Tag: insight

We Love Memoirs Giveaway–Loveyoubye

Posted on by Admin

I’m gearing up for the birthday bash at We Love Memoirs on August 28, 2017. This is a fun, hilarious, and oh so friendly, memoir-loving group on Facebook  where there’s always something going on. On this momentous day (I do believe it’s their second birthday), I’m going to pay them a visit where I’ll eat some virtual cake, drink a virtual martini, (maybe two), sneak down the “naughty” step, and give away an ebook of my memoir, Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, And Then There’s The Dog. I’d love to see you there!

Loveyoubye_Full Cover 9781938314506 6Dec2013.indd

Below, I’ve listed some questions and answers about my writing process and also a little insight as to how Loveyoubye came about.

1. What inspired you to write this particular story?

It started out as a way for me to let off steam and gain some sense of sanity after my husband of twenty-five years started disappearing for weeks at a time, without apology or explanation.

2. Describe your writing in three words.

That’s a hard one. Instead, how about I share a couple of Amazon reviews for Loveyoubye:
“. . . an honest book written by a woman with the soul of a poet.”
“. . . the author tells her husband’s side of the story with generosity and love, with sympathy and candor.”
And finally, people say my books are an “easy” read.

3. What authors inspire or influence your work?

Mary Karr, Abigail Thomas, Carol Shields, Raymond Chandler, Anne Lamott, Elena Ferrante, Elmore Leonard (“leave out the boring parts”), and countless others.

4. Is the Thesaurus one of your best writing friends?

Definitely. I want each and every word to count. Finding the right one is vital.

5. How Does Your Writing Process Work?

So far I’ve been prompted to write by a need to resolve some issues deep inside me, to scratch an itch I can’t quite locate.  I wrote all three of my books by the seat of my pants, this way. However, I’d love to be able to outline a story. I’m working on it.

6. What project(s) are you working on now?

My gazillionth revision of my YA novel, Monkey’s Wedding is with my editor. It was almost published back in the late 90s, but my publisher merged with another house and I was dumped. I went on to write the sequel, Mine Dances (also set in Africa), which I’ll spiff up next. Then it’s on to getting them both published.

7. Where can readers find you and your book(s) online?

https://www.rossandrawhite.com, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound

 

Book Review–Female Troubles: Stories

Posted on by Admin

These stories sneak up on you. You’re really not a fan of short stories, but you heard this collection was good; you need something to sink your teeth into, so you start reading, yeah, it’s pretty good. And then all of a sudden, a sentence hits you between the eyes and you’re struck by the clarity and insight and you want to go back to the beginning to start all over again. The stories just get better and better.

Here’s the end of “Happy Hour,” about a woman who’s having an affair.

Andrea leaned across the space between them to put her nose into his neck. She ran her tongue over stubble. It was this sensation she would wake later in the night to review, lying beside her sleeping husband. Robin’s hot textured throat on her lips. “I’m in love with you,” she told him now, miserable. Ahead of her lay a few drinks, wine or perhaps gin, the bedtime rituals with her children, the tired sad friendship she shared with her husband, dishwashing, door locking, videotapes. She had forgotten her little pillow, she realized as she pulled away from Robin, and when she woke later, mouth cottony, dizzy with dehydration, her back would also ache, a flare in her shoulders from sleeping wrong. Sleeping all wrong.

“That dog stinks,” her husband would complain.

“He has wild desires,” Andrea would explain.

She stepped out of Robin’s truck into the dusk, the lonely post-happy-hour walk to her house full of evening, indistinct shadows (along with the dog who she was supposed to be walking.)