In the Labyrinth

A Writer and a Mother. I Must Be Crazy

 

 

I keep on my bulletin board two newspaper headlines to remind me that I might be a few bubbles off plumb. The Milwaukee Journal (March 30, 1987) boldly states, "15-year study of writers finds high rate of mental illness," while the Toronto Star (August 16, 1986) announces, "Researcher probes ties between insanity and being a mother."

With odds like that, it's a wonder I get anything done without burning down the house or dancing naked in the front yard on a full moon with a colander on my head.

Do I hear voices in my head? Sure I do...it's called writing dialog. Do I get anxious and tear my hair? Sure...it's from having a pair of risk-taking, independent children who insist on doing insane things of their own (for example sailing a 22ft sailboat across the Great Lakes in September and surviving gale force winds in the Straits of Mackinaw or hitching a ride on a shipping boat from Sardinia to Barcelona to surprise a friend.) But hey, books get written, children grow up, and so far nobody has gotten the ax.

Photo: Joan Crawford in Straight Jacket.

A New Undertaking: Leaping Hart Press

 

 

I am happy to announce that I have finally taken the plunge and created my independent small press, Leaping Hart Press. It has been an exciting process, watching as each requirement for an LLC falls into place (though not without some anxiety and middle-of-the-night worry.) I am now busy re-reading the original manuscripts and revising, editing, and correcting old mistakes as necessary. There is some joy in this process as I rediscover the work anew and remember who I was at the time of creating the novel. I wrote my first novel when my children were small. Subsequent books were written between driving the children to school, teaching at a high school, researching one magical year-long trip in Italy, and mourning the death of my father and, later, my mother. I see how many moments in the novels echo the events in my life.

But I also am not entirely done writing novels and essays either. Once the backlit is out and published, I look forward to a handful of new projects. Collected short stories (some old, some new), with permission, a collection of my Bordertown Stories, with one or two new ones to join the previously published novellas, and a sequel to at least one of my novels, if not two.

Ambitious? Probably, but not unreasonable, especially as I have terrific friends in the publishing community ready to offer assistance -- which is both humbling and helpful to know. 

 

My Mother's Farm and My Distant Relatives

For years I have been organizing and gathering together the enormous amount of photos and documents from my mother's farm. A farm that now belongs to my brother and I. I am always surprised and charmed by the photos I discover. Here is a small handful of my most recent finds. 

 

                        The marriage of Jennie and John Westergaard created a bit of a scandal, as Jennie, the younger sister, married John before her older sister, Anna, was married. It was customary for the older sister to be responsible for all the sewing and management of the house and farm. Her needlework was beautiful, and though she did not marry, she taught children in school. 

 

 

 

                                                                          

                     

 

The Flight of Michael McBride Now Available on Kindle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaping Hart Books and Kindle Editions

 

A gorgeous New Cover For The Flight of Michael McBride is coming soon from Jennifer Bruce. 

 

 

 

THE NEW EDITION OF THE ORAN TRILIOGY NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE

I have to say how delighted I am to have finally re-edited the Oran Trilogy, consisting of New Moon, Sadar's Keep, and Beldan's Fire. It has been a long haul from the first time I thought about writing the novels (a good thirty years ago!) to now. I am also grateful to my fans who waited patiently as I hurried to get it done. 

I am really excited to present the newly minted books in Kindle editions...all three of them available on Amazon. Check it out and let me know what you think.  

All three books of the trilogy are are all available HERE. 

 

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

                                             

A Moment With Sweeney Astray and The Stags

                                                       

            

 

 

"Those unharnessed runners
from glen to glen!
Nobody tames
that royal blood,

each one aloof
on its rightful summit,
antlered, watchful.
Imagine them,

the stag of high Slieve Felim,
the stag of the steep Fews,
the stag of Duhallow, the stag of Orrey,
the fierce stag of Killarney..."

 

From Sweeney Astray a version from the Irish by Seamus Heaney

Art: Illustrated Manuscript: Gaston Phoebus, Le Livre de la chasse (Paris, ca. 1407)