How we title our work often pertains to our story’s theme. The working title for my memoir What Lies Within was Silver Lining for nine years. Shortly before publication, the movie Silver Linings Playbook premiered. My book dealt with my early life and focused on adoption, abandonment, love, loss, and resilience. Silver Linings Playbook depicted mental illness, loss, and love. The film and my story differed greatly, and I did not want the works confused.
(more…)
I’m convinced that there are no coincidences. Lately I’ve experienced enough chance occurrences to support my belief.
Only yesterday I encountered a friend on her morning walk when I went to get our newspaper. Her mother died recently, and although I’d sent a card, I hadn’t seen her. We talked for a few minutes, and tonight I’m accompanying her to a grief support group. I think the time together will benefit us both. But I can’t help thinking about the timing of our encounter. We were meant to meet at that moment. (more…)
Can you think of a better way to spend a spring Saturday than visiting Ventura’s Harbor Village and browsing through a shop called The December Store & More? On Saturday, April 16, 2016, this quaint business will feature local artists showing their wares and local authors reading from their books. (more…)
American writer Willa Cather said, “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” That is why each person’s life story contributes to history as a whole.
For nearly four years I chaired the Oral History Program at the Museum of Ventura County, and my mission was to capture the stories of individuals who had made a significant difference in the county. I recruited many volunteers to help me, and together we gathered stories.
(more…)
The old saying, “You can choose your friends but not your family” does not ring true for families who choose to adopt a child. In our extended family, including first and second cousins, there were thirteen chosen individuals. Sadly, three have died. We are related by adoption and by marriage. We call each other “cousin” because that’s our relationship to each other. Although we’re not related by blood, we are bound by love. It’s a tie that binds us together as tightly as it holds us to our families. (more…)
In 2003 I began writing The Spirit of Villarosa as a ghostwriter for another personal historian. The manuscript I created was based on interviews with my current co-author, Marc Ashton, whose story forms the basis of the book, and transcripts his father, Horace Dade Ashton, left behind. After I began writing this father-son story, my employer asked me to add a third narrative about the son’s kidnapping. The assignment to weave three different narratives into a single story became the most challenging I’d encountered in my years as a writer. I did my best, but the completed book did not meet the son’s expectations. (more…)