Published Memoir
I'll Have Some of Yours
I'll Have Some of Yours, a story (mostly) about caregiving and cookies. Is there such a thing as the perfect care home? Annette Januzzi Wick longs to find out. In her collection of essays, she shares the mistakes she makes while trying to find the perfect place for her Italian mother, who is slipping further into dementia. The task isn't simple. Her father dies in the midst of her parents' transition to Cincinnati. And her mother presents some challenges--like hitting another resident, yelling at an Elvis impersonator, and berating her daughter for the thingies in her hair.
In the past, Annette liked to think she was different from her mother. But in the present moment, she wondered, can she and her mother love without memory--or regret?
Author: Annette Januzzi Wick
Available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Naked Listening: The Wisdom of Transparency
Naked Listening: The Wisdom of Transparency is easily relatable to so many of us of the baby boomer generation. We had our beginnings in the aftermath of a world war, experienced childhoods under threat of nuclear annihilation, came of age in an era of peace, love and exploration of philosophies outside of the grid of Western belief systems. We went on to live decades of careers, raising families and life being what happened while we were busy making other plans. Writing now from the vantage point of our wisdom years, Alan Hundley revisits and reclaims the elemental ingredients of our common past and compiles them into an insightful series of personal vignettes that serves to illuminate a universal human value in the acceptance of who we are. And the shorter-than-expected path to that authenticity. ~Laura Lander, author of Medicine Woman Awakening
Author: Alan Hundley
Available for purchase at Amazon.com or at Women Writing for (a) Change.
The Buddha & the Bitch
The Buddha & the Bitch is an inspiring, autobiographical story of a unique friendship between two women from different cultures, generations and world views, presenting two different approaches to life and art. Thrown together by cosmic chance and united by their love for writing and self-discovery, Phebe, a writing teacher from Ohio, retired and a lesbian, and Rashma, the younger, independent playwright from Delhi, a wife and mother, meet and travel to South India together. They detail their journey while sharing their ecstasies and woes of making art; the Bitch pushes the Buddha to learn the ways of the world while the Buddha advises the other to enjoy life.
Authors: Rashma Kalsie and Karen ('Phebe') Beiser
Available for purchase at Women Writing for (a) Change
The Yellow Envelope
After Kim and her husband decide to quit their jobs to travel around the world, they're given a yellow envelope containing a check and instructions to give the money away. The only three rules for the envelope: Don't overthink it; share your experiences; don't feel pressured to give it all away.
Through Ecuador, Peru, Nepal, and beyond, Kim and Brian face obstacles, including major challenges to their relationship. As she distributes the gift to people she encounters along the way she learns that money does not have a thing to do with the capacity to give, but that giving―of ourselves―is transformational.
Author: Kim Dinan
Beyond 185 Days
Beyond 185 Days, a sequel to 185 Days: School Stories, is the final leg of a teacher's journey through her thirty-year career in the classroom. It travels from the highs--the joy of hearing from former students, to the lows--the consequences when a teacher claims her voice and exposes the workings of the public school system. Linda Ball tells her final school stories. As she closes the door to her classroom, she opens her deeply personal journal to those who liked her first book and anyone else with a stake in education.
Author: Linda Ball
Eating By Faith: A Walk with God. My Eating Disorder from the Inside Out
In Eating by Faith, Lisabeth invites you into the secret world of her eating disorder and recovery. And while the illness looks different for every patient, all share a commonality of symptoms physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Eating by Faith brings you into the mind and heart of someone suffering from the illness in such a brutally honest way, you will have a greater understanding of the mind and heart of anyone suffering from this illness. Her eating disorder, like most, takes root inside a secret place. This root is often anchored in the lies Satan would have us believe about ourselves. Once established, he will use the eating disorder to separate us from God, robbing us from our joy and our identity in Christ's unconditional love.
Lisabeth's story is one of wrestling with the eating disorder, herself and God. It is about finding her identity in the love of Christ instead of her illness.
Author: Lisabeth Kaeser
Ollie Ollie In Come Free
Growth & Wonder: A Social Experiment - Beyond Beat, Beatles and Bin Laden
“The Past is ours, given and earned, forever, until we forget – I learn as I go.” Like an intricate tapestry, “Growth & Wonder: A Social Experiment 1951-2001” weaves together tales of author Maria Ladd Motch’s growing-up years with reflections from her present-day life. Maria writes of her childhood in rambling historic Vermont and Rhode Island homes with her nine siblings and her parents - homesteaders, organic farmers (before it was trendy), devout Catholics, and prolific artists; and of her life with her husband, children, and newest loves, her grandchildren. Through a six-month series of Maria's recent journal entries intermixed with texts from her earlier diaries, stories contributed by siblings, and a collection of 200 captioned photos taken by her father over six decades, readers will see the world through Maria’s eyes - a world that is vivid, colorful, textured and rich. “Live a lush and ardent retreat, a gentle lull to dream.”
Author: Maria Ladd Motch
Confessions of a Sin Eater: A Doctor's Reflections
Dr. Therese Zink, teacher, clinician and researcher, explores the burden, mystery and privilege of doctoring. As a family physician, the act of listening and holding stories is a vital part of healing for both the patients and the healer. Confessions of a Sin Eater lays bare the human heart of the author and reveals the best and worst of our journeys as humans. Discussion questions are included.
Author: Dr. Therese Zink
Chapters from the Farmhouse Journal: Tales of Synchronicity and Grace
Chapters From The Farmhouse Journal is an encouraging and inspirational narrative of the process of decision, affirmation and providence surrounding the transition of divorce. The author describes her commitment to centering meditation, which led her out of uncertainty and gave insight on letting go with love. Emotional and practical challenges, when surmounted with balance and presence, become occasions of gratitude. Surrounded by loving support from others, she learns to truly love and value herself.
Author: Laura Lander
I'll Be in the Car - One Woman's Story of Love, Loss and Reclaiming Life
Rich in its honesty, I’ll Be in the Car brings hope to those caring for a loved one through life-altering events. Annette Wick is a clear voice for all who are silently living out their losses. She frankly describes her frustration, rage and despair as the one person responsible for Devin’s seemingly endless care. While celebrating her blessings Annette is equally candid with her blunders, ultimately recognizing that no one can be perfect in this most imperfect of situations. Most valuable of all, Annette writes of how she keeps her sanity when reality itself seems insane.
I’ll Be in the Car is not a book about death and grieving; it is a love story about life and living and finding the will to go on when you believe your reasons for living have died.
Author: Annette Januzzi Wick
Goddesses on the Ganges
"'Unvarnished' is one word for Phebe Beiser's and Maria Motch's account of their pilgrimage to Varanasi. The authors, a self-described 'wuss' and a longtime practioner of eastern spirituality, are generous narrators of 'what really happened' when they chose to travel 'well beyond courage and comfort.' The poems, journal entries and narratives in this book - and the evocative photos - are imbued with the beauty of authentic experience." – Mary Pierce Brosmer
Authors: Phebe Beiser and Maria Motch
Emerald
Another granddaughter, another memoir. The author of 55 + Isabella details a year in her life - the year that just happens to be the first year of granddaughter Emerald's life.
Author: Maria Motch
Fifty Five + Isabella
From December 2006 through December 2007 Maria Motch committed to writing a page a day, and dedicated the journal to her biggest love, her granddaughter Isabella. We are witness to loving reflections and anxious worries as well as adventures to Italy, Mexico, Jamaica and New England. Through her painter's perspective and photographer's lens, Maria shares her struggles with multiple sclerosis. Blissful moments come from reading, writing, painting, Pilates, the beauty of nature and, of course, her family.
Author: Maria Motch