Author: Marcia Meara

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAbout – Author #RosieMitchell

/ Marcia Meara / 55 Comments

Hi, Everyone! It’s #TenThings Day once again, and today our guest is Rosie Mitchell. Let’s all make Rosie welcome, and hope she has an easier time responding to comments than last time. I think we have the problems ironed out, fingers crossed, so let’s get going. Take it away, Rosie!

Thanks, Marcia!
***

TEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

  1. I AM A KIWI AT HEART, BUT HAVE NOW LIVED OVERSEAS LONGER THAN I HAVE LIVED IN NZ. PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO GO HOME!
  1. MY HUSBAND VICTOR AND I ARE PERMANENT TRAVELLERS, OR AS WE LIKE TO TELL EVERYONE, WE ARE GLOBALLY MOBILE CITIZENS, HAVING A VERY LONG, EXTENDED SENIOR CITIZENS GAP YEAR! WE ARE CURRENTLY IN CANADA AND NORTH AMERICA UNTIL MARCH 2024.
  1. MY PASSION IS TRAVEL. THE LONGEST I HAVE LIVED IN ONE PLACE, IS TWELVE YEARS IN CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA FROM 2000-2012. DUTY CALLS WHEN YOU HAVE TO PUT DOWN ROOTS AND LET YOUR TWO BOYS GO THROUGH THEIR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS.
  1. I HAVE LIVED OVERSEAS IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, PENANG AND MALTA. ISLAND LIVING SEEMS TO BE IN THE BLOOD. WELL, A LOT OF COUNTRIES ARE ISLANDS; NZ, AUSTRALIA, UK, ARE ALL SURROUNDED BY WATER.
  1. MY FAVOURITE COUNTRY IS SWITZERLAND. I LOVE THE PEOPLE, THE COUNTRYSIDE, THE TRAIN NETWORK AND THE FOOD. JUST WISH I COULD AFFORD TO LIVE THERE ALL THE TIME.
  1. I HAVE BEEN AN INTERNATIONAL HOUSE SITTER SINCE 2011, AND HAVE ENJOYED SOME FABULOUS HOUSE SITS IN THE UK, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, MALTA, CANADA, NZ, AUSTRALIA AND THE USA. THIRTY-SEVEN AND COUNTING.
  1. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE BOOKS I HAVE WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED (SO FAR), OPEN THE DOOR AND AVANING AROUND IN ARABELLA, ARE ABOUT OUR TRAVELS AND HOUSE-SITTING ESCAPADES.
  1. I DO OCCASIONALLY, THAT IS WHEN I AM ACTUALLY IN ONE PLACE FOR A REASONABLE LENGHTH OF TIME, ENJOY COOKING, SEWING, READING, WALKING AND OF COURSE FINDING TIME TO WRITE.
  1. I WAS A DEFENCE WIFE FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS OF OUR FORTY YEAR MARRIAGE. EIGHT MOVES IN ALL. IT WAS A GREAT TIME IN OUR LIVES, AND WE ARE THANKFUL THAT OUR TWO BOYS APPRECIATE TRAVELLING AS MUCH AS WE DO.
  1. MY FAVOURITE SAYING IS ‘FILL YOUR LIFE WITH ADVENTURES, NOT THINGS. HAVE STORIES TO TELL, NOT STUFF TO SHOW’.

You Can Buy Open the Door HERE

BLURB:

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ — Loa Tzu.

Open the Door. Just take a deep breath and one giant leap forward. Venture out into the unknown… As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’
So, take a chance to dream and explore a new way of life. It’s not going to be easy at first, but the rewards and the self-confidence you gain in knowing that you have achieved something you have wanted for a long time will make it all worthwhile.
So why not seize the day? Fear is the thief of our dreams.

You Can Buy Avaning Around in Arabella HERE

BLURB:

When the world was gripped by the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, Rosie Mitchell and her husband sold their property in the Riverina, New South Wales. Trapped by lockdowns and border closures and with no chance of escaping overseas, they bought a small caravan, planning to spend time travelling around the wonderful country of Australia.
This book follows Rosie’s first book, Open the Door, which describes their international house-sitting adventures.

Author Rosie Mitchell

Hello fellow readers. I have now published two books, the first called Open The Door, which is about my early house sitting adventures and other overseas travels through Europe, Malta and the USA. My second book, Avaning Around in Arabella, was written about our caravan travels and house sitting experiences in Australia, which took place during the Covid19 pandemic. I enjoy writing for pleasure. I love to read and when I am at home I enjoy sewing and cooking. Travelling is what I do the most. In June 2022, my husband and I finally escaped overseas on our extended senior citizens gap year. My third book is now under way. I look forward to sharing the dream with you.

