This morning, it is my pleasure to welcome Lynda McKinney Lambert to The Write Stuff. Lynda is sharing a review of her book of stories and poems, Walking by Inner Vision. I know you folks will really enjoy this one, and will share it on all your social media. Thanks so much!

REVIEW:

“Walking by Inner Vision” Book Review
Posted on 5/1/2017
by Beckie Horter

Celebrating our successes as visually impaired people is an essential step on the journey to healing. Peer advisor, Lynda McKinney Lambert knows this firsthand.

Celebrating in a Memorable Way

After profound vision loss in 2007 due to Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, Lynda did not use a computer for almost two years. When she finally did relearn her way around the computer with the help of adaptive technology, she decided to celebrate in a memorable way. She started a blog.

Lynda’s blog, “Walking by Inner Vision,” grew and grew over a seven-year period. Last year, she decided to collect her stories and poems in a delightful book by the same name.

Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems is Lynda’s second book. The first, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, was published in 2003 by Kota Press.

Into the Mind of the Artist

Lynda is an artist and a retired professor of fine arts and humanities from Geneva College. Her artistic background permeates her writing in an unmistakable style, painting word pictures and setting vivid scenes. Her black and white photography accompanies several stories and adds to the visual appeal.

“This book takes readers into the mind of an artist, how we work in layers, seeing connections between history, philosophy, psychology, and nature. It’s the artist’s job to tell the things others don’t notice. We see nuances and fragments—these things spark the mind,” Lynda said.

Walking by Inner Vision is arranged as a year-long pilgrimage from January through December. Each month begins with a poem and reflects the happenings unique to its time and place. For example, in “March Arrived Like a Capricious Cat,” she speaks of the changeable nature of late winter in her native Western Pennsylvania.

“Glass wind chimes
hang
immovable
stiff
shrouded in new snow.
March arrived like a capricious cat
crouched—hunkered down, bent over
spring-loaded, squat
Changeable!”

Viewing a World of Beauty with Vision Loss

Throughout the 16 poems and 27 essays, Lynda views her world through the lens of beauty even in the midst of vision loss.

“I want to give people a strand of hope to hold on to,” Lynda said. Her personal Christian faith provides the anchor for her own hope and optimism.

Lynda draws on her wealth of experiences to offer the reader a treasure chest of reading variety. While some stories are light and humorous (“A Wintry Tale”), others are poignant, like the story of her mother’s last family gathering and ensuing struggle with Alzheimer’s (“The Living Room”).

Regardless of the form—free verse or creative non-fiction—one thing remains consistent: lingering images stay with the reader long after the book is finished. They have been taken into the world of Lynda’s inner vision. And all is well.

The artist has done her job.

BLURB:

This book is the dream-come-true of Pennsylvania artist, author and Professor of Fine Arts and Humanities, Lynda McKinney Lambert.

Through her poetry and creative non-fiction essays, Lynda invites her readers into her personal world of imagination, faith, beauty, travels, music and more. Since her retirement from her teaching career in 2008, she writes full-time in her century-old rural western Pennsylvania home where she has lived for over ½ a century with her husband, Bob.

In her books and her art works, she takes strands from ancient mythology, history, and contemporary life and weaves a richly textured new fabric using images that are seen and unseen. 

Lynda’ firs book is Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage. This collection of poems, historical notes and reflections was written over several years as she lived and taught courses in Austria every summer. Her students came from all over the country to be in her classes.  Her course, “Drawing and Writing in Salzburg,” took students on daily excursions in a variety of places in Austria. Students travelled with Lambert to locations in Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, and Germany during a month-long sojourn.  Lynda kept journals each summer and the stories and poems in her book were inspired by her journaling.

In her newest book, Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems she takes us on a year-long journey through the seasons. The book opens in the month of January.  She takes readers through each month, with a final destination at the end of December.

Author Lynda McKinney Lambert

Lynda is a diverse and creative writer, author and visual artist who has earned degrees in fine arts and literature.  She worked at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA as Professor of Fine Arts & Humanities. She lectured in art history, and a variety of special topics in contemporary literature with an emphasis on modern/post-modern poetry and writers.

In addition, she taught studio arts courses in a variety of genre in art.

What is remarkable about her personal and professional history is that she went back to the university to pursue her degrees, at the age of forty-two. She and her husband, Bob, had nearly completed raising their 5 children, and Lynda decided it was time for her to return to her passions in art and literature. Over a period of only 9 years, she earned all 3 of her degrees, at universities in 2 different states.  During those 9 years of full-time studies, she also taught courses at a community college and summer art programs for children at a local art museum.  During her graduate work at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. Lynda began submitting her poems to publishers and immediately began her career as a published poet in her first year at grad school with that first publication she was hooked on pursuing her career of poetry and publications.

In 2017, Lynda had over 140 publications of her essays and poetry published in literary magazines, anthologies, blogs, and print books. 

