It’s here! The Ebook version of my memoir is up on Amazon.
Print on demand book available next month.
Book launch party details coming soon!
Shadow
“Every scandalous flaw is mine.” — Rumi, 13th century Muslim mystic
Rumi’s advice often echoed in my mind while writing my memoir. Now I no longer have my laptop and anonymity to hide behind when doing public readings, and practicing this out loud is more challenging.
And yet no truthful memoir can be written, published and publicly discussed unless we first accept not just “every scandalous flaw” we have, but that others will judge them, and us for admitting we have them. As I face this, it helps to be une femme d’un certain âge, as the French say, when implying one is a mature, and worldly woman.
On July 21st in front of a mixture of friends and strangers, on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon at a lakeside clubhouse in Rhode Island, I survived my first public reading in the US. My Turkish American friend Naide, who invited me to read from my memoir, confided how much she loved the book prior to introducing me.
“I just finished reading it (ebook) last night. I love your honesty… This is a feminine manifesto… I wish I had taken more chances in my life and had your courage.” Thank you Naide.
Although the presentation felt a bit like losing my virginity, all over again in public, I did have a great time. And from their questions, I could tell the audience of about 30 people also enjoyed it.
When you only have 20 minutes to speak, it is tricky to pick the right parts to share, from a 377-page book. I started with the Prologue and learned two valuable lessons.
Always have someone in the audience who has recently read the book! In this case it was Naide, and she called out suggestions like, “Read the part when you were in the south of France…”
Best to include people from both Paris’s if possible, the Paris of the Middle East (Beirut) as well as Paris, France because they add a lot more credibility to the question/answer discussion period afterwards.
Wisdom Wheel
The Shadow is not only the Birth Law of all our Leo friends, born between July 23 and Aug 22, it is also a Law we each get to spend time with. We live under the Shadow at ages 12, 39, 66, and 95. While circumnavigating the Wheel of Life, we pass through all the different energies, each with its opportunities for growth and development. Next spring, when I turn 66, I’ll be consciously studying the particular wisdom the Shadow has to offer.
What I’m Reading & Listening To
Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson. The author Highsmith specialized in the darker, Shadow side of human personalities. You may have seen the award-winning 2015 film Carol, about forbidden love between women in the 1950’s, made from one of her 22 novels. This is the first biography.
Workshop
Sign up for our next one day workshop, on Sunday September 15th Would You, Could You, Should You Write A Memoir? : The Journey from Inception to Publication. Only 6 spots left, to keep it intimate and facilitate individual attention. $160 per person. Contact me for more info.
We now offer rooms to rent, for writers needing to get away for a weekend, a week, or a month, to focus on a project. $35 per night. We provide the evening meal and supportive encouragement, for those who want to share their writing around the table after dinner. Recommit to your own writing project(s) as summer winds down and the kids return to school. Contact me for more info.
Ceremonies
Never any charge for sacred ceremonies. Our next sweat (Purification) Lodge is Saturday August 3, 10 am. And the following monthly ‘open’ community one will be for the Autumn Equinox on Sunday, Sept. 22, 10 am. Please RSVP as these fill up fast.
