Words from the Heart

I am so excited to have my friend and fellow writer/minister, Teal Gray here on Words from the Heart to introduce her new book Shades of Angels . Teal, what drew me to your book, before I even opened it, was the title. Can you explain how you came up with the title and what it means?  That’s a great question Linda that nobody has asked before. I had interactions with angels throughout my life and they were never the same. There were definite and subtle differences. In life, I believe everything can’t be divided into either a black box or a white box. People, entities, situations, whatever you are dealing with has its own unique traits and perspectives, shades of who they are, if you will. Some are darker shades; some that are more towards the light, would have shades of that end of the spectrum.  I believe we are in between an unseen battle between angels of light, darkness and other entities between those extreme polarities. Some are battling to protect us, wh...

Welcome, Tui Snider to Words from the Heart, I am so excited to talk with you today about your writing and photography.  Could you tell us about how you began? Which came first, photography or writing?   Thank you so much for having me, Linda! :) I look forward to meeting your readers here via your blog.  In reply to your question, I’d say writing definitely came first. When I was 9-years-old, my big sister told me about Anne Frank’s diary, and I found Anne’s life story so compelling that I started a diary of my own. That first diary fizzled out pretty quickly, but in my teens I discovered another inspiring diarist, Anais Nin. Once again I started a diary, only this time I called it a journal because I thought it sounded more sophisticated! In any case, I began writing for 30 minutes before work and another 30 minutes before bed every single day. Except for a few lapses here and there, I’ve kept it up ever since.  Aside from the anything I publish, w...

I love to write and have done so professionally and academically for years.  But, not everyone knows that I also am a photographer. Back when my daughters were young, I worked for the York County Coast Star in Maine, covering local events as well as providing the photos to go along with what I wrote. Recently, I have combined my two loves - poetry and photography - and have created memes for my Facebook pages.  What a delight to marry these two art forms into something that others can see instantly and enjoy! The idea of marrying passions isn't new.  When I decided to finish my bachelor's degree several years ago, I enrolled in the University Without Walls (UWW) at UMass Amherst.  In the process of creating a portfolio of the work I had done, my professor pointed out that I had three different, yet overlapping, interests - writing, spirituality and health. Eventually, after spending almost a year honing my portfolio and culling through all the evidence of work ...

English: Campfire with sparks in Anttoora, Finland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) For the past few years, I have been taking part in a wonderful collaboration called SPARK.  SPARK, a quarterly event that brings together artists, writers and musicians, is the brainchild of Amy Souza , a writer and artist in her on right. Just a few days ago, the most recent event, SPARK 17, came to an end.  For me, it was one of the best, yet.   For SPARK 17, I was both an artist and a writer.  I submitted a Flash Fiction piece I had written and a photograph that I enhanced with GIMP.  My partners, both very gifted and talented woman, sent me an inspiration piece to respond to, also.  One was a painting, the other a poem.   You can see the results of our work by clicking on the following links: My flash fiction and Liz Mathews painting . Liz Mathews painting and my poem.  Ana Gonçalves poem and my photo. My photo and Ana Gonçalves poem . Wh...