Her academic degrees are:
BFA in Painting from Slippery Rock University of PA, 1989.
MFA in Painting from West Virginia University, 1991.
MA in English Literature from Slippery Rock University of PA, 1994. 

At the time when she was offered a tenure track position at Geneva College, she was serving as executive director of the Hoyt Institute of Fine arts, New Castle, PA from 1993 – 1996.

When she accepted a tenure track position at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA, she began her teaching career in the fall of 1996. She taught courses in English Literature, Humanities, and Fine Arts during her years at Geneva College. She retired in 2008 from teaching and has been writing and making art full-time since her retirement.

Lynda’s career has taken her around the world. She was included in international exhibitions in the U.S., Japan, Austria, New Guinea. She was selected by the U.S. Department of State for the Arts in Embassies program and her wood-cut prints were on display at the U.S. Embassy in Paupau, New Guinea.  Another notable recognition in 2017-8 was her nomination for the Skirt Best-of-the-Net Award for an essay, “Knitting a Life Back Together,” nominated by Spirit Fire Review. SFR published non-fiction essay and selected it for this nomination.

In 1991, Lynda’s wood-cut prints were chosen as 1 of 8 U. S. printmakers invited to the international exhibition – The Osaka Triennale (Japan). Her unique prints and paintings were shown all over the U.S. in traveling exhibitions and in invitational shows. She still actively exhibits her art work. She exhibits her art for over 40 years in museums and galleries.

Since her sight loss, she began creating mixed-media fiber art in her River Road Studio, which was established in 1976. She has won over 100 awards for her art. Currently, Lynda writes two blogs. She began blogging in December 2009, 2 years after her profound sight loss.  Her writing appears on numerous blogs as a guest blogger and as a featured writer. She garners many awards for her writing throughout the year. 

Lynda’s poem, “Red December,” was a winner in the Proverse Poetry Prize Anthology, Mingled Voices #2, published in Hong Kong.  In 2018, Lynda completed two manuscripts that are now ready to be published and she is beginning to let potential publishers know of her desire to have them published.  FIRST:  Lynda completed her first chapbook, first snow, a collection of “little poems” with a wintry theme. It is a collection of SIXTEEN poems. SECOND: she completed her next full-length book, Star Signs: New & Selected Poems, which contains 60 original poems.

Buy Walking by Inner Vision on Amazon HERE or on her own page HERE

Reach Lynda on Social Media here:

www.lyndalambert.com
http://www.llambert363.blog/ 

On FaceBook:
Personal Page:  https://www.facebook.com/lyndamckinneylambert
SCAN, Blog Connection Page –  https://www.facebook.com/SCAN-782814908467623/
River Road Studio – My Artist Page –  https://www.facebook.com/River-Road-Studio-175785105811956/
Walking by Inner Vision Blog Connection Page – https://www.facebook.com/walkingbyinnervision/

 

 

This afternoon, please welcome author Mary Hiland to The Write Stuff. Mary is sharing a review of her book, The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: A Daughter’s Memoir. I know you will enjoy reading about this one, and will definitely want to share Mary’s book review on all your social media. Thanks so much!

REVIEW:

I was totally engrossed in this book from start to finish. With insight and humor, the author perfectly relates her experience with her mother as ‘Mom’ transitions from independent living to assisted living and from being a functional 94-year-old to a totally dependent 98-year-old with dementia.

Ms. Hiland adeptly describes her changing relationships with her mother as well as with the facility staff. Whether the reader is blind like the author or not, so many of us can relate to this experience, as it’s something we have already gone through or that we worry might happen to us and our parents in the future.

The author has a special ability to paint scenes that are both so real and poignant with her words. All professional caregivers in any discipline — in fact, all adult children — should read this compelling book. We all can learn from the author’s words.
Cindy Wentz
Independent Living Consultant

BLURB:

Making the decision to move an elderly parent into assisted living against his or her will presents myriad challenges. Like many adult children who want to respect their parents’ wishes, I didn’t take action until it was unavoidable. But unlike most adult children, I had to deal with this crisis as an only living child who is totally blind. The logistics alone were merely the start of my uphill struggle with this daunting task.

During the last two years of my mother’s life, I learned many lessons about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and she learned to accept the difficulties of being in her late nineties and living in an assisted living community.

In The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: A Daughter’s Memoir, I not only describe the move, my mother’s adjustment to a foreign way of life, and the emotional trauma for both of us, but also offer some advice and comfort for others who are experiencing such dramatic changes.

What makes my story unusual is that I tell it with blindness always in the background. You will find some touching moments, some troubling ones, and some that are relevant to your own life.

This is a memoir woven through my observations of who my mother was and who I am.

Author Mary Hiland

Mary Hiland, a native of Cincinnati, lives in Gahanna, Ohio with her Seeing Eye® dog, Dora. She is a graduate of the Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in Social Work. She recently retired as Executive Director of The American Council of the Blind of Ohio. Before that, she served for over 21 years as Director of Volunteers for VOICEcorps Reading Service: https://www.voicecorps.org/

Ms. Hiland has been published in Chicken Soup for the Parent’s Soul, Redbook magazine, Toastmaster magazine, and The Columbus Dispatch.

