Social Networking

It has been awhile since I posted on this blog. To be honest, I have been busy with my own work and hadn't had much to say. That has changed and I want to just put a bit of a note about social networking for all of you.

I will say upfront, I don't have a cell phone (I like my downtime) but am pretty much attached to a computer both at home and the part time jobs I hold. I have been reading about social networking for some time now. It seemed overwhelming, but necessary. I bought books about the subject and read things online. None seem to get through my 'aging' brain. Finally I was at a luncheon where the topic was social networking. In 45 minutes it started to make sense.

With the dependence on computers, etc. it makes sense to stay in touch with people who are doing what you do. You can support and help others as they help you. For that reason alone it is worth the time. For business purposes it becomes a bit trickier.

You can use the network to build 'buzz' about you and your product. Is it fast? I think that for some it might be. For others it will take time. Is it worth it? That depends on what you want the end result to be. Placing 'free' information helps to build a brand name. Does it increase sales? For writers, the votes are still out on that one.

In the end, it seems social networking, with all the ins, outs and time consumption, is a personal choice. We write all the time. With social networking it looks to be what are we going to write. Build our name or write our book. We can do both, but one will take time from the other. It is a personal choice. Which ever choice you make, don't worry. The one thing that is sure, social networking is to here to stay. You can always join the madness later.

Shadows On Stone: Janet Riehl - A Creative Life

Shadows On Stone: Janet Riehl - A Creative Life

October New Releases

Nancy Batson Crews
Alabama's First Lady of Flight

by Sarah B. Rickman

A riveting oral history/biography of a pioneering woman aviator.

This is the story of an uncommon woman--high school cheerleader, campus queen, airplane pilot, wife, mother, politician, business-woman--who epitomizes the struggles and freedoms of women in 20th-century America, as they first began to believe they could live full lives and demanded to do so. World War II offered women the opportunity to contribute to the work of the country, and Nancy Batson Crews was one woman who made the most of her privileged beginnings and youthful talents and opportunities.

In love with flying from the time she first saw Charles Lindbergh in Birmingham, (October 1927), Crews began her aviation career in 1939 as one of only five young women chosen for Civilian Pilot Training at the University of Alabama. Later, Crews became the 20th woman of 28 to qualify as an "Original" Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) pilot, employed during World War II shuttling P-38, P-47, and P-51 high-performance aircrafts from factory to staging areas and to and from maintenance and training sites. Before the war was over, 1,102 American women would qualify to fly Army airplanes. Many of these female pilots were forced out of aviation after the war as males returning from combat theater assignments took over their roles. But Crews continued to fly, from gliders to turbojets to J-3 Cubs, in a postwar career that began in California and then resumed in Alabama.

The author was a freelance journalist looking to write about the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) when she met an elderly, but still vital, Nancy Batson Crews. The former aviatrix held a reunion of the surviving nine WAFS for an interview with them and Crews, recording hours of her own testimony and remembrance before Crews's death from cancer in 2001. After helping lead the fight in the '70s for WASP to win veteran status, it was fitting that Nancy Batson Crews was buried with full military honors.

Sarah Byrn Rickman is a freelance journalist and award-winning author of Flight from Fear and The Originals: The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II.

Visit Sarah at www.SarahByrnRickman.com

Jane Kirkpatrick is an international keynote speaker and author of 15 historical novels, including A Flickering Light and Aurora: An American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft.

Visit Jane at www.jkbooks.com

Published by The University of Alabama Press

The book can be purchased at www.amazon.com, www.uapress.ua.edu or www.bnb.com

Autographed copies are available for purchase. Email Sarah at srick18153@aol.com

(Releases October 8th)

September New Releases

"Kidnapped," by Arletta Dawdy is featured in the Anthology,

Vintage Voices: Cent'Anni:May you live 100 Years,

which is the product of the Redwood Writers Club, one of the clubs under the umbrella of the California Writers Club, established 100 years ago by the likes of Jack London and Ina Coolbrith. The anthology is available at:http://redwoodwriters.org/publishingvintagevoices.html for a donation of $12.

