A Memoir Looks At Cancer - Part 2

This is another excerpt from John's memoir. John wrote this in 1992 so realize that things may have changed in how doctors practice "bedside manners" with patients, or - as in the previous excerpt - how corporate America treats employees with cancer. Or maybe after more than two decades, not much has changed.  You be the judge.  I welcome your comments and observations.

I think that for memoir writers, or any writer, John's work is an example of good storytelling and sharing with readers his life experience  in a very human way.  He had dug deep and found his voice.

The following passage will appear in my true life novel about love, honor, and risk-taking. I have changed John's original work from first to third person and use his pseudonym Jay Scioli to tell his story.

Doctors and medicine in America today cure nothing. Although an obvious generalization and oversimplification, the fact remains that most medicine merely treats the symptoms and not the disease. Jay felt sure that in centuries to come, man would look back on 20th century doctors the same way that people today laughed and shook their heads over the lack of sterilization and the use of leeches, a few centuries ago. Jay remembered a wonderful scene in the movie, Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home, where Doctor McCoy and Admiral Kirk are in a 20th century San Francisco hospital and overhear two residents conversing on an elevator. The residents are discussing cancer treatments – radiation, chemotherapy, imaging, when McCoy turns and remarks, “What is this, the goddamn Middle Ages? It sounds like the Spanish Inquisition.”


Jay learned during the early days of his ordeal that a cancer patient is never promised a cure and sometimes the medicine or treatment seems worse than the disease. That’s why he continued to fall back on his training at West Point. Like a plebe suffering through hazing, he had two choices – quit or take it. With cancer it was the same choice, except that quitting meant dying. So you have to take it and fight it. You can fight it with tears or you can fight it with anger. But, you have to fight. To paraphrase Dylan Thomas, “You cannot go gentle into that good night.”


He remembered a surgeon by the name of Malone. He wanted to do surgery, the whole thing - a bag, a colostomy, and no guarantee of a cure. Malone was sitting at a desk in a loose gray fitting suit. Probably at least sixty. The office was immaculate. He didn’t even have one piece of paper on his desk. Malone could have been a travel agent or an insurance salesman. He barely said hello.

“So I’ve read your records. What’s the hesitation?”

“I was hoping there was another way, rather than the radical surgery,” Jay said.

“Look you have colon cancer. Do you want to live?” He continued. “You have no choices. Forget the radiation. Today is Thursday. Check into the hospital on Saturday, I’ll operate on you on Monday and you’ll be out in three weeks.”

Jay had heard it from the first doctor he saw when he got the initial diagnosis. If enough people told you that a white wall was black in color you had to start believing them. Maybe, Jay thought, I’m color blind.

“Yes, a bag with no cure,” Jay said. It wasn’t that the thought of his death scared him; it was the mere thought of massive surgery that totally frightened him. The thought that someone had to cut into his flesh and remove things was totally abhorrent to him.

“Life is a gamble,” Malone said. “There are no promises. I did a very similar operation that I’m proposing for you on another man. You should see him now. Walking up and down the steps, going back to work, even playing a round of golf. He’s fine.”

Jay started to say something, that he still felt confused, but suddenly Malone stood up and looked at his watch. “It’s late and I’m expecting a liver in a minute for a transplant. That’s it. Take it or leave it. Ok?”

A Memoir Looks At Cancer

Cancer is a dirty word. That's what my late husband John M. Cavalieri wrote in his memoir 20 years ago. While my own memoir Again in a Heartbeat dealt with my perspective on cancer's impact on my marriage and family, John's story was much different than mine. After all, he suffered and lived illness in ways a healthy person can never imagine. That said, there was hope, grace and forgiveness at the end of his story.

In a  post this past summer My Husband's Memoir and Legacy, I explained why John wrote his memoir. It wasn't just about cancer, but honor and courage, turning points and realizations. I felt that John's manuscript could best be read for today's audience by changing it from first person to third person; I created what I've come to call a true life novel for lack of a better description.

