Welcome to my guest blog fest

For the next three and a half weeks I’m going to turn Choices over to the voices of other wonderful and experienced writers. I’ve asked twelve people whom I’ve either met personally or online to tell you about their lives, their writing, and their marketing experiences.

I feel so fortunate that they have agreed to be my guests and participate in this blog fest. I hope you will keep coming back to read more and more as the days go by. You’ll find the information interesting and very helpful.

Here’s my guest blog fest lineup in order of appearance:

August 24: Susan Weidener

An author, editor and former journalist with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Susan leads writing workshops and started the Women's Writing Circle, www.susanweidener.com a support and critique group for writers in suburban Philadelphia. 

August 26: Deborah Kalan

Deborah has been writing about real life since she was in the fifth grade and received a diary with lock and key for her 10th birthday. Even at that young age she found that people in ordinary situations made for intriguing writing. 

Deborah also writes poetry and fiction and finds the short short story to be one of her favorite genres.

August 28: Victoria Noe

Victoria has been a writer most of her life, but didn’t admit it until 2009. Besides her Friend Grief series, her freelance articles have appeared in Chicago Tribune and Windy City Times. She also reviews books on BroadwayWorld.com.

August 30: Ace Antonio Hall

Ace’s true labor of love is writing Zombie horror and character-driven plots featuring female protagonists. He continues to write short stories and build on the world of Sylva Slasher. Plus he loves women with gray hair.

September 3: Meryl Hartstein

Meryl is a published author, strategic life and relationship coach, celebrity confidence expert, guest speaker, and founder of “Bounce Back Women” a non-for profit organization. Her anthology in development is Bounce Back Women, comprised of stories from celebrities, Olympians and other powerful women about how they overcame adversity.

September 5: Chanel Brenner

Chanel is a writer living in Los Angeles with her husband and their five-year-old son. She is the winner of the First Annual Write Place At the Write Time poetry contest, judged by Ellen Bass, for her poem, “July 28^th, 2012.” I met Chanel at a poetry workshop in May led by Richard Jones.

September 7: Eleanor Vincent

Eleanor’s memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story, traces the life and death of her 19-year-old daughter and the subsequent donation of Maya’s organs and tissues. Published by Dream of Things, Swimming with Maya portrays a mother’s struggle to recover after a devastating loss and shows how the bonds between donors and recipients can have a positive impact on grief recovery.

September 9: Jerry Waxler Part 1 and September 15: Jerry Waxler Part 2

Jerry traces the emergence of the Memoir Revolution through his own journey from rebellion and chaos in the 60s; from mysticism to computers in the 70s; and from receiving talk therapy to providing it in the 80s and 90s.

September 11: Sherrey Meyer

Sherrey had always dreamed of writing something other than pleadings and legal documents, anything else!  Once she retired she couldn’t stay away from the computer, and so she began to write. We hope to read her memoir very soon.

September 13: Linda Joy Myers

Linda Joy, president of the National Association of Memoir Writers, began NAMW to support other memoir writers in their quest to find their story, to find healing and hope through story. Her memoir, Don't Call Me Mother, is a must read.

September 17: Karen Levy

Born in Israel, Karen spent most of her childhood traveling between her native land and the United States. Commuting between these two countries and having a keen eye for detail have afforded Karen the knowledge necessary to recount the immigrant experience in a very candid style.

September 19: Kathy Pooler

Kathy is a writer and a retired Family Nurse Practitioner who is working on a memoir about how the power of hope through her faith in God has helped her to transform, heal and transcend life’s obstacles and disappointments: divorce, single parenting, loving and letting go of an alcoholic son, cancer and heart failure to live a life of joy and contentment.

Thank you all for being here. I'm blown away by all that I've read.