The ISBN is: 13:978-0-9816848

Paperback, 164 pages, Karen Batchelor, editor

Publisher: A Few Little Books, Cotati, CA

My story "Kidnapped," an excerpt from my historical novel BY GRACE, appears in the anthology. The launch party will be on Sept 26, 2009 from 2:00-4:00 pm at North Light Books& Cafe, 550 E. Cotati Ave., Cotati, CA 94931. I'll read at that time and hope any WWW members in the Bay Area who are able, will attend.

Susannah, A Lawyer:

From Tragedy to Triumph

By Ruth Rymer

Susannah Reed transforms a brutal attack on herself in 1877 into a passion for justice. Despite resistance from her parents, her fiance, society and even the United States Supreme Court, she emerges as one of America's first woman lawyers.

SUSANNAH, A LAWYER - From Tragedy to Triumph was officially released by Langdon Street Press, September 1, 2009.

Members can purchase it by going to my website: www.susannah-a-lawyer.com and ordering the book.

Purchasers can also get it directly from me, Ruth Rymer. Discounted price for WWWs: $14.00 + $4.00 = $18.00. Shipping and Handling out of California. Within California: add $1.00 toward sales tax or $19.00.

Visit Ruth at www.susannah-a-lawyer.com/

THE GOOD TIMES ARE ALL GONE NOW:

Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town.

By Julie W. Weston

Julie's creative nonfiction book, THE GOOD TIMES ARE ALL GONE NOW: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town, released in 2009 from the University of Oklahoma Press, is a memoir of place, weaving the story of hard rock mining and labor strife, leavened with gambling, drinking and prostitution, together with the tale of teenage love and heartbreak in a juxtaposition of life in Kellogg, Idaho in the 1950s and '60s.

"An important portrait of the interior West--the true stuff, raw and gritty, honest to the bone."Craig Lesley, author of Burning Fence and Sky Fisherman

University of Oklahoma Press

ISBN: 978-0-8-61-4075-9

248 pages, 20 B&W Illus

Original Trade Paperback

Can be purchased here at OU Press, Indiebound (independent bookstores), Amazon and B&N

Visit Julie at www.juliewweston.com

August New Releases

BLIND TOM,
The Horse Who Helped Build the Great Railroad

By Shirley Raye Redmond

Illustrated by Lois Bradley

This is the true story of a sightless workhorse who helped build America's transcontinental railroad in 1863-1869. Telegraph operators tracked the rail workers' daily progress by asking, “Where's Blind Tom today?”

The horse became a minor celebrity as reporters around the country picked up the story of the tenacious blind horse. As informative as it is entertaining, this charmingly illustrated book includes a map of the railroad route, a “Things to Know” page, and a list of museums and Web sites with information about railroad history.

Mountain Press Publishing

ISBN-978-0-87842-558-7

Trade Paperback $10

Blind Tom, the Horse Who Helped Build the Great Railroad can be purchased from your local booksellers

Purchase here from Amazon.com

Purchase here from Barnes & Noble

Visit Shirley's website: http://www.readshirleyraye.com/books.htm

July New Releases

Conspiracy 

The Trial of Oliver Lee and James Gililland

By W. Michael Farmer

A Novel Based On A True Story

It is Pat Garrett’s last big case. An eight-year old  boy is murdered. A deadly shootist is accused By Yankee Republicans, defended By Texas Democrats. The evidence is all circumstantial. The territory claims a murder conspiracy by the defendants. The defendants claim a territorial conspiracy for an unjust verdict. A wrong move by either side and blood will flow. New Mexico statehood will be set back fifty years. It is The trial of the century. 

“Conspiracy offers a dramatic, realistic take on a chapter of 

American western history that is often neglected; and with the 

presence of Pat Garrett, slayer of Billy the Kid, that seems 

impossible. W. Michael Farmer’s recreation of the tense and tragic 

events surrounding the ultimate betrayal of the frontier ideal reads like the great novel it is, with all the tantalizing detail of thoroughly Researched history.” 

