All posts tagged: inspiration

Catherine Raven asks: why do we separate ourselves so much from one another? Moving from graph paper to words, she provides reason & intuition to readers in her debut nature memoir, FOX AND I, plus advice and letting go of bitterness

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By Leslie Lindsay Wise, thoughtful, and intimate portrayal of a solitary woman’s relationship with nature, particularly a male fox who sort of befriends her, a lush literary and ecological study. WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS ALWAYS WITH A BOOK Leslie Lindsay & Catherine Raven in Conversation A naturalist, writer, and professor, Catherine Raven lives ‘off-the-grid’ in Montana. FOX AND I is her debut nature-memoir. About FOX AND I: An Uncommon Friendship: Can humans and wild animals become friends? That’s the overarching question in this debut memoir, FOX AND I by Catherine Raven (Spiegel & Grau, July 7 2021) in which a woman biologist–living remotely–becomes acquainted with a fox. Each day, at approximately the same time, outside her cozy cottage in the woods, a fox would appear. She was intrigued and then began reading to him from THE LITTLE PRINCE, and he’d return. There’s more here, too, mostly about Raven’s life as a park ranger, teaching and leading field classes in Yellowstone National Park, and more. It’s about isolation and nature, how the two meld to bring self-awareness. As for the …

Daring resistance efforts of Jewish women in the ghettos of Nazi occupation, a remarkable portrait of resilience and strength in this tremendously researched new book, THE LIGHT OF DAYS by Judy Batalion

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By Leslie Lindsay  In these history-changing times, one thing has remained hidden until now: the daring resistance efforts of Jewish women in the ghettos of the Nazi occupation. Now, let’s see the light.  ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS| ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Recently optioned by Stephen Spielberg for a major motion picture Memoirist Judy Batalion (White Walls) delivers a remarkable portrait of young Jewish women who fought in the Polish resistance during WWII in THE LIGHT OF DAYS (William Morrow, June 23 2020). Drawing from “dozens of women’s memoirs” and “hundreds of testimonies,” Batalion documents an astonishing array of guerilla activities, including rescue missions for Jewish children trapped in Polish ghettos, assassinations of Nazi soldiers, bombings of German train lines, jailbreaks, weapons smuggling, and espionage missions. These women were couriers, smugglers, spies, and also…inspirations.  “A vigorous narrative that draws on interviews, diaries, and other sources, Batalion delivers an objective view of past events that are too quickly being forgotten—and a story much in need of telling.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review But be warned: no details are spared …

Warmth, Passion and Coffee…how Zibby Owens does it all, plus her Quarantine Anthology, essays by contemporary writers in MOMS DON’T HAVE TIME

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By Leslie Lindsay  A force to be reckoned–Zibby Owens chronicles the myriad emotions, experiences, more in this historically and personally challenging year; an anthology of essays written by authors from her podcast. “The patron saint of books.”“The Great Connector.” ~Writers Interviewing Writers|Always with a Book~ WeekEND Reading A little burst of joy to your bookshelf during a rather bleak and troubling time. MOMS DON’T HAVE TIME TO: A Quarantine Anthology (Skyhorse Press, February 2021) will spark interest, validate this challenging year, and more. It’s filled with anecdotes on the reading life, food, family, mental health, exercise, mindfulness, sex/intimacy, more.Here, we delve into over 60 short essays from contemporary writers exploring all of these aspects of life–but during quarantine, which makes MOMS DON’T HAVE TIME TO even more timely and topical. I don’t know about you–but as a mom myself, I found that I actually had *less* time once we were shut down at home. It sounds counterintuitive, but true. “The perfect reminder for every mom that nn of us have it all together, all of us are doing our best and, …

Can we save a library? Janie Chang talks about this, the Sino-Japanese war, being a refugee, COVID-19, her fascination with myths & folklore, and so much more in her new novel, THE LIBRARY OF LEGENDS

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By Leslie Lindsay  Based on true events of the Sino-Japanese war, THE LIBRARY OF LEGENDS is a poetic and compelling piece of historical fiction. ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS| ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Blending history and beautiful imagery, plus Chinese myth and folklore, THE LIBRARY OF LEGENDS (WilliamMorrow, May 12 2020) brings the past to light in this atmospheric tale. This is a captivating saga of a young woman traveling across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostiles of a brutal war with Japan. Here is where I knew little of this piece of history. But this is all based on true events, taking place during WWII. It’s 1937 and Japanese bombs fall on the city of Nanking when 19-year old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Together, along with about one hundred students, and staff, Lian must walk a thousand miles to safety while protecting a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as “The Library of Legends.” Unexpected bonds develop on this pilgrimage…a cautious romance, but also death and skepticism, …

