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Writing memoir is so healing. . .thank you for this.

Out for my usual daily walk and I noticed Lin’s Treasures on Virginia St. was open. I strolled in for a peek and was surprised at the new look inside! You can actually see the lovely furniture and chatcha on display. It has a whole new look about the shop. Stop in to see. If you drive the short street alongside of the Horseshoe parking lot you’ll drive right into it.

It is one block behind Lost Treasures on Danville St.

You’ll find 101 stories and I hope you will read mine, THE MAKEOVER. In it, you’ll read of my gathering courage to change one little thing that changed my whole life, making it better than ever!
If you like it, please write a review on Amazon.com/books. Share in my excitement of being published in this Chicken Soup for the Soul book of uplifting and encouraging stories.
A quote from Amazon: Stepping outside your comfort zone is one of the best ways to feel younger, happier, and more confident. These 101 stories will inspire you to try new things, overcome your fears and broaden your world.

This opportunity, being published in this exciting book, has lifted my spirits to the skies!

My favorite veggie, fruit & egg man at our seasonal, outdoor Farmers Market is moving across the street into the Farmers Bakers Market on Saturday, 4th November. It seems to have been an unused building since I moved into town. It’s a win-win situation for many, including those of us who love fresh veggies conveniently located. Hooray!

Source: WHY TELL OUR STORIES?

Source: Through European Eyes

Here we go again! Rosemont will be hosting a celebration of local authors at the Winery on April 11, 2017 from 2 until 4 PM. Everyone is invited and bring your friends. **Looking through my address book, I see names that I say to myself, oh I’d like to see her/him again. I have something I want to ask…some people might be on other list so please forgive me if you get more than one invite! Sandra

Rosemont Winery Book Party ~ April 11 2017 2 – 4 PM
Arlene S. Bice – Memoir~ A Nosegay of Violets- A Writer’s Memoir of Psychic Awakening
An ordinary girl grows into womanhood while experiencing extraordinary psychic moments. A very personal story unwraps to reveal secrets held for many years.
Bice is a teacher of poetry and memoir, author of twelve non-fiction books. She is the recipient of the Florence Poets Society Poet of Distinction Award, published in several anthologies, and an award-winning artist. She lives in South Hill VA
Patricia Bortz, – Fiction ~ Hard Truth: Secret of the Back Row
Megan Montgomery isn’t out to save the world, but her best friend, Nadia, is. America is no more. Christians who refuse the “”mark”” are arrested for high treason. Megan trusts Sixtus, the antichrist and President of the New World Order, until his true perverse nature is revealed.
Mrs. Bortz wrote and directed many short dramas and plays for her powerful ministry in prisons, nursing homes and homeless shelters. She was then led to write a full-length play based on the battle of Armageddon. “Hard Truth” was the result. Mrs. Bortz lives in Bracey, Virginia.
Billie Hughes Locke ~ Memoir ~ More Than One Angel,
Her inspirational autobiography, More Than One Angel, was on the Best Sellers List at Winepress Publishing Co. for three years. It chronicles her rise from a destitute teen mother to personal and economic success. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you WILL believe in MIRACLES.
A sequel: “My Grandmother’s Lavaliere” was published in 2013. It features stories of local personalities such as Wanda and Mike Crickenberger from South Hill Glass, Charles and Betty Duckworth from Chase City, Phillip Alston, Richard Nolan, Donna Kempo and others from Southside, VA.
Willoughby Hundley, MD ~ Fiction ~ Elemental Danger

“Elemental Danger” is a fictional mystery based on medical examiner cases in rural Virginia. County Detective Duffer and Dr. Hardy are joined by a curious local reporter as they investigate a cluster of deaths that uncovers an illegal mining operation. Their local lakeside community is threatened by a looming environmental catastrophe. “Ashes of Deception” was the debut book introducing part-time local medical examiner Dr. Hardy and Detective Duffer.

Willoughby Hundley III, MD, draws from his 35 years of experience as a rural medical examiner to create his mysteries. He currently practices emergency medicine and lives with his wife, Lucy, in Boydton, Virginia.

Sandra Martin – Memoir ~ Snapshots ~ Memories and Recipes

These essays and recipes cover a lot of ground. The stories start with a Bracey farm girl, to suburban mother and finally to the life of a NYC literary agent and television producer.
Ms Martin represented clients in the emerging mainstream genres of deep spirituality, ESP and the paranormal, alternative health and then there were the conspiracy books.
Thomas Park – Poetry ~ Looking for ‘Cuda Brown
Looking for ‘Cuda Brown tells the stories of many extraordinary characters Thomas has met over the years.
Mr. Park lives and teaches in Warrenton, NC. He has a M.A. in English from Wayne State University and an MFA from Goddard College in Vermont. He was published in Best New Poets of North Carolina.
Meriwether Shipley -Fiction ~ Cassandra and the GI P.I.: A Dupont Circle Mystery
Cassandra and the GI P.I., a DuPont Circle Mystery, follow the events that lead to a college student’s chance meeting with a P.I. named Harry Shields in October of 1969. He suffers from shell shock which has followed him for 15 years. An unseen foe is trying to kill him. They work as a team to uncover the terrors.
Meriwether Shipley has been an actor, model, producer and director of stage and screen. She now applies her story telling skills to this seven-volume series of books. Ms. Shipley lives in Clarksville, Virginia.
Patrick James Smith ~ Memoir ~ Miles in My Shoes, Years at My Side
“Miles in My Shoes, Years at My Side” is a chronicle of the many supernatural events experienced by one ordinary man, a former deputy sheriff. Time after time, a divine power intervenes to heal and save him, leaving him a stunned witness to his own salvation.
The author, retired from law enforcement in 2004, now writes lyric poetry and lives in rural Virginia with his wife, Jane, son Jordan, and five rescued dogs.

It was a pleasant surprise to find a question about The Munich Girl at Goodreads last week: May I ask, were you able to make any historical deductions regarding Eva Braun? My reply: “Thanks f…

Source: Goodreads question: “Any historical deductions regarding Eva Braun?”

Okay, here is some backstory to A Nosegay of Violets, a writer’s memoir of psychic awakening. I was told all the years growing up since I was 5 years old, that I was different because there was no father in our house. The only family in the neighborhood at the time to be so. My father suffered a terminal disease and was in the hospital from the time I was 5 until he died there. I was 12. Mom constantly reminded us to make better grades, to be better behaved (hard for my daredevil, tomboy ways) to be more proper, etc. etc. all in the name of being different.

After years of hearing this and thinking it was bad, to be different, I finally told myself, well, if I’m going to be tagged different, I will follow that road. In high school at my jr. prom, my boyfriend Walt Rutkowski, asked what flowers I wanted for this February prom. All the girls went for the expensive orchids. I loved simple beauty and asked for violets. Poor Walt, the florist had to search far and wide. They were probably more expensive than the orchids most of the girls preened,

My neighbor who I sometimes babysat for, 5 year old Dawn Deleen, came over to have her picture taken with me.  Years later, at her jr. prom, she asked her boyfriend for violets, probably forgetting about when she was 5. While living in Florida, Dawn saw the book cover and title, went searching in her photo albums and came up with my jr. prom photo with her! I didn’t even know this picture existed! So, here it is.

A Nosegay of Violets!