Loren D. Estleman, author 

Of The Branch and The Scaffold                              

”Conspiracy crackles with tension and intrigue as the Old West comes to life. You can smell the leather and hear the gunshots in the air as you read. It's a truly fun historical work.” 

Christine Barber, author 

Of The Replacement Child 

Published by Sundowners, A Division of Treble Heart Books

Available for purchase here:

www.trebleheartbooks.com

Visit W. Michael Farmer at www.wmichaelfarmer.com

June New Releases

Survival In The Snow

By Ginger Wadsworth

For young readers ages 7 to 10, Survival in the Snow is a true adventure story about 17-year-old Moses Schallenberger.  In 1844 Moses came west to California in a wagon train.  He ended up living alone in a rustic log cabin on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. You'll have to read the book to find out why he was left behind and how he survived a long, lonely winter until he was rescued at what is now called Donner Lake.  Illustrated by Craig Orback.

Published by Millbrook Press

Visit Ginger at www.gingerwadsworth.com

To purchase call the Lerner Publishing Group at 1-800-328-4929, ISBN# 978-0-8225-7892-5 or ask your independent bookstore to order it.

Cowgirl Dreams Blog Tour

Heidi M. Thomas, author of Cowgirl Dreams, is galloping over the internet highway on her Blog Book Tour, and today she ties up her dusty virtual horse at the WWW hitchin’ post.

For the past three years, I was the editor of the Women Writing the West catalog of members’ books. I have gotten acquainted with many of our published authors that way, and added to my long list of “To Be Read” books. This year, my book, Cowgirl Dreams, will be in the catalog, along with many well-known western and historical authors, and I feel honored to be among them.

Women Writing the West was birthed in the early 1990s by Jerrie Hurd and Sybil Downing at an organizational meeting of the Women of the West Museum. It has since grown to more than 300 members and conducts a renowned writing contest, the WILLA Literary Awards, named for Willa Cather.

I first became aware of Women Writing the West in the late 1990s when I attended a Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in Seattle. Sybil Downing and Jeri Hurd were there, looking for books about women in the west. I was a volunteer and helped distribute handouts during their presentation. The seed was planted.

After I had written my book, Cowgirl Dreams, (or what was then twice as long and called “Memoirs of a Cowgirl”) I once again became aware of WWW and decided to join and attend a conference in Denver in 2002. I felt that might be the best venue to find an agent or publisher.
Over the years, I have made so many good friends through this group, not to mention meeting agents, editors, and film-makers. And, best of all, I made the connection to my publisher through WWW.

My writing and publishing experience exemplifies the saying “It’s not a destination, but a journey.” Every step of the way has been a learning experience and I look forward to continuing on that learning trip, with my WWW friends cheering, leading, and giving me a hand over the rough spots. That’s what we do in this group.
WWW is one of the most supportive, enthusiastic and caring groups I've been privileged to be a part of.

It is open to women and men writing about the west or in the west, and includes well-known western and historical authors, such as Sandra Dallas, Molly Gloss, Louise Erdrich. and Jane Kirkpatrick.

An excerpt from Cowgirl Dreams. Nettie expects a special birthday present and ends up with one I would have preferred.

The heady roasted aroma of coffee roused Nettie from a drowsy slumber. December 17. Her fifteenth birthday. I wonder what kind of presents I’ll get. The boots? I hope, I hope. She picked up her diary and pen from where they’d dropped on her chest as she’d dozed off earlier and slipped from her warm bed.

Frost etched leafy designs on the window, and she could see her breath. Shivering, she pulled on a heavy wool sweater and a pair of Joe’s hand-me-down wool pants over her long johns. She jammed her already sock-clad feet into boots that were scuffed and wrinkled as an old man’s face, also well broken in by her older brother. It sure would be nice to have some new ones.

