Words from the Heart

The Suicide Letters of Jack Monroe  by Mary Maurice is a psychological journey travelled through the letters of Jack and a woman named Susan Jordan. From his first letter to Susan, the reader is drawn into a web of intrigue and mystery. Who is Jack and why is he writing so prolifically to Susan?  Why does she take so long to answer him?  Author, Mary Maurice's poetic prose of her descriptions of the Southwest cast a gentle light on the weighty subject of suicide. The letters read as if someone is speaking to you, personally, pulling the reader into the drama.  If you enjoy psychological mysteries, this book will certainly get your Jungian sensibilities peeked. I enjoy mysteries, which is why I signed up to host this book for its maiden blog tour.  A warning, though: as I read through the chapters, I quickly realized that this was also a psychological drama that might cause issues for those with PTSD. There are portrayals of the suicide of a pare...

I don't often review books, mainly because I think people should read books and decide whether they are relevant to them rather than taking the word of someone else.  However, I am making an exception with Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions, an anthology of stories by women from a wide and diverse range of religious communities.  I learned of this book through Women on Writing , who are sponsoring the Beyond Belief Blog Tour. The first thing that hit me was the use of the word extreme.  What, I thought, was an "extreme" religion?  As an interfaith minister, I had some ideas, but like most judgements, they were my own personal feelings.  So, I delved into the introduction to the book written by the editors, Susan Tive and Cami Ostman.   Susan and Cami tell the readers in their introduction about how "women living life inside extreme religions have much in common despite their differences of practice and belief." ...

Today, I am pleased to have as a guest blogger, Elaine Drennon Little, who is taking part in a Women on Writing (WOW) Blog Tour.  Elaine is a writer and educator.  She writes as passionately as she teaches.  Her new book, A Southern Place , tells the story of a young woman and her search for connections and her fight for life. But, Elaine isn't writing about her book, exactly.  Instead, she is sharing her thoughts on Creative Arts Programs in Schools as an educator, as well as a writer. Welcome, Elaine! The Arts Education Network has the following sentence at the top of their website: Learning and participation in music, dance, theater, and the visual arts are vital to the development of our children and our communities. This topic is paramount to me as an educator, but also as a student of the arts.    I was one of those nerdy kids who was always the last chosen for sports teams; I often feigned illness on “field day.” However, my chorus...

Today, we have a guest blogger, Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, who has written a new book, Love Comes Later , which a fictional love story in which the traditions and ancient culture of the East meet up with the modern culture of the West.  Love Comes Later is a tale that examines where the lines of loyalty to friends and family intersect with those of love. Welcome to Words from the Heart, Mohana!   I am so happy to have you with us, today, to talk about life and your book, Love Comes Later . Let me begin by saying how much I enjoyed the book. I recommend it highly to readers who really like a love story that spans cultures.    You’ve probably been asked this a hundred times, but I am interested in knowing how you came up with the concept for Love Comes Later . Was it something that happened in real life that triggered the story or was it purely the Muse at work?   Thanks for having me Linda. I’m excited to get this story out into the hands of rea...

My Brother, Barry and I at Duxbury Beach 1959 The Beach, Parades and Hoodsies A recent visit to my cousin's home created an avalanche of childhood memories.  We laughed ourselves silly, remembering our antics together and with our other cousins.  As I reminisced, later, I realized that there are recurring themes in my memories.  The beach, parades and Hoodsies all hold a prominent place in the slide show of my formative years. The beach was just three blocks from my home growing up.  I swam before I could hardly walk!  Some of my happiest times were playing in the sand at the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston.   The Bathhouse was built thanks to James Michael Curley , Mayor of Boston, back in the day and was divided into three sections - the boys', men's and women's bathhouses. My mother, one of the first women life guards in Boston on a public beach, took us to the "L", as it was fondly called, almost every day in the summer. ...

Mari McCarthy is on a blog tour, of which Words from the Hearts just so happens to be part.      Mari is talking about the fears that are universal to all of us at one time or another and how to help ourselves heal through journaling.      Journaling is, as many of you know from the many posts here on the subject, a marvelous means of finding balance in your life on many different levels.  Mari's new book, Your Money Matters! Use Journal Writing Therapy to Get Financially Fit Now, is a great example of how journal writing can permeate all aspects of life.    Great news, Mari is offering an e-book to some lucky reader.  Simply leave a comment, I will pull a name out of the hat on Thursday 9/8/11.  The winner will be notified via email. Thank you, Mari for sharing your thoughts and wisdom with us. Some say that fear is the opposite of love. Certainly, feeling fear is usually unpleasant, unless you're getting a kick ou...

Une Surprise   By Timoléon Lobrichon [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons No discussion about creativity would be complete without a look at surprises.  Think about it.  In order to surprise someone, a person must creatively produce a facade that keeps the other person from knowing the truth until the facade is dropped. People who are gullible, seem to be the best surprise recipients.  They never suspect anything. As a young girl, I was such a person.  I never suspected that when my friend and fellow Girl Scout, Laura asked me to come over to her house to play, that she had organized a surprise birthday party.  All the neighborhood kids where there.  I actually cried, because I couldn't believe that anyone would do such a nice thing for me.  I am still friends with Laura.  We don't see each other that often, but we keep in touch with letters and emails.  Her kindness left a lasting impression on me; one that has had positive after...