Jay Scioli (which was John's pseudonym) is a man who has left the military and corporate America behind. Jay and Ava, a writer and his editor, fall in love and are soon grappling with questions of  love and desire, risk taking and last chances. So the book is drawn from a place of imagination, as well as experience. It also serves as a vehicle to showcase John's incredibly compelling writing.   When I work on "our book", I often look at a photograph of John taken on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1990. Some days I am not sure I can finish the book.  But something tells me I must if for no other reason than because I feel John would have liked it.

Here is what John wrote about cancer in the workplace in 1992.  I suspect not much has changed. I welcome your questions, thoughts and personal experiences.

America does not like illness. It worships fitness and vitality. This country admires leaders who jog and swim and workout. Big business is no different. Health is the key. Without it you have no career and no future.

When Jay returned to his office after his cancer surgery, he received the usual welcome backs, but he also got one unexpected surprise – a demotion. In his absence another man was brought into the organization to do his job. He could understand this, after all the world didn’t stop because he had gotten sick, but now he was back and he wanted his old job. But it wasn’t to be. Of course, none of this was explained. Jay only found out at a monthly staff meeting about two days after he returned. A new organizational chart was flipped up on an overhead cell and he noticed that his little box on the chart now was pointing to his replacement. He was reporting to him; he was the manager.

After the meeting, Jay went into the director’s office and asked what was going on. He was a young, red-headed, corporate executive who was only interested in climbing as fast and as far to the top as he could. He explained to Jay in no uncertain terms that he had checked it all out with the legal department.

“We are within the law to do this. If it will make you feel any better, I’ll put a line beside your name on the chart saying ‘manager’.”

Jay didn’t even bother to argue. He was told that he could still come to the staff meeting, but that he “really had no managerial duties anymore.” He was not surprised. He took it all and kept his mouth shut. He didn’t think he had any recourse. Besides, he didn’t have the energy to battle corporate America along with his cancer.

One of my favorite photographs of John

From then on Jay was a marked man. No projects were given to him. No responsibilities were handed to him. He was a non-entity. He really believed that his bosses would hope that he would just fade away.

Some of his co-workers also had interesting reactions to his new found fame. Some would literally stay away from him and avoid eating with him in the cafeteria. He had one woman co-worker approach and announce with complete conviction and with no regard for his feelings that surgery for cancer was a mistake because the surgery only caused the disease to spread farther into the body. She announced that most people who had the surgery were dead within a year.

Next week:  An excerpt of how doctors treat cancer patients.

Stories of Women of the Southwest

As a former journalist, I identify with the importance of first person accounts to document history.  I also appreciate how valuable it is to "set the record straight" when it comes to damaging stereotypes of people and cultures. So when I met Patricia Preciado Martin, I felt an instant affinity with her work.

As we sipped coffee, Patricia and I talked about her books, her oral histories which focus on the Mexican American heritage in the Southwest and stories of her mother's and grandmother's generation.  Our meeting place was a Mexican adobe house dating back to 1856.  An important historic landmark in Tucson, it now serves as Cafe a la C'Art near the Tucson Museum of Art. Patricia's journey as a professional writer began when she was 40. It took her five years to write her first book Images and Conversations. Now over three decades later, she has received numerous awards for her oral histories and short stories. Please welcome Patricia to the Circle. ~ Susan

My writing journey began when I began to make up stories for my children while we were on extended camping trips. A big influence in my life's direction was Margaret Maxwell, a professor of Library Science at the University of Arizona who encouraged me to write about my Mexican American culture. I wrote a folk tale called “The Legend of the Bellringer of San Agustin” which won a prize from the United Nations “Year of the Child” writing contest. It was published in 1979 by Pajarito Publications of Albuquerque New Mexico. This led to my interest in collecting local folk tales and subsequently to collecting the oral history of the Mexican American community of Tucson and Arizona.