She shuffled out of her room, through the living room, and paused at the kitchen door to soak up the warmth that radiated from the snapping fire in the cook stove. Mama dipped pancake batter onto the griddle as fatback popped and sizzled. Nettie gulped in the tantalizing smells. Her younger brothers, Ed and Chuck, were already seated in their places. Esther pounded a spoon on her high chair. In the middle of the table was a frosted cake with fifteen white candles surrounded by several wrapped packages. Hmm, is one of them big enough for boots?

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: Nettie opens several packages before she gets to the last, mysterious one.)

The next small package held a blue satin hair ribbon. “Oh, how pretty.”

“That’s from Esther.”

Nettie blinked. Strange, how this little bit of fabric made her want to tear up. She didn’t usually cotton to frilly things.

“And this one’s from us.” Mama handed Nettie a box.

Nettie held her breath. Was it big enough? It looked a little small. Surely it would be the boots.
She ripped open the paper, ignoring her mother’s frown. Mama liked to save wrapping paper to reuse. That’s okay. This piece has been well-used already. Nettie opened the box and sniffed. It didn’t really smell like leather.

Inside were several paperback western romances. Books. She loved books, but Nettie wanted to cry. No boots. Didn’t they know how much she wanted those shiny black boots with fancy green stitching?

She looked up Mama’s beaming face. Her mother usually looked askance when she caught Nettie poring over the Ranch Romance magazines and dime novels at the Cut Bank Merc. Studying a textbook or reading a cookbook was all right, but usually Mama considered this “paperback trash” a waste of time.

Nettie put on what she hoped was a bright smile. “Thanks, Mama, Papa.” She did love to read. Her mother must be softening a little. “These are great. I can hardly wait to read them.”

She finished her breakfast and tried not to think of boots.

Cowgirl Dreams is available from my website (autographed) http://www.heidimthomas.com or my publisher Treble Heart Books http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/SDHeidiThomas.html

Join me tomorrow at my next blog tour stop at Equestrian Ink http://equestrianink.blogspot.com/ “Women Compete With Men.” For a complete schedule of my tour, go to my blog http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com




















Heidi M. Thomas

May New Releases

General William Palmer

Railroad Pioneer

By Joyce B. Lohse

"General William Palmer: Railroad Pioneer", by Joyce B. Lohse, is the latest title and the thirteenth book in the popular series "Now You Know Bios" from Filter Press, Palmer Lake, Colorado. Joyce Lohse, a member of Women Writing the West and administrator for the organization, has written four biographies for the series. Her subjects include Dr. Justina Ford, educator Emily Griffith, and adventurer Margaret "Molly" Brown, as well as a duo-biography about the First Governor and First Lady of Colorado, John and Eliza Routt. Joyce, who combines her background in journalism and genealogy, accepted induction last spring into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame on behalf of Eliza Routt. Her work has also won a silver WILLA award from Women Writing the West, and two awards from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association.

General William Palmer was a Colorado pioneer who was founder of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the city of Colorado Springs, and was instrumental in Colorado's growth during its formative years. The story also features his wife, Queen Palmer, who started the first school in Colorado Springs, and helped settle the area with her husband. The series, appropriate for young adult readers, appeals to history buffs of all ages. List price for "Now You Know Bios" is $8.95 each. Publisher Filter Press is a publisher-member of Women Writing the West, and publisher of several titles by WWW members.

For more information about "General William Palmer: Railroad Pioneer" and other titles by Joyce Lohse, go to:

www.lohseworks.com

www.joyce4books.wordpress.com

www.filterpressbooks.com

Writers Conferences

Most of us have been to a writers conference to two. We have enjoyed ourselves and made new contacts. We use the trip as a business expense. Still why do we really attend these conferences? The answer for me is networking and a chance to learn something about this industry. Many of us are great and soon to be great writers. Some of us are adept at the business of writing. For myself, I enjoy networking and finding new ways to get people to notice my work and by connection to notice me.