Susan Gloss talks about her love for art, how it intersects with life, grief, and loss, plus she introduces me to a new word, oh–and this gorgeous book, THE CURIOSITIES

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By Leslie Lindsay  A tender exploration of love and loss, addiction and recovery, pain and healing, THE CURIOSITIES is about the fragile condition of the human soul and art.  Madison, Wisconsin is a mecca of artistic pursuits–with a ton of authors in residence, but in all honesty, I am not sure I’ve read a book *set* in Madison—but THE CURIOSITIES (Berkley, Feb 2019)–takes place right in the heart of the city. I loved this! Plus, I absolutely adore reading about art–it’s like two art forms in one, a double treat. Nell Parker has a PhD in art history. She lives in a cozy Craftsman bungalow with her attorney/professor husband, but she is devastated by a recent miscarriage. She’s grieving and having difficulty moving forward. Plus, she’s swimming in a mound of (secret) debt. As luck would have it, Nell finds herself accepting a position as the director of a nonprofit artist’s colony, established by the late Betsy Barrett, a patron of the modern arts. Nell isn’t sure she’s exactly cut out for the job, but she’s willing to give it …

Ever feel like hanging up your ‘supermom’ cape, shuttering the house and moving the family to India and Nepal? That’s what Dena Moes did in THE BUDDHA SAT RIGHT HERE

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By Leslie Lindsay  Family, adventure, connections, and generosity abound in Dena Moes’s THE BUDDHA SAT RIGHT HERE, an American family’s travel odyssey to India and New Delhi. GOLD AWARD for Travel/Essay from the Independent Publisher Book Awards! I’ll admit it: I’ve often thought about selling the house, pulling the kids out of school, and high-tailing it to…where? I don’t know, exactly. Ireland? The Tuscan hills of Italy? Some bucolic mountain meadow in Switzerland? Any of those places would do. Maybe someplace more remote, more gritty. But would I? Really? Dena Moes does. She and her husband and two daughters head for India and Nepal, where they have a spiritual awakening, see a better way of living their life…it will challenge your parenting and how you look at the world. And her luminous new memoir, THE BUDDHA SAT RIGHT HERE (SWP, April 5 2019) delves right into this. “Prepare to be Inspired! The Buddha Sat Right Here will open your heart, crack you up, and maybe even change all the ways you engage in parenting, adventure, and spiritual …

Fiction Friday: What do you think about them apples?

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By Leslie Lindsay Yesterday, I wanted my 9 year old to get off the couch. She had the flatscreen tuned to TeenNick, a tall glass of milk, and a Little Debbie fudge brownie at her fingertips. If I let her, she would have sat there all afternoon. Homework would have gotten ignored, bickering with her sister over the remote would have ensued…and well, I wanted her to get off the couch. So I said, “Come with me…I want to get your opinion on something I wrote today. I need to know if it’s realistic 9-year old talk.” She rolled her eyes and stared at me. “C’mon. Really,” I urged. Reluctantly, she got off the couch. Grabbing her brownie, but leaving her milk behind, she followed me to the office where I opened up my document and began reading to her. When I was finished, she said, “Yep. That’s pretty realistic. I could picture it all in my head.” She scampered off and headed to her own desk, a slanty artist’s table and said, “I’m gonna …

Write On, Wednesday: Spring Fever Getting Your Mojo Back

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By Leslie Lindsay It’s been one of those crazy springs where I feel completly out-of -whack, and not just with my writing.  I have project ideas for the house, for my family, for my writing…but I am unable to get those ideas funneled into something coherent.  And then I sort of got my mojo back.  How I did it, I’m not entirely sure…but I am glad things finally started to click.  Here are some ideas gleaned partially from experience and partially from a semi-recent Writer’s Digest article.  Step 1:  Set a word count goal for the week ahead, or for a particular writing session.   Remember, not all days are created equal.  Some days you may really pump out a generous amount of words, other days–not so much.  When you think about your writing goals in terms of the whole week, it gives you some freedom to say, “Well, Tuesday sucked, but I still have four days to pull it together.”  It also helps with the inevitable interruptions you didn’t see coming.  Step 2:  Go to …