My three published oral histories, my family, friends and the people I have interviewed have been an inspiration for my three collections of fiction short stories. The themes of my books all have to do with the history, culture, and traditions of the Mexican American community of which I am a part. I have always been interested in the connection to the land – our beloved land and the people needed to know our connection to the land. One woman I interviewed was 101 years old. What a rich source of information and memories she was.

I hope that my readers will get a deeper understanding and appreciation of the history, culture, strength, power, beauty and historical presence of the Mexican American community of the Southwest—“El Norte”.

There are many stereotypes and problems with discrimination that our Hispanic communities have experienced and it is my hope and goal that my books will influence greater understanding and acceptance and appreciation--and even love!

One of the stereotypes that most annoyed me was that Mexican American women in stories and movies fell into either one of two categories. She’s either the “puta,” hot-blooded with a rose in her hair, or the ancient one, with rosary beads who is kind of superstitious. There was nothing in between. I got so upset I decided to write Songs My Mother Sang to Me. I interviewed 10 women of my mother's and grandmother's generation who ran the gamut from artists and journalists to seamstresses and ranchers. The stories they tell are so powerful about their communities, their fathers, and their religion. I’m not asking for anything special, just equal time to tell our stories. (Patricia recorded all her interviews and still has the tapes.)

Writers who are interested in conducting oral history should be versed in the background of their subjects. Research and study in the subject matter one is interested in are necessary before one begins to conduct interviews. It helps in my case that I am Mexican American, bilingual, and a member in good standing in my community. Networking has been an invaluable tool for me.

Once I finish a story, it is hard for me to begin another. But it’s not the job of the muse to show up, it’s my job to show up and write. I’m happiest in my garden. In order to write, you have to think. I'm currently working on a short story.

NOTE FROM SUSAN:   For a month this winter I stayed in Tucson. The sojourn was intended as my own personal writing retreat, but along the way I got to meet writers and authors of the Southwest.  Special thanks for arranging this time with Patricia goes to friend, fellow writer and environmental consultant Melanie Mizell of Tucson.

Are you working on a family legacy memoir or documenting the history of a person or place? Please share your comments.

Patricia Preciado Martin is a native Arizonan and lifelong Tucsonense. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Arizona. Patricia has spent the last 30 years documenting the history and culture of the Mexican Americans in Arizona through her nonfiction and fiction. Her published oral histories are: Images and Conversations: Mexican Americans Recall a Southwestern Past; Songs My Mother Sang to Me; An Oral History of Mexican American Women; and Beloved Land: An Oral History of Mexican Americans and the Land. Her three collections of prize winning short stories are: “Days of Plenty, Days of Want”; “Amor Eterno: Eleven Lessons of Love”; and “El Milagro and Other Stories”.

All of Patricia' books have been published by the University of Arizona Press. Patricia has received many honors including: The Arizona Humanities Council Distinguished Public Scholar Award; The Sharlott Hall Museum Women's Hall of Fame Award and The Hispanic Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. Patricia lives in Tucson with her husband Jim whom she met while serving in the Peace Corps. She is currently working on another collection of short stories.

Writer Finds Her "Voice" and Story

I first met Mary Gottschalk through an online memoir writers forum and was intrigued with the topic of her memoir Sailing Down the Moonbeam.  It was the story of a married couple who decided to chuck it all in search of an extraordinary life by sailing around the world. I read her book and reviewed it and continued to share and "converse" with Mary through social media. Now, Mary has turned to fiction to continue cultivating storytelling. Mary credits a writing group for much of her success in finding her "voice" as both a woman and a writer.  Here is her story. Please welcome Mary to the Women's Writing Circle. ~ Susan

As a voracious reader, I’ve always known that the author’s “voice” is critical to making a story come alive. But for many years, I assumed that voice was the product of just the right blend of things like word usage, syntax, humor, and tone, a skill developed much like constructing a proper sentence from nouns, verbs, and grammar principles. Knowing that each author’s voice is unique, I knew it wasn’t as simple as that, but for many years, that analogy seemed apt.