You Can Reach Rosie on Social Media HERE:

FACE BOOK Rosie Mitchell: www.facebook.com/rosie56mitchell

#ClassicPoetry – #John Donne – #NoManIsAnIsland

/ Marcia Meara / 39 Comments

Taking a look at another of my very favorite poems today. This one is less about lyrical poetry and more about contemplation of humanity. It always made me stop and think, and I hope it will either bring back memories of your own school studies or introduce you to something you may not have read before. Either way, it’s a bit more profound than what I’ve shared to date, but it never hurts to stop now and then for a moment of contemplation, right? 

NOTE: Because this is actually an excerpt from  an essay, it has been presented as a poem in various formats over the centuries. This is my favorite, as far as line breaks are concerned, and I certainly prefer the version with today’s English, as opposed to the way it was spoken in the fifteen and sixteen hundreds.

No Man Is an Island
John Donne – 1571 – 1631

No man is an island entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were;
Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

John Donne

John Donne was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England.[2] Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London (1621–1631). He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires. He is also known for his sermons.

Donne’s style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of English society. Another important theme in Donne’s poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorised. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits.

And there you have today’s Classic Poetry offering.
Hope this one made you stop to ponder the reality
that all humanity is connected.

#ThorsDaySmile – #AmLaughing – #Humor

/ Marcia Meara / 44 Comments

Guess what day it is, folks? Yep, ThorsDay, and you know what that mean! As usual, though, Thor is in one of his God of Thunder moods, and has requested I find something funny that doesn’t rely on pictures. He insists on wordplay only today, so that’s what he’s gonna get. It doesn’t pay to make a Norse god angry, you know, so I hope he (and YOU) enjoy these! 😀

Okay, I think that’s about as many words as Thor
can deal with at one time. But don’t tell him I said so.
Hope you got a laugh or two among them!

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #LiesbetCollaert

/ Marcia Meara / 71 Comments

Once again, it’s #GuestDayTuesday on The Write Stuff, and today, I have the pleasure of introducing Liesbet Collaert as our special guest. I feel sure you are going to enjoy getting to know Liesbet better, so without any further delay, I’m going to turn the floor over to her. Take it away, Liesbet! 😀

Hello everyone – and thank you, Marcia, for featuring me today on your excellent website and for giving us, indie authors, a chance to shine!

I am Liesbet Collaert from Belgium, although it’s been a long time since I lived there. Twenty years to be precise. That’s how long I have been roaming the world fulltime, with my husband Mark and – over time – three rescue dogs. We are currently overlanding in Ecuador with our 60-pound pooch Maya, as part of a multiple-year South American journey. Our home on wheels, a truck camper disguised as a cow, is called Thirsty Bella.

My two main passions have always been traveling and writing, so a book had to emerge at some point. After five years of writing and editing (life of an unretired explorer is busy!), that moment finally came in November 2020, on my 45th birthday, with Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary. A unique birthday present to myself! 😊

BLURB:

Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.

Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.

Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?

Have you ever wondered how life could be if you had made different choices? If you didn’t marry early, commit to a large loan for the house, focus on your career, start a family? 

Maybe you’re just curious about how a person thinking outside the box manages? A person without boundaries, striving to be flexible, happy, and free.

What you are about to read is how one such person follows her dreams, no, her intuition, and how she survives her naivety, life altering twists, and a relationship in close quarters. 

Plunge is a story of what happens when you go with the flow, when you have a bright idea – or thought you had one – and ride the waves of the unknown. 

I’d like to share some of my recent book news with all of you and hope you’ll check out my “refreshingly honest,” “compelling,” and “beautifully written” travel memoir. Feel free to follow our adventures on my ad-free blog Roaming About as well.

A recent 5-star review for my travel memoir
Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary

I could not put this book down. Beautifully written in the present tense, which confers a sense of urgency, I felt I was aboard with the author throughout her seaborne adventures.

Although living her dreams, Liesbet is very honest about the difficulties brought about by choosing an alternative lifestyle, and the strain it puts on her relationship with her new husband, Mark:

“Sailing the world was once my dream, until a first practice session in a Mirror dinghy with my then partner ended with, “I’m never sailing with you again!” to which he responded, “Good, because I’m never going to ask you to!” We realised the only way we would ever sail around the world together was if we set off in opposite directions. I have so much admiration for Liesbet and Mark, who weathered storms, both real and personal, while miles from anywhere and confined in a tiny space.”

