WA not CA, silly)

I just got back from the monthly writer’s meeting at the local library. Our group is called South Beach Writer’s Group and I’m going to do my part by building a website for us. Yes, I know, I’m new at this. I do have the time though (sort of), and that’s a prized commodity in any group. Okay, so you think they’re just desperate? No, no, no, no, I volunteered to do it in order to build our group. Win/win (they hope).

Today I presented my poster-board mind map. I’m using it to stay focused on what goes where as I put together my memoir. Then I passed around my original mind map from my writer’s journal. Gwen would have been proud; see my previous mind map post here. I was amazed that only one of them had heard of mind maps, but that made for a lot of questions and a productive conversation.

I also talked about our community here at The Write Place, and building a writer’s platform. The rest of the meeting was spent listening to each other’s latest work, critiquing and commenting. We have folks from all different age groups (from seniors in high school to seniors in life). We are writing across many genres, with a variety of writing goals. It was a well-spent two hours. Here is a link to one site that helps you find or form local groups of all kinds. These are in-person groups and the topics include any reason under the sun that people want to meet in a group.

Finally, the Exciting News

My “Gutsy Story” about running away to the beach is being posted on a very popular and busy site Monday!

Every Monday, Sonia Marsh chooses and posts one story on her site Gutsy Living. At the end of each month people come to the site and vote for the best of the four stories. Sonia has some great writing- related sponsors who award a prize to the winner. She also spreads the news of each author, resulting in more visitors to the author’s web site and social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc).

She has compiled a wonderful anthology of “gutsy” stories that I have been reading to write a review on. She also wrote a book about her incredible family’s “gutsy” story.  My hope is that you will go to the site here on Monday, read my story and vote at the end of the month. (For me, please)

Odds and Ends

I am doing more book reviews and WIP (work-in-progress) readings for writers I have met through The Write Place. One of them just finished a critique for one of my children’s story. As soon as I finish them, I will add the reviews to the review page here.

New serial posts from part of my memoir draft starting Monday morning.  I will post short pieces, in order, until the whole section is complete.

Again, thank you, peeps,

Patti


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Writer’s Journal; Memoir Series, Children’s Book, Blog Tour

After all the flurry from the WP Daily Prompt, I’m racing around getting ready for the July-long write-a-thon. I love making up words. I can’t begin to tell you how enjoyable it was to tour 89 blogger sites in one day. I met some very cool people and saw so many snippets of their lives. I only did it because I liked the prompt and wanted to see what others were posting…got a little carried away, then said, what the hell, I’m taking the day off and touring!

As promised, here are titles of the memoir series for you:

Memoir Series Title: Souvenirs From My Heart

Book 1 Title:The Patient Patient Advocate

Book 2 Title: Love Eclipses Sorrow

Book 3 Title: Good Grief I’m Sad!

My goal is to have a rough draft of The Patient Patient Advocate done by the end of July. I’ll take a break from the series long enough to self-publish my children’s book; How a Plain Queen Becomes a Beautiful Princess. When that book is on its way, I’ll write rough drafts of the next 2 books in the memoir series.

I may publish a quick, short (ha!) ebook memoir about my life up to the point of the memoir series in between the children’s book and the memoir series. I promise you it will be funny, sad and entertaining.

Stay tuned for that illusive synopsis of book 1 and chapter titles. Hopefully, they’ll be worth the wait.

My Book Got Here

The book I won earlier this month from Beachboundbooks came in the mail the other day. It is Life In The land Of “Is” and I look forward to reading it soon.

Happy Birthday…

to my blogging friend Marie Ann Bailey! We have a lot in common; birthdays 3 days apart, blog sites 1 word apart (1writeplace and 1writeway), and we are cabin mates for the Camp NaNoWriMo.

What are your plans for the summer?

Please leave me a like and a comment if you have the time.

Patti


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Writer’s Journal; Memoir, Camp NaNoWriMo, and Writing Space

Preparation for writing the first book in my memoir series at the online Camp NaNoWriMo is moving along. So am I. A few months ago I downsized my writing space to make a room for company, and to ultimately, remodel the room when the damn rain stopped. With this month-long 1600-words-a-day challenge coming up in a week, I decided to return the room to it’s former use as my writing space. There’s just no comparison between the dark 3′ X 5′ area I was using and this heaven with 3 windows and about 8′ X 8′ of open space. I know, still a laughably small space, but I also know how to count my blessings where they hatch!

With the move out of the way, I now have the memoir series title, the titles of all three books, a draft of the synopsis of the first book, and working titles for all the chapters in that book. This is huge. Every step forward is worth a celebration in my mind, though. Being the wild loner that I am, I celebrate by writing you an update. I really need to calm the hell down.

I will post the synopsis and titles in the next few days, maybe even tonight if I have time. Meanwhile, I need to finish reading a friend’s preview copy of her book, and writing up my notes about it. I may get really nutty and do some laundry and house cleaning. Nah, I’ll give it another day. I have awesome priorities. I should write a book about them.

Here’s my pitiful plea for you to stop long enough to add a comment, and please…”like” me. Isn’t that pathetic?

Peace,

Patti