This delusion was fostered by the fact that, as a scribbler since childhood, writing was how I communicated what was in my mind. Writing was how I connected the dots, how I made sure I wasn’t leaving out some critical piece of data or drawing conclusions not supported by the evidence. From my perspective, writing was how I gave voice to the jumble of ideas careening around in my head.

By the time I finished college, my writing skills were substantial. Whether I was writing an essay for a college professor, a report for a financial client or a guest editorial for the New York Times, I knew how to pen an elegant sentence, how to explain a complex concept in simple terms, how to build a persuasive case for a particular point of view. Once I knew what I wanted to say, I always found the words I needed to say it.

And so, when I sat down to work on the first draft of my memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, at age 60, I expected the words to flow readily from my brain onto the page. Lots of words did indeed spill out, but I soon discovered they were not the ones I needed. “It’s your story, but I don’t see you on the page,” said one member of my writing group. “The woman in this story doesn’t sound like you,” offered a second.

Their message was clear: despite my demonstrable writing skills, I did not have a “voice.”

I tried a number of ways to find that voice, not least of which was mimicking aspects of my favorite contemporary authors—Kingsolver, Kidd, Wolitzer, among others. The result was stilted prose that yielded no insight whatsoever into two offbeat people who abandoned successful careers to sail around the world in a small boat.

In fact, the problem was not about getting the language and tone just right, but of knowing what story I wanted to tell. For all those years as a professional writer, I focused on the facts, on the logic of the case, on the information and evidence that responded to the needs of my audience. I had labored long and hard to remove “me” and any personal perspective from everything I wrote. It was an ideal role for an introvert who disliked being on center stage.

Unfortunately, I had left “me” out of the first draft of Moonbeam, emphasizing instead where we went and what we saw, as if the uniqueness of the places we visited was sufficient to make the story interesting. But readers of memoir and fiction are looking for new ideas and experiences, for unexpected perspectives. Even with stories that take place in unfamiliar settings, readers want that “shiver of recognition,” the sense that the author has connected with the emotions and values of the reader’s own life.

Through the questions and criticisms of my writers’ group, I discovered that my voice lay not in using just the right words, but in telling the story as I experienced it. It was exhilarating to watch my voice emerge once I began to give pride of place to my own personality and perspective, once I began to tell “my” story instead of “the” story. It has been a different, but equally exhilarating challenge to find my voice in my forthcoming novel, A Fitting Place, which is not “my” story, but on an imaginary story as I might experience it.

But perhaps what is most exhilarating about finding my voice as a writer is that the introverted me—the one who tended to stand at the edges of most social situations--has also found her voice in every day life. Having learned to tell “my” story, it no longer matters whether I am telling it on the page or at the dinner table.

What about you?  Can you share the process of working to find your voice?

About the Author: Mary Gottschalk was born in Chicago and has lived  in Des Moines, Iowa since 2000.  She has made a career out of changing careers. After finishing her MBA, she spent nearly thirty years in the financial markets, working in New York, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, Europe, and amazingly, Des Moines, Iowa. Along the way, she dropped out several times. In the mid-1980’s, Mary and her husband Tom embarked on the multi-year sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. In her latest incarnation, she defines herself as a writer. Her first novel, A Fitting Place, will come out in the spring of 2014. [http://marycgottschalk.com/a-fitting-place/]

Mary’s memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, can be found at amzn.to/Iy5JTJ

Other Links

http://marycgottschalk.com

http://twitter.com/marycgottschalk

http://www.facebook.com/mary.gottschalk.9

http://www.facebook.com/MaryGottschalkWriter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marygottschalk/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105973496280247274228/posts

Connect To the Creative Writer Within: A Workshop

If you write memoirs or other non-fiction you may think that the creative writer’s province is the world of fiction.  But every writer has a creative center that is the spark lighting the fire of the ideas and desires that spur you to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!). Awakening to yourself as a creative being means enhancing your ability to play with the abandon of the child. Doing so brings the great joy of giving your creative energy to the world in tangible ways.  Join us for this innovative workshop to tap into your creative center.