Yet, this realistic depiction hasn’t put me off. The descriptions of familiar island destinations in the Caribbean, the enchanting wildlife in the Galapagos, and the remote and less well-known island paradises in French Polynesia are wonderful. I completely understand why Liesbet, an unlikely sailor who suffers from seasickness, felt a transit of the Panama Canal and hair-raising Pacific adventures in a vessel not quite suitable for ocean crossings, was so worthwhile!”
Source: TripFiction.com/review
Amazon reviews for Plunge

And, I’m excited to share that Plunge made the list of Ten Great Stories of Female Adventurers on TripFiction!
Read the article HERE

NOTE FROM MARCIA:

I highly recommend you also check out the  wonderful story about how Liesbet met Mark, and the adventures that followed that stroke of luck:
Chance Encounters
 Trust me. This is a story well worth reading!

Author Liesbet Collaert

Liesbet Collaert’s articles and photos have been published internationally. Born in Belgium, she has been a nomad since 2003 with no plans to settle anytime soon. Her love of travel, diversity, and animals is reflected in her lifestyle choices of sailing, RVing, and house and pet sitting. Liesbet calls herself a world citizen and currently lives “on the road” in South America with her husband and rescue dog. Follow her adventures at
Roaming About

BUY LINKS

Amazon Author Page
For general info on my blog, including free chapters, reviews, and purchase links HERE 
Buy on Amazon universal link HERE 
For eBook versions worldwide, go HERE
For paperback distributors worldwide, go HERE

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Facebook Liesbet Collaert
Facebook Roaming About
Twitter
Goodreads
Email: lbcollaert@gmail.com

Blog URLs
Roaming About
It’s Irie

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAbout – Author #JillPiscitello

/ Marcia Meara / 69 Comments

Hi, folks! It’s #TenThings day here once again, here on TWS, and today’s guest is author Jill Piscitello. Jill’s list is definitely a “to-the-point” compilation, which I expect will engender a lot of questions. With that possibility in mind, let’s get going. Jill, the floor is yours! Have fun! 😀

Thanks, Marcia!

  1. I love sushi, but not all sushi.
  2. I enjoy stacking items in online bags and buying nothing.
  3. I enjoy stalking clothing until the item reaches my desired price.
  4. I have an exceedingly difficult time finding pictures to hang in my home and have many bare walls.
  5. I love HGTV.
  6. Fall is my favorite season. I begin getting excited for sweaters and jeans by the end of July.
  7. In my house, the Christmas season begins November 1st. Possibly earlier if you ask my daughter.
  8. Motion sickness is no joke.
  9. I’m addicted to Blistex and reapply multiple times per day.
  10. I believe animals understand more human language than we give them credit for.

                     When murder provides a welcome distraction…

BLURB:

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up behind her mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy, casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic, two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box— the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

EXCERPT:

With his mouth set in a grim line, he waited.

If anyone else had enough nerve to presume she owed them an explanation, she would respond with a solid mind your own business. Instead, the seventeen-year-old still inside her refused to tell him to get lost. “He was hiding money in his office.” This was one of those times when learning how to wait a few beats before blurting out inflammatory information would come in handy. Each second of passing silence decreased her ability to breathe in the confined space. She turned the ignition and switched on the air conditioner.

“How do you know?” His volume just above a whisper, each dragged-out word hung in the air.

“I found it.”

“When were you in his office?” He swiped at a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, then positioned a vent toward him.

“Last night.” When would she learn to bite her tongue? Finn’s switch from rapid-fire scolding to slow, deliberate questioning left her unable to swallow over the sandpaper lump in her throat.

“Where was Vic?”

She stared at the back of the building, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “He’d left for the night.” If she averted her gaze, she could pretend his eyeballs weren’t bugging out of his head, and his jaw didn’t need a crane to haul it off his chest.

“You were at the town hall after hours? Did anyone see you?”

“A custodian opened his door for me.” She snuck a glance. Sure enough, features contorted in shock and horror replaced his boy-next-door good looks.

Author Jill Piscitello

Jill Piscitello is a teacher, author, and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand.

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes.

You can reach Jill on Social Media here:
Website ~ Twitter  ~ Facebook ~  Instagram  ~ Amazon ~ GoodReads ~ BookBub

You can buy Jill’s books here:
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ ITunes ~ Google Books ~ Walmart ~ BooksAMillion ~
Indie Bound  ~ Kobo

#ClassicPoetry featuring #AmyLowell

/ Marcia Meara / 49 Comments

One of my favorite poets from the days of yore is Amy Lowell. She had a lovely way with words, and eventually, I will share my favorite of her poems, “Patterns.” Today, however, here’s something a little shorter for you. Hope you enjoy it!