I attended the one day session at the PPW conference in Colorado Springs on advanced marketing. A number of the writers were shy or shall I say quiet about their works. Of course when you ask about what they were doing, then the floodgates opened. For myself, I had no problem with talking about what I did. I also know that as an actor I have an advantage. I don't care if people think I look a fool. What I have to say is not foolish and the best way to get people to notice what I have to offer is to get noticed.

So why writers conferences? To learn from others and to have others learn from me. That is the best of both worlds.

Venturing into Texas

With my latest book set in Minnesota, the "northwest" region in 1907, I've taken the plunge to travel to Texas to promote it. May not seem like much of a connection there but there is. The story, A Flickering Light is based on my grandmother's life as an early photographer and some of the descendants of a main character in the book -- the wife of a man she fell in love with -- live in Plano Texas and are planning to come to the signing. I'll have a PowerPoint of some of the photographs used in the novel and a few others from the glass plate collection I have. I hope some of you in the area will come by. The second event centers on quilts and crafts as narratives. Did you know that we get the word "craft" from the Greek word poema meaning poem. And isn't that what a craft is, the essence of a people, an experience, a story. Join me so I'm not all alone in Texas!

May 26, Legacy Books, 7:30 PM, Plano, Texas.

May 31, Dallas Heritage Village, 2:30, Dallas Texas. I'll be sharing the story of Aurora: An American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft.

April New Releases

A Flickering Light

By Jane Kirkpatrick

"Taking a page from her grandmother's photo album, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick explores the mystery of shadow and light and the complications of a young woman's pursuit of her dreams. Jessie Gaebele is trained to operate studios around the Midwest in the early 1900s when photographers became ill from mercury poisoning. As her skills grew, so did her interest in her mentor, a very married man. This first book of two in the Portrait of a Heart Collection was called "...exceptionally authentic...a compelling portrait...aching and hopeful" in a starred Publisher's Weekly review. Jane received the 2008 WILLA Literary award for Best Original Paperback Novel. This is her 15th novel."

Published by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, a division of Random House. 

Can be purchased at bookstores everywhere and online at:

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

Powells.com

To see the book trailer visit http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=225666529779c412cad0

Visit Jane on the web at www.jkbooks.com

and www.janekirkpatrick.blogspot.com

__________________________________________

Winds of Change

By Gwyn Ramsey

After surviving through the throes of being kidnapped by Indians and traded for goods to the Arapahos, Sarah Anderson proves herself worthy of the Indian name Vision Seeker and marries a warrior. She settles into the daily routine of wife to Running Swift and mother to Little Feather until a twist of fate brings her world crashing down around her when the Army charges into the village to arrest the warring warriors.

Rescued from the Indians and returned to Fort Laramie, Sarah now faces the difficult task of transitioning back into the white world with an Indian child. Shunned by the white populace and considered a soiled dove, she struggles with her uncertain future until a man she once knew crosses her path.

Published by Treble Heart Books

Available soon from Treble Heart Books Here

Visit Gwyn at http://gwynramsey.blogspot.com

__________________________________________

Trail of Storms

by Marsha Ward

Jessie Bingham put heartbreak away to tend to her sister's needs, but when she settled for second best in love, she didn't foresee that James Owen would come back into her life. 

The aftermath of the Civil War creates cruel circumstances for the Bingham family. A brutal attack on Jessie's sister, Hannah Fletcher, drives the extended family to flee to the West. They are soon joined by Heppie Bingham's beau George and his brother, Ned, who bring news that the Binghams are being pursued by cronies of Hannah's attacker. Even after they fight off that onslaught, poverty, bad weather, and Hannah's frightful secret plague their journey. Nursing her battered heart when she hears James Owen took a wife, Jessie accepts Ned's offer of marriage. But a stop on the trail holds surprises that launch Jessie into a bewildering tangle of values, emotions, and high adventure.  

Published by iUniverse

Purchase at iUniverse Here

Purchase from Amazon Here

Purchase from Barnes and Noble Here

Purchase from Marsha's website Here

as well as various other online booksellers.