Connect To The Creative Writer Within

Saturday April 5, 2014

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Fairfield Inn 5 N. Pottstown Pike

Exton, PA

Cost:  Early bird special $99 if paid by March 15, 2014.  After that, cost is $120.   Includes light refreshments, coffee, tea and lunch.  

To Register:  Checks should be made payable to: Women’s Writing Circle and sent to Women's Writing Circle, 75 Jennifer Drive, Chester Springs, PA  19425.  Include email address with check. Questions, email Susan G. Weidener:  sgweidener@comcast.net

This workshop awakens your creative center by working with the magic of the three muses referenced by Plutarch: Melete or Practice, who is born from the movement of water, Mneme or Memory, who makes sound by striking the air, and Aoide or Song who is embodied only in the human voice.

So bring your journal, an open mind and heart and a sense of adventure!

There will be ample time for sharing and reading work to the group and in breakout sessions.

Writers of all genres are welcome. You will receive:

(1) An understanding of how inspiration works

(2) How to generate inspiration as an active skill

(3) Simple techniques to avoid the dreaded ‘writers block’

(4) How to learn to trust the blank canvas

(5) An understanding of the roots of procrastination

(6) Proven techniques to stay motivated on creative work.

(7) Have fun connecting with the creative center within

Handouts provided. You are welcome to bring a current project if one is available to work with during the day.

Where:  Fairfield Inn 5 N. Pottstown Pike Exton, PA 19341.  The Fairfield Inn, located in the heart of the beautiful and historic Brandywine Valley 30 miles west of Philadelphia, provides easy access to the Downingtown exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and has ample free parking. 

Instructors: 

  

Cathleen O’Connor, PhD is a metaphysician, best-selling author, speaker and intuitive coach who loves to empower women through boundaries and balance. She is the author of several books including her 2014 Amazon International Best-Seller in the Self-Help and Self-Esteem category, High Heels on the Hamster Wheel (Balboa Press, 2013). Cathleen, known as “The Balance Whisperer,” believes in the power of the mind and heart to co-create miracles in all areas of life. Visit Cathleen’s website: www.cathleenoconnor.com

Susan G. Weidener is a former journalist with The Philadelphia Inquirer and the author of two critically-acclaimed memoirs, Again in a Heartbeat, a memoir of love, loss and dating again and Morning at Wellington Square. Susan has a BA in Literature from American University and a master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania. A writing coach and editor, she created the Women’s Writing Circle, a support and critique group for writers in suburban Philadelphia. www.susanweidener.com

Who Should Take This Workshop: Suitable for women writers of all levels and experience. Women’s Writing Circle workshops are designed to be intimate and there are a limited number of slots.

What To Bring: Writing tools: pens, paper, and/or laptop.

For more information about Women's Writing Circle Workshops: http://www.susanweidener.com/p/susans-workshops-and-retreats.html

Best-Selling Author's Writing Advice

International Best-Selling author Cathleen O'Connor will teach a creative writing workshop through the Women's Writing Circle on Saturday, April 5 in Exton, Pennsylvania. This all-day workshop – Connect To The Creative Writer Within - brings inspiration, learning and a supportive group of writers together at the beginning of spring in the heart of the beautiful and historic Brandywine Valley 30 miles west of Philadelphia.