The Garden by Moonlight
Amy Lowell – 1874-1925

A black cat among roses,
Phlox, lilac-misted under a first-quarter moon,
The sweet smells of heliotrope and night-scented stock.
The garden is very still,
It is dazed with moonlight,
Contented with perfume,
Dreaming the opium dreams of its folded poppies.
Firefly lights open and vanish
High as the tip buds of the golden glow
Low as the sweet alyssum flowers at my feet.
Moon-shimmer on leaves and trellises,
Moon-spikes shafting through the snowball bush.
Only the little faces of the ladies’ delight are alert and staring,
Only the cat, padding between the roses,
Shakes a branch and breaks the chequered pattern
As water is broken by the falling of a leaf.
Then you come,
And you are quiet like the garden,
And white like the alyssum flowers,
And beautiful as the silent sparks of the fireflies.
Ah, Beloved, do you see those orange lilies?
They knew my mother,
But who belonging to me will they know
When I am gone.

Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Augustus Lowell and Katherine Bigelow Lowell. A member of the Brahmin Lowell family, her siblings included the astronomer Percival Lowell, the educator and legal scholar Abbott Lawrence Lowell, and Elizabeth Lowell Putnam, an early activist for prenatal care.

Amy Lowell was a poet, performer, editor, and translator who devoted her life to the cause of modern poetry. “God made me a business woman,” Lowell is reported to have quipped, “and I made myself a poet.” During a career that spanned just over a dozen years, she wrote and published over 650 poems, yet scholars cite Lowell’s tireless efforts to awaken American readers to contemporary trends in poetry as her more influential contribution to literary history. She is best remembered for bringing the Imagism of Ezra Pound and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) to the attention of Americans, but her work has many facets. A flamboyant woman whose behavior belied her upbringing in a proper and prestigious New England family, she flouted convention with her proto-feminist poetry and unabashedly public persona. “Poet, propagandist, lecturer, translator, biographer, critic … her verve is almost as remarkable as her verse,” opined poet Louis Untermeyer in his 1923 work American Poetry since 1900.

And there you have an offering from one
of my favorite classic poets.
Hope you enjoyed it!

#ThorsDaySmile – #AmLaughing – #Humor

/ Marcia Meara / 40 Comments

Hi, Everybody! I’m guessing you know that it’s time for another #ThorsDaySmile post, and are probably wondering if Thor is finally coming out of the snit he’s been in lately. I was thinking he had cheered up a bit, but once he told me what he’d really like to see today, I have to admit I’m having second thoughts about that. But whether he’s still being grumpy or is just becoming an ardent reptile fan, here’s what he asked for: Alligators. Lots and lots of alligators!  Oddly enough, there aren’t nearly as many funny pictures of these big lizards as there are of most critters, but I did my best, so here you go: Thor’s Alligators on Parade! Enjoy!

And that’s it for Gators On Parade, folks!
Hope you got a chuckle or two from some of these.

#GuestDayTuesday – Featuring Author #YvonneBlackwood

/ Marcia Meara / 47 Comments

It’s #GuestDayTuesday once again, folks, and today, we have a wonderful post from our special guest, Yvonne Blackwood. I found Yvonne’s story to be both interesting and inspirational, and I think you will as well, so let’s get right to it. Yvonne, you’re on! 😀

Thanks, Marcia!

There is a maxim that says people come into our lives for a reason and a season. Influencers sometimes appear like genies without warning or explanation. We must recognize them and decide if we want to travel the road they try to lead us. I believe Olga was my genie.

Going Back to School is Good Medicine by Yvonne Blackwood

I had retired seven years, ending a thirty-seven-year banking career, and my life was advancing swimmingly, when I attended the inaugural meeting of a new writer’s group in my city. Olga and I were the first to arrive. We introduced ourselves and exchanged copies of one of our books. I became an author while working full-time.

At the second group meeting, Olga pulled me aside when it ended.

  “I finished reading your book. I enjoyed the story very much,” she said sweetly. “You know what I would do if I were you?”

   “What?” I asked abruptly. I detested people who offered unsolicited advice, especially when I didn’t know them well.

   “I suggest you do an English degree at the university. Nothing is wrong about your English, but I have that degree, and it helps me greatly to add texture to my writing. It will do the same for yours.”

I took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. Okay, advice about texture is not a bad thing. 

