Barnes and Noble Review

Someone told me they'd seen a review on the Barnes & Noble site, and it has taken me a long time to have a look.  This is an excellent summary of the book; wish I had written something this good as my "pitch" to publishers!  Whoever mceyes may be, I'm grateful for this.  

It's been a while since DOM was published, and life has taken various twists and turns since then.  Still, now and then someone will refer to parts of the book, telling me it made them feel less alone or validated their own life choices.  Knowing that is the most gratifying aspect of having written this book.  It doesn't have a limited shelf life,  I believe most readers who stumble on it in the years ahead will be able to relate it to most of it.  And the poems are timeless. 

Great thanks to all who have read Dancing on Mars and shared it.  May you always know the joys of being a reader.

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mceyes
Posted April 14, 2013

Dancing on Mars is one Southern woman¿s "Odyssey."
 

Dancing on Mars is one Southern woman’s "Odyssey." The story begins with a memoir of childhood, and a psychological investigation of her parents, their marriage and family life. As a child she saw the schism between her sensibility and her family’s constricted lives. She began to assume role of adult and was treated as such by her mother. By the time she was 18, she had no idea who she was. She sleepwalked away from college and into marriage. In her marriage she was unable to grow, becoming a servant to her husband and son. The first rumblings of self-awareness appeared when she began writing. After a second marriage to the same man, she escaped and began to fashion a life unique to herself.

Lucinda Shirley is a natural communicator. Her writing brings different levels of thought and information together and presents them in a clear way. There is a sense of connecting with the consciousness of others in her life, or in those cases where relationships end, a lack of that sense of intuitive connection. For someone who cares to understand and link with others, growing up in a home where these connections were guarded and masked was difficult. In her family, independent thinking and emotional expression were not encouraged and often suppressed. A keen observer, Shirley pulls away the mask to show the intricacies of growing up in a Southern family. She is as honest, though, about her own strengths and weaknesses as she is about those of her family. This perceptive ability to honestly evaluate her behavior and its consequences is one key to her finally breaking free.

Happy New Year!

(Thanks to Ganesha's Place/Facebook for this image.)

 

Long time since I've posted here.  Love, family, poetry and political activism have been top priorities in recent months.  I am working on what might become another "full length" book.  It's unfolding rather than "developing" on a schedule.  I'm not fond of self-imposed schedules and deadlines.  I know—it's good to set goals.  Sometimes even the idea of goal-setting cramps my style and sucks the joy right out of whatever I'm doing.  So, if I were more regimented, there might be a book by now.  But hat's my reality at this time.  I will keep you posted on any major happenings though.

Meanwhile, I'm grateful to all my reader-friends, and wish for you a very special year.  May you dance your dance right here on this planet!   

Wisdom of Johnny Depp

 