I asked Cathleen to write her thoughts about what inspired her own creative writing journey and any advice she might offer writers. Please welcome Cathleen to the Circle. ~ Susan

As a writer and most likely a rabid reader, you probably know that Twilight author and Mormon housewife Stephenie Meyer began her best-selling saga awakening from a dream filled with characters so real and compelling that she could not put the dream aside. My latest book, High Heels on the Hamster Wheel, began as a dream. I awoke one morning several years ago with a story about hamsters, corporations, women and boundaries flowing through my dreaming mind. I could have ignored it but I didn’t. Instead I got up and began writing and the more I wrote the more the details of the dream appeared and the fable took shape. 

With my own writing, I have learned that if I am experiencing a dearth of ideas I have only to ask for inspiration in my sleep and blocks disappear upon waking. I believe that one of the keys to creativity is simple curiosity – the more curious you are about something the more you send that questing energy out into the universe seeking an answer. And I am always curious about how to keep inspiration flowing.

The original meaning of inspiration comes from Greek mythology. 

The Greeks believed that all creativity came from the gods and goddesses and that mortal beings received the spirit of the heavens and created some form of what had been revealed. The Greek gods and goddesses were the creative muses to philosophers, painters, sculptors, musicians and writers of the time. The etymology of the word itself means to “breathe in spirit,” and I do experience inspiration often as if a breath has suddenly moved through me and out onto the page.

What I have found is that my writing takes whatever form is needed at the time. When I first started writing I was six years old and created a family newspaper, complete with drawings, the latest headlines and little snippets of the latest news. I very carefully outlined sections, drew cartoons and folded my creation into what I thought was a good newspaper format. It was only four pages but filled with everything I thought would be of interest to my readers. 

By the time I was in college I was committed to journaling and began writing short stories, winning first place in my junior year for a short story based on ideas that captivated me while reading Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. And that is where my creative writing story ends for a few decades – or does it?

Maybe, like me, you spent a good part of your life in the working world and felt your creative impulse was only honored when you could get away for a retreat or a writing class to keep the fire within lit. Life has a way of moving us where it needs to go. For me that meant a long corporate career during which I spent a good part of my time in airports and hotels overseas. 

While my writing over those years consisted mainly of business correspondence, I found that inspiration was still there; tugging at the edges of my mind and encouraging me to be as creative as possible even when the subject was as dry as toast. Writing, all writing, is self-revelatory. 

You may think that memoir writing or journaling is the most revealing but there is also something about storytelling that exposes the essence of your hopes, dreams and how you see life. The nuances of who you are come to life in the traits of the characters you create. So we see both shadow and light upon the page – the parts of you that you show to the world and the parts that you keep hidden.

There is a well-cherished admonition to ‘write what you know.’ But creative writing asks you to write not from that place of experience but from the land of inspiration and imagination. Creative writing takes you beyond what you think you ‘know’ to a realm where all that is known and unknown co-exist. In that place you step into the flow of inspiration in a way that pulls from all your senses so you can bring to life something ‘new.’ 

What I have found is that our well of inspiration and creativity never truly dries up. It is blocked only by our own beliefs about what is possible. Creative writing asks you to play again with the child within. By inviting in that child you slide the cover off the well and let the water flow freely. By letting go of adult expectations, doubts and self-perceptions you shift into a much more receptive state, one that facilitates writing that is both inspired and uniquely yours. 

Creative writing opens you to flashes of genius, moments of inspiration and visits from creative muses. Writers often talk about feeling as if they are channeling information when they sit down to write, so easily does the information flow. Staying in that flow is a matter of practice and memory – it is a repeatable experience whether you are writing a memoir, a non-fiction article or the next block-buster mystery novel. Opening to inspiration through the muses of memory, song and practice is an opening to your deepest self – an all wise, trusting and courageous part of self, standing at the ready to bring your words to life.

Workshop details, what to expect and how you can register.