Visit Marsha at www.marshaward.com and http://marshaward.blogspot.com

My Book Has Just Been Published! Now What?

This month, University of Texas Press published my memoir, Walking Nature Home: A Life's Journey. It's my twelfth book, but it's the one I've been working on the longest. (Yup, it's taken me the better part of two-and-a-half decades to get the story right. I may be slow, but I do not give up!)

UT Press did an outstanding job of editing, design and production: the book's a hardcover with a beautiful dust jacket, great blurbs, and gorgeous watercolor illustrations by my neighbor, artist Sherrie York. The design positively invites you to pick the book up and dive in. The Press has gone out of their way to get review copies out to national and regional venues and has even partnered on publicity for a few key events. But the rest is up to me.

So what am I doing? My first instinct was to run around like a chicken without a head--rush in all directions, accepting every promotion opportunity offered. But after thinking carefully about my limitations, both financial and in terms of my energy (see my blog post, Aiming for sustainability at work), I decided to be very picky, choosing only those events I felt gave me an opportunity to be at my best, and grouping events to save travel and energy (mine and the planet's). I also decided to go really green and make a big splash without leaving the couch where I often write by planning a blog book tour.

So today I'm off on two very different tours: Tonight I'm giving a talk on "Gardening With Nature" in Fort Collins, Colorado, for the City's Environmental Living Series. I'll draw on the restoration of the formerly blighted industrial area where I live and is conveniently featured in the last chapters of Walking Nature Home, thus giving me a good plug for the book.

I'm also headed off into cyberspace, visiting a dozen blogs over the next three weeks, beginning here at Women Writing the West. I'll be chatting with the virtual audiences of blogs ranging from one focused on writing women's memoirs and one about our ties to place to one written by a knitter who is fascinated by the connection between craft and life, a blog news-magazine, and a gardener in West Texas who also makes hand-crafted canoe paddles. Plus, I'll be interviewed on a national teleseminar on memoir-writing. (Details on my web site and blog.)

My next stop: Janet Riehl's Riehlife village wisdom newsmagazine on March 27th. That same night in the "real" world I'll be reading at Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax Avenue in Denver. If you're in the area--virtual or real, please stop by.

Thanks for joining me in this post, and let me know what you think of the book and my tour. The schedule for both tours is on my web site and also, of course, on my blog.

You can read the first chapter of Walking Nature Home on the UT Press web site. They're offering a 33% discount off list price for online purchases, a great deal! And here's a wonderful review by Susan Albert, just posted today on the Story Circle Network book review site. So off I go....

Why the West

People ask why do you live in the west. I answer, why not. In reality that is a true, simple answer, but it does not really go to the heart of why. Perhaps as a child the westerns I watched on TV became a part of my folklore. Maybe. I have to admit I did not read westerns until arriving in this area. My first novel was a Louis L'Amour I read while working in a psychiatric hospital. I was working the graveyard shift, things were quiet and I was bored. The book was lying around and I started reading. I finished about three hours later. That is a story of the past. How about the future?

I arrived here with some friends from college. They insisited they had to live in the west. With nothing better to do I came with them. They are all gone and I am still here. I am still here because I do not want to be anywhere else. There is something about the mountains, their firmess, the sense of timelessness. The sky is so open and clear. You can watch the weather and go a few miles and it has changed, or stay in one place and still have it change. The west seems to always be changing and yet remain the same mystery. There are 'ghost' that haunt the region, they seem to be asking that they not be forgotten. Those are the stories I want to tell. Starting out with a one woman show and moving on to recreating historic characters, I tell their stories. I need to keep the history, mystery and myth of the west alive. I have the feeling that those of us who love the west will be the ghost of the future, asking that our stories not be forgotten. Like the picture, the sunset, the past is brilliant. May ours be just as brilliant.

So why the west? Why not?