I’ve always felt that my writing was not textured enough, and I tried to improve it, but the writing courses I’d taken and the numerous books I’d read on writing had not helped to master texture. 

Why Go Back to School Now?

I pondered Olga’s suggestion for months, and thoughts of other potential benefits entered my mind. Dementia was ravishing more and more seniors every day. Dr. Sanjay Gupta quoted from the Alzheimer’s Association in his book Chasing Life: “When you’re sixty-five, there’s a one in ten chance you are affected, by the time you’re over eighty-five, there’s almost a one in two chance you have the disease.” Researchers concluded that exercising the mind could defend against dementia. I decided that my weapon would be pursuing an English degree. 

I learned that humans are social beings. Attending university would motivate me to get dressed and leave the house a few days each week to be with other humans. It would provide a consistent structure for the years of my studies. 

The fourth reason was to inspire my two young grandsons. I wanted to show them that you are never too old to learn and to encourage them to aim to attend university after graduating from high school.

 When you make a commitment, you keep it

I set a goal to earn the degree in six years, culminating with a memorable seventieth birthday party. Why six years? I was on a government board and three committees, was the head teller at my church, and was the emergency babysitter for my grandsons. I didn’t want to abandon those duties, but I wished to avoid stress and maintain a balanced life.

 Unforeseen hurdles appeared

My studies became like climbing a steep mountain. As I tried to reach its summit, I stumbled upon obstacles, including two strikes; the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the lockdown of the campus; hard-to-connect-with millennials; and the hardest one—a diagnosis of sarcoma cancer. I was hellbent on earning the degree and persisted because of my faith in God and strong support from family members, church family, and remarkable friends. 

More Than I hoped for

During my study years, the university awarded me the continuing education scholarship in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Golden Key International Honour Society invited me to become a member. Devoted to helping its members achieve excellence through the advancement of academics, leadership, and service, the organization, with more than two million members worldwide, offers membership only to high-achieving university students in the top 15 percent of their programs. I was flattered to the tenth degree.

 I had nine credits remaining to earn my degree when I received a call from a radiologist to report to the hospital for five weeks of radiation treatment, five days per week. 

      “I’m doing a course at the university, and I don’t want to withdraw from it. Will I be okay to continue my studies while receiving radiation treatments?” I asked.

      “Radiation will not affect your brain,” he said. We both laughed. “You can continue your studies.”  

Hospital room classroom.

Six weeks after radiation treatments ended, I underwent a thirteen-hour surgery to remove the sarcoma tumours from my right thigh. I could not walk unassisted and spent two months in a rehab hospital. I continued my studies, and every day nurses pushed me in a wheelchair to the tall, broad windows at the front of my hospital room. They brought me my over-the-bed table, laptop, notebook, and pens. I sat there and Zoomed into the lectures and completed all my assignments. The nurses nick-named me “The student patient”. 

I am ecstatic that I took on the challenge and climbed the mountain. College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way will inspire and motivate you to pursue your dreams. It was recently released and is available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and other major booksellers.

BLURB:

Seven years after she retired from a lengthy career in banking, Yvonne Blackwood surprised her friends and family by returning to school at age sixty-four to pursue an English degree. Her purpose was fueled by four powerful reasons—to add texture to her writing; to ward off dementia; to enhance structure in her life; and to inspire her two young grandsons to continue their education after high school. But as she stepped onto the campus of Canada’s third-largest university, Blackwood had no idea of the hurdles she was about to face.

Author Yvonne Blackwood

Yvonne Blackwood is the author of four adult non-fiction books, Into Africa: A Personal Journey, Will That Be Cash or Cuffs? Into Africa: the Return, and College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way. She has also published three children’s picture books: Nosey Charlie Comes to Town, Nosey Charlie Goes to Court, and Nosey Charlie Chokes on a Wiener. An award-winning short-story writer, Blackwood has contributed stories to several anthologies, including Human Kindness, Canadian Voices, and Wordscape. She has published articles in magazines including More of Our Canada, Adelaide, InTouch, and Green Prints and has written columns for the Toronto Star, Pride Newspaper, and The African Connection.

You can Buy Yvonne’s Book Here:

College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way – Kindle edition by Blackwood, Yvonne. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

“College Life of a Retired Senior” | eBook and audiobook search results | Rakuten Kobo

College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way by Yvonne Blackwood, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Yvonne Blackwood Books – BookBub

 You Can Find Yvonne on Social Media HERE:

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Website
Email: eblack2@ymail.com
Cell: 416-333-5936