Cathleen O’Connor, PhD is a metaphysician, best-selling author, speaker and intuitive coach who loves to empower women through boundaries and balance. She is the author of several books including her 2014 Amazon International Best-Seller in the Self-Help and Self-Esteem category, High Heels on the Hamster Wheel (Balboa Press, 2013). She is also the author of The Everything Law of Attraction Dream Dictionary (Adams Media, 2010), and co-author of the 2011 best-seller Embracing Your Authentic Self (Inspired Living Publishing). Cathleen has been quoted in the Huffington Post and featured as an expert work-life balance source in various publications. In addition to her own business Cathleen is co-founder with Omega Institute Healer, Elizabeth Harper, of Spiritual Living (www.spiritualliving.com), an online spiritual community offering programs and off-site retreats for those on the spiritual path. Cathleen, known as “The Balance Whisperer,” believes in the power of the mind and heart to co-create miracles in all areas of life. Visit Cathleen’s website: www.cathleenoconnor.com

Every Writer Needs A Bit of "Paris"

For the past three and a half years my days have gone something like this: writing and publishing two memoirs, collaborating on an anthology of stories and poems, writing a weekly blog, marketing my books, keeping up with publishing trends, answering emails, developing an email marketing strategy, organizing and facilitating writing workshops and editing the novels and memoirs of my clients.

Gratifying and exhausting. The only hiatus . . . the monthly Women's Writing Circle read-arounds, a lovely escape into the authenticity of writing. Together we share our stories and explore the human journey, as well as talk about ways to enhance our writing.

As the facilitator of the Circle, I provide resources and opportunities for writers to be published. Sometimes I don't read my work . . .thankfully, we have so many writers coming to the Circle, I want to offer them the opportunity to "test drive" their voices.

Finally, if one is fortunate, the writer allows herself a break and returns to what stokes the fires of creativity; nurturing her writing and tending to it with love and tenderness as you would a child.  For those who take writing seriously, we know it is essential to our survival.

We "get away" in order to gain new perspectives.  If we can't get a change of venue, then a new experience or encounter suffices to spark new writing. The key is to keep moving and exploring.

Hemingway had Paris and for seven years reflected and wrote.  I have a special bed and breakfast called Le Rendezvous where I'll be staying for the next month, which has a stunning view of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

My favorite Tucson cafe is within walking distance of Le Rendezvous.   The bagels are a meal in themselves; add smoked salmon, fresh tomatoes and purple onion, cream cheese and capers.  Drink an iced cold glass of lemonade.  Voila! Hemingway may have had his cold oysters and crisp white wine, but this will do.

Ways I nurture writing:

• A long walk in the morning energizes thoughts concerning my new book.
• Get to work.  Close the door and create the privacy of a sacred space.
• Put aside the fear that what I am writing is not good or - conversely, will be too literary for mass market consumption and won't sell.
• Turn off  the hubbub about traditional, versus independent, versus self-publishing.  Just do it.  Write. And here I'll quote the last line in my memoir Morning at Wellington Square  . . .  "keep writing, keep writing, keep writing."
• Pay attention to the small moments . . . the kindness of friends, the conversation of strangers in the coffeeshop, the slants of light streaking through the window, the shadows enveloping the mountains at nightfall.
• Pick up a book or a newspaper that is not on your tablet, your ebook reading device or your laptop, but can be opened or folded on a table as you linger over a meal or glass of wine.  (I left my Kindle behind in Pennsylvania.)
• Explore the colors and details of a new surrounding. Every new landscape provides rich resources for writing.
• Work to develop a deeper understanding of the purpose of your story.
• Browse a bookstore with used books.  A funky place here in Tucson whose patrons mirror this southernmost Arizona city is Bookmans. Their slogan:  Why Buy New? People bring in their gently worn books and CDs, guitars, old jewelry for sale.
• Search out other writers and writing groups in your new location.
• Set aside time to read other authors.  I am finishing The Book Thief.  Next up: Slaughterhouse Five.

As daylight sinks in the west, enjoy those final glorious moments of sunlight.

What about you?  How do you connect with your "bit of Paris"?

Brimming bookshelves at Bookmans