A Different Picture

The trailer for Buffaloed by Fairlee Winfield caught my attention by it's reference to her grandmother from Norway. I purchased Buffaloed hoping for a few clues to my own grandmother, an immigrant from Sweden. Buffaloed turned out to be a fun read with a fascinating look at the not quite so old west during a time of tremendous change. It also introduced me to a determined and fearless woman. I will always look at Charlie Russell's art a little differently, certainly more intently. Very well done.

March New Releases

Diary of Murder

by Jean Henry Mead

Diary of Murder is the second novel in Mead's Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series. 

Dana Logan learns that Georginana Turnsby, her wealthy sister, has died and knows that it wasn't suicide. Determined to prove that it's murder, she and her friend Sarah Cafferty travel north in their motorhome to central Wyoming. But they first have to survive a surprise Rocky Mountain blizzard. They find a diary in Georgie's mansion, hoping the mystery writer has left clues as to who might have killed her, but before they reach the end of the diary, they find their own lives in danger.

Click here to see the book trailer at Jean's blog.

Available during early March.

Published by epress-online.

Purchase in print from Amazon.com.

Purchase here in multi-format from Fictionwise-epress

The first novel in the series is A Village Shattered and it's video can be seen at: A Village Shattered

Visit Jean at: A Western Historical Happening at www.awhh.blogspot.com

And http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com

Walking Nature Home: A Life's Journey

By Susan J. Tweit

Without a map, navigate by the stars. Susan Tweit began learning this lesson as a young woman diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that was predicted to take her life in two to five years. Offered no clear direction for getting well through conventional medicine, Tweit turned to the natural world that was both her solace and her field of study as a plant ecologist. Drawing intuitive connections between the natural processes and cycles she observed and the functions of her body, Tweit not only learned healthier ways of living but also discovered a great truth—love can heal. In this beautifully written, moving memoir, she describes how love of the natural world, of her husband and family, and of life itself literally transformed and saved her own life.

In tracing the arc of her life from young womanhood to middle age, Tweit tells stories about what silence and sagebrush, bird bones and sheep dogs, comets, death, and one crazy Englishman have to teach us about living. She celebrates making healthy choices, the inner voices she learned to hear on days alone in the wilderness, the joys of growing and eating an organic kitchen garden, and the surprising redemption in restoring a once-blighted neighborhood creek. Linking her life lessons to the stories she learned in childhood about the constellations, Tweit shows how qualities such as courage, compassion, and inspiration draw us together and bind us into the community of the land and of all living things.

Published by University of Texas Press

http://susanjtweit.com

Purchase from University of Texas Press Here for 33% off list price.

Purchase from Amazon Here

It can also be purchased wherever books are sold.

_______________________________________

Book Trailers

Fellow member Jane Kirkpatrick shared her book trailer for her newest release. That got me thinking.

This is such an awesome way to tell people about your book without you being there. So, I jumped in and created two of my own.

Hey if they can have trailers for movies, why not for books? I figured it couldn't hurt.

Feel free to check them out and give me feedback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUt_-fJxVo

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhbTup9YJ2w

February New Releases

What Do You Do With The Yolks?
By Carol Devlin

Evergreen, Colorado resident Carol Devlin’s long-awaited memoirs, What Do You Do With The Yolks?, are written in her voice as a child growing up on the prairie of western Kansas. With accompanying photos, the book is suitable for all ages.

Her story telling, described as “deliciously humorous, charming, and heart-warming”, evokes great emotion, laughter, fear and tears, and reminds us of a simpler time in the 40s and 50s. You won’t want the stories to end, and when you turn the last page, will experience the sense of loss of a family you’ve grown to love. You’ll find yourself thumbing back to reread your favorites.

Purchase Here at Barnes & Noble

Purchase Here at Amazon.com

Order by emailing Carol at mtnmeadow2@msn.com.

ISBN 978-1-4401-1036-8 (soft cover)

978-1-4401-1038-2 (Hard cover) 978-1-4401-1037-5 (eBook)