I know, I know, it’s been a while since we’ve posted in our blog. And you’re wondering what we’re up to. If you know Barton’s smile, you know it involved mischief!
First, Barton and I are excited to be revamping our website. It’s a project that’s been on the docket for some time now. Stay tuned, as we’ll share our new platform with you shortly, with all kinds of exciting new tidbits!
Today, I’m excited to be a part of a writer’s spring mini-blog tour. Why participate in a blog tour? It’s a fun way to share our work, get to know new writers, and learn how other writers uncover their creative spark.
Thank you to Anne Wainscot- Sargent, writer of The Writing Well, who graciously invited me to be a part of this event! She, too, talks about the powerful act of storytelling.
Cracking Open the Shell:
What am I Working On?
Inspiration for Leaving Traces: DIving From the Nest, my Mom Anna.
It’s fun to talk about how Barton and I met, our story and our crazy adventures together. But my transformation began much earlier than that. It began with the devastation of loss, hushed words in the corner of rooms or words not said at all. It began with everything that I knew falling apart, and piecing my soul back together.
I am finishing my memoir Leaving Traces: Diving from the Nest. This project began a long time ago (11 years). In 2001, my mother passed away, and I spent the first year or two not being able to write anything at all. Then, I found myself writing every single story and memory. It was like, if I didn’t write it down, I would forget. The manuscript went through one more revision, as I was processing what stories were meant just for me, and what others I could share.
And then, the manuscript went in my closet. And it sat, collecting dust. During an interview about mother loss, I realized that there was an entire section missing, and yet, I was afraid to write it.
In wasn’t until the memoir with my husband Ink in the Wheels: Stories to Make Love Roll was published, that Barton began nudging me to pull Leaving Traces back out. It’s a vulnerable story, a piece of my life I rarely speak about, and here I am, on the verge of bravery as it is in its final stages.
In the air of the production of my memoir, I began a Kickstarter Campaign to fund the design-work. Whether Kickstarter is successful or not, my expected release date is May, 2015.
How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?
Each memoir is its precious jewel with meaning to the author and to the reader. We pick up what we need from each story and weave them into our own. We offer the same tiny slice of life that makes us think, catches our attention and shakes us from our own perspectives.
In my writing, I offer an intimate and honest reflection as I process experiences and events in my life. We all know about the grieving process. But we hardly think about having epiphanies during this process of loss. In my work, not only do I take the reader through heartache and devastation, but I also honor those epiphanies, those moments that are precious, where experience and learning could not have happened any other way.
In this piece, I share my experience of mother loss, discovering epiphanies and insights throughout this intimate process of grief. It’s one of the most vulnerable pieces I have worked on, because most people do not know this place in my life, as I hardly talk about it out loud. And I share aspects of loss that most people dare not speak about, openly anyway.
Why Do I Write What I Do?
I have been writing since I was a little girl, under the covers with a flashlight after lights out. I always got in trouble writing in my journal when I was little. I was born a writer, and whether it is for work or play, the words just flow out.
I also tell stories, and I believe that storytelling taps into a traditional aspect of how we learn, how we remember and honor the past, how we dream about the future.
And, I write as a connection to others, to lend a line out and let others know they are not alone on their journey. It is a part of the way I connect in the world, and my service is helping others discover their own voices.
How does my Writing Process Work?
There’s something about candles, just before dawn that allows the words to flow from my fingers. Yes, I am an early riser, before the day gets started. And I will write for an hour or so, sometimes a page, sometimes just a few paragraphs.
After our morning routine, depending on the day, I will get started on other aspects of my work, writing website and newsletter copy, or writing social media posts. This taps into a different aspect of my creativity. The day becomes varied. Sometimes I need the quiet solitude of my home office, and other days I need the bustling noise of a coffee shop.
But the early morning hours, those are reserved for my personal projects, where fingers move without thinking and words drip across the page.
Where will the Blog Tour go:
Okay, okay, I did ask my fabulous husband to participate. Why? While we both have projects we work on together, we also have individual projects, which are unique to who we are and cater to our individual talents.
A leadership coach and writer, Barton Cutter combines his experience of living with cerebral palsy, uncompromising wit, and professional background in leadership development to empower people with and without disabilities to discover a vision of independence and collaborative leadership through building engaging relationships.
And, next week, you may also hear from a colleague and poet Alice Osborn. Alice and I met at a coffee shop just after Barton and I moved here to Raleigh, and she encouraged me to connect with the writing community here.
Alice Osborn, M.A. is the author of three books of poetry, After the Steaming Stops (Main Street Rag, 2012), Unfinished Projects (Main Street Rag, 2010) and Right Lane Ends (Catawba, 2006); she is also a freelance writer and teaching artist. Check out Alice Osborn here: http://aliceosborn.com/.