W is for Writer Friends

I’m what I call a writer wannabe. Even though I’ve self published three books, none of which are on amazon.com, I still don’t consider myself a real writer; however, I have lots of friends who fall into that category.

I’ll tell you only a smidgen about the writers and their books because I want you to read them for yourselves, and I don’t want to give anything away that might cause you not to read. So, here they are, listed alphabetically by last name but not by preference:

Adrian, J.D. – Now I’ve Seen Everything: Growing Up in Maine in the 1940s and 1950s. Joyce is my husband’s first cousin and a dear friend whom I call my sister-cousin.  Her book is a memoir and a very good one. I proofread it for her and enjoyed every minute.

Brandt, Betsy – The Three Sources of Creativity: Breakthroughs from Your Head, Heart and Gut. Betsy is one of my Christian friends and writes beautifully about creativity. She is also one of my cheerleaders for writing.

Coleman, RoseAnne – The Stories I Keep. All I need to say about this book is that RoseAnne is a born Southern storyteller. All of her stories are personal experiences.

Conoway, Patricia J. – Listening With My Eyes: An Abused Horse, A Mother with Alzheimer’s, the Journey to Help Them Both.  My neighbor used her experiences with an abused horse to help her know how to care for her mother. A memoir.

Fisher, Ruth. H. – The Amazing Victor McLaglen Motor Corps: The History of the Oldest Motorcycle Stunt and Drill Team in the World, 1935 – 2014. Ruth is a friend whose husband, Harry, was the leader of this team from 1978 until he died in 2014. Ruth was the announcer for the team and is the foremost authority on the history of this famous team.

Fletcher, Claudia – Out of Many, One Family: How Two Adults Claimed Twelve Children through Adoption; and Little Did She Know. Claudia is the daughter of my husband’s first cousin and, as you can tell from the title of the first book listed, the mother of twelve adopted children. Oh, how much I admire Claudia!

Holmes, Tyrone – The Undone Heart.Tyrone used to go to Florida to do math presentations for me when I was a sales representative for McDougal Littell Publishing Company. I called him, even back then more than twenty years ago, a math teacher with an English teacher’s heart. I recognized him as an excellent writer, so I wasn’t at all surprised to find that he had published a book of poetry.

Jarvis, Sharon Downing – A Fresh Start in Fairhaven; Mercies & Miracles; and Through Cloud & Sunshine. Sharon and I were best friends in junior and senior high school. She wrote wonderful teenage stories about Tony and Tricia, and on Friday nights, we used to sit side by side on her bed with her writing and me reading the stories. I always knew that she’d be a “real live writer” one day, so I wasn’t at all surprised when she became a published author. She writes for Deseret Book.

Lutz, Nancy Cole – One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: Nurturing Learners. Nancy tells the stories of three elementary students and their learning quest. This wonderful teacher adapted materials for these children.

Lytle, Samuel L. – Gold Stars: Why do you do good things?I met Sam in an online journal writing class. Through class discussions, he found out that I could proofread. So that’s just what I did for him. He published another book (online) and when he requested me to, I submitted my story of handling my grief after our son died. I can’t remember the name of the book.

Posey, Nancy – Let the Lady Speak. My cousin, Nancy Posey, wrote this chapbook of poems about  famous women in history and literature – their thoughts and feelings. She was the 2009 winner of the November Chapbook Challenge of Poetic Asides with her collection. She is my inspiration to be a writer.

Purkins, E.W. – Finding Light in the Dark. E.W. Purkins is Chip to me, a friend from our little church here in Cerrillos, NM. He recognizes that his poems are dark, but I always encourage him to write more!

Shama, Avraham – Finding Home: An Immigrant’s Journey . . . A Memoir. My friend here in New Mexico, Avi Shama, paints a beautiful, sad, but true picture of life in Israel during his childhood and of his finding his true home here in America.

Taylor, Rodney – Countdown to Midnight.I proofread this first novel, a murder mystery, by my childhood friend. Rodney has also written books about the Bible.

Thurston, Cheryl Miller – Hide Your Ex-Lax Under the Wheaties; and Cranky Language Lady. I met Cheri at a National Council of Teachers of English conference many years ago. She was working at the booth for her publishing company, Cottonwood Press, located in Colorado. We immediately clicked, and I bought two books from her: Hide Your Ex-Lax Under the Wheaties(a book of poems for teachers) and Writing Your Lifeby Mary Borg. I must show you the poem, the first line of which is the title of the book:

A Consumer Guide for Teachers

Hide Ex-Lax and beer under Wheaties

and condoms below the Parkay.

Put pregnancy tests and your tampons

under boxes of Budget Gourmet.

Hide hemorrhoid treatments and hair dye

under Cocoa Puffs, cat food or Fritos.

And if you buy douches or Denture Cream,

then slip them below the Doritos.

It’s best to be careful when shopping.

It’s best to be overly prudent.

Just let down your guard for a second –

and you’re bound to run in to a student.

She’ll shamelessly stare in your basket.

You’ll strive to look innocent, cool.

Tomorrow your personal secrets

will be gossip all over the school.

I must tell you a secret before I close: I haven’t read all of these books by friends. Maybe someday I will, but for right now, they serve to encourage me to write. I have no desire to write a novel or poetry. But I do love writing memoir. We’ll see what happens to this writer wannabe.