Visit her blog at https://seeingitmyway.com/

In 2001, Ms. Hiland carried the Olympic torch, and in 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from her local Toastmasters Club.

Ms. Hiland has two adult children and five granddaughters. Her passions are reading, public speaking, cycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, hiking, and taking long walks with Dora. She writes for the pure pleasure of it.

As an only child for most of her life, she benefited from the single-minded love and devotion of her parents. So when her mother, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and was going blind and deaf, needed to give up her independence and move into assisted living, it was time for Ms. Hiland to step up and assume the duties and role reversals required for her mother. She wrote about her experiences with the hope of being helpful to others in this tough place in life. The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: A Daughter’s Memoir is her first book.

Buy The  Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: A Daughter’s Memoir at the links below:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Apple
• Kobo
• Smashwords (numerous formats)

The print edition of The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living is available at the following online stores:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• CreateSpace

Find Mary on Social Media Here:

Email: mary.hiland@wowway.com

Mary’s Blog:   www.seeingitmyway.com

This morning,  I have the pleasure of welcoming author Anita Dawes to The Write Stuff. Anita is sharing a review of her novel, Let it Go: Look to the Living. I know you’ll enjoy reading this one, and will want to share it far and wide. Enjoy!

REVIEW:

Mae Clair
5.0 out of 5 starsA fantastic look at family relationships
10 December 2017

A fantastic look at family dynamics through the eyes of Mary, a fifteen-year-old who is older and wiser than her years. When her father wins a guest house in a card game, Mary’s has to adjust to a new life in Cornwall. In addition to her parents and sister, Mary also has her beloved grandmother, Nan, to aid in that adjustment.

This book is filled with wonderful characters and effortless writing. I adored the relationship between Mary and Nan. As narrator, Mary does an excellent job in allowing us to see the world through her eyes. From the vivid place descriptions, to the strengths and weakness in the people around her, including her own family, the reader sees scars, faults and triumphs.

The plot thread with Mary’s sister Sally, and how the family rallies around her when she runs afoul of three local women is especially strong. I also liked the thread with Spike, an unexpected “lodger” and how his story line turned out. The author has a great style, and hooked me immediately. I plan to seek out more of her books. Consider me a fan!

BLURB:

You read about families where everyone is happy and life is wonderful.

That wasn’t my family.

My mother coped patiently with a drunken, obsessive gambler of a husband and a daughter with an insatiable sexual appetite. I loved my father, but he kept us one step away from the poor house. Loving my sister was harder, basically because she hated me and constantly brought trouble to our door.

Me ? I couldn’t wait to grow up and live my own life.

Then everything changed. Dad won a guest house in a card game, and suddenly we were off to a new life in Cornwall. A beautiful place, steeped in legend and mystery.
Would trouble leave us alone now, or was it merely biding its time?

When I found an old diary, telling ofm urder and betrayal right where we were living, I began to realise that even somewhere as lovely as Cornwall, dark and disturbing things happened to other people too.

Somehow everything seemed linked, and as one more disaster struck our family, it seemed we were doomed, unless I could find a way to make it stop.

Author Anita Dawes

Hi, my name is Anita and although I am over 70, I am by no means a ‘silver surfer’. I have been writing fiction for a while now but never been picked up by the mainstream publishers. They all loved what I wrote, but said it was hard to slot them into a category! It came tantalisingly close with Bad Moon, but no cigar, as they say.

After going several rounds with various mainstream publishers, I realised I would have to try something else. I saved the rejection letters because most of them had very encouraging comments. I even wrote to James Herbert once and he was so very kind and supportive.

When I retired, and with the help of my sister-in-law Jaye, I decided to dust off some of my manuscripts and try to achieve the impossible.

I am a paper and pencil girl. You could chain me to a computer for years and nothing would happen! Jaye is managing to cope with it, but then she has much more patience than I do. (She is as stubborn as a mule, which helps!)

They say you are never too old to learn, but in my case never is another word for infinity!

I thank God for my family, for I have a second chance to find out if anyone out there likes the kind of books I write…

Buy Let it Go: Look to the Living HERE

Find Anita and Jaye on Social Media here:

Anita’s email:       jenanita01@btinternet.com
Jaye’s email         jayemarie01@btinternet.com
Website/blog         https://jenanita01.com
Facebook               https://anita.dawes.37
Twitter                   https://twitter.com/jaydawes2
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8638857.Jaye_Marie
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6586480.Anita_Dawes
Author Page   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jaye-Marie/e/B00O2ZUFOK/
Author Page   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anita-Dawes/e/B0034NUE10/
Pinterest         https://www.pinterest.com/anitajaydawes
Bloglovin       https://www.bloglovin.com/v2/own_profile