Q & A about writerly things

Last August I participated in a blog tour sponsored by Orangeberry Book Tours. At the outset they gave me a list of questions to answer that they distributed to their participating bloggers. Here's the list and my answers. I've corrected a couple since some things have changed since August.

By the way, Pandora Poikilos, who arranged my tour, is terrific and very supportive.

 Questions and Answers

1. What is one book everyone should read?

Be Here Now by Ram Dass

2. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Peanut butter and blueberries

3. Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

My book has much to share with anyone grieving the loss of a loved one or suffering any kind of loss.

4. Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? 

I’m writing an historical novel based on a small aspect of my family’s history, yet with a huge plot twist. I also want to have a book of poetry published. I also want to have a CD made of my son’s jazz music with proceeds of sales going to a charity that helps erase the stigma of mental illness and prevent suicide.

5. What inspired you to want to become a writer?

Writing always seemed to come naturally to me, and because of that my teachers were very encouraging.

6. Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

After my first publisher went out of business, I was fortunate to find a wonderful new publisher, Dream of Things, that recently released paperback and eBook editions of my book. The first publisher going out of business was a blessing in disguise.

7. What is your dream cast for your book?

Jane Fonda as the main character (me), and my son Ben playing himself

8. What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?  

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

9. Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters?

My son was a very talented jazz composer and pianist. I would want his music as the theme song with sprinkles of John Lennon, Miles Davis, and J.S. Bach throughout the film.

10. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Don’t give up. No matter how many rejections you get, keep on asking. Be persistent.

11. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Italy. It is my goal to live in Rome someday and travel throughout Italy by train. First stops would be Sicily and Naples – places I haven’t visited yet. Plus I love Italian food.

12. What is your favorite Quote?

"How old would you be if you didn't know your age?" Golda Meir

13. When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

Brenda Starr Reporter or a shoe designer. I loved to draw and paint as well as write.

14. What's the best advice anyone has ever given you?

A friend called me ten days after my son’s funeral and advised me to come back to our morning aerobics class. I did. Working out again helped me begin my healing process. I still workout every day.

15. What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?

11/22/63 by Stephen King [I have read it, and it is a terrific book - my favorite in 2012]

16. What was your favorite children's book? 

Me Too, story and words by Fritz Willis (The Marcel Rodd Company, 1944). My dad gave me the book because I always said, “me too,” whenever I wanted something my brother had. (I recently bought a first-edition copy of it.)

17. How do you react to a bad review?

I haven’t had one yet, but if I did I would want to know why or if the reader even read my book. Needless to say, I wouldn’t feel good about it. [I've had a few lately. I still don't feel good about them.]

18. If you could have a signed copy of any novel what would it be and why?

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. One of my all-time favorite books.

19. What do you do in your free time? 

Workout, take long walks on the beach, read, go to movies, theater, and opera

20. Who or what inspired you to become an author?

I was inspired to tell the story of my son’s bipolar illness and how I survived his suicide. I felt that if my story could help just one other family, my writing it would be worthwhile. Also, my writing teachers encouraged me to get my story out into the world.

21. In your wildest dreams, which author would you love to co-author a book with?

Norah Ephron. She had the career I wanted early on. But she didn’t live long enough to get to write with me.

Revisiting the bucket list

When I first started this blog back in November 2007 its purpose was to write down a list of things to do and places to go before I die – in homage to the movie “The Bucket List.” And even though this blog has become much more than that – I post photos and poems here, I write about my writing life, I report on special happenings – always in the back of my mind is the question: how am I doing in checking off the things on my list?

So I went back to two of my earliest post and copied the lists below. And I’ve commented on each one so you and I will both know what I’ve accomplished. And then I’ve written down a few more things – mainly about where in the world my husband and I want to travel before we’re unable to travel anymore.

That’s the thing. I feel very strongly lately that my time is very finite, so I need to make every moment that I have left count.

My Garden Buddha

 The List

• Climb down into the Grand Canyon – not done yet, but still on the list.
• Go to the parts of the United States I haven’t been to yet – Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, the Carolinas – we’ve made plans to visit these places this spring.
• Get my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On published – hooray, that has happened. It probably should have been first on the list.
• Get a poetry book published – no, but I haven’t worked hard on it. I have a lot of those poems in my memoir. Does that count?
• Read all the books that are waiting for me on the shelves in my closet – starting with:
• The Golden Notebook – yes, I read that, and I’m still working my way through the others. Of course, you know how that goes. Other new books always get in the way. Yet, I just found that I have a copy of Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on that shelf. It’s up next to be read.
• Spend time outside in my garden – no. I don’t do that, and now I wonder why I even put it down.
• Get a Buddha for my garden – yes. The Buddha is there. See photo above. It stood out wonderfully during Ben and Marissa’s wedding.
• Spend more time in my office – yes. In fact I’m in my office almost all day, everyday.
• Write some new poems – yes.
• Take another cruise on the Cunard in the Princess suites to Scandinavia and Russia – yes.
• Visit my brother and his family in Denver – yes. And I’m so glad we did. We went there every other month for the two years before he died. 
• Go to Virginia to see Anna and Ian and their mom and dad – and while there see the Annie Leibowitz exhibit at the Corcoran – yes. We’ve also gone there several times since and will go again in the spring as part of our northeast trip.
• Contact some folks about my blog – yes. I’m doing that constantly.

My brother, Ken

A Few More Things

Israel – if all goes as planned we’ll do that in November

Africa

Greece

And my most important goal of all:

Live for a while in Italy. I just can’t get that one out of my head.

Please share your hopes and dreams with me. And also give me some feedback on what we should see and do in the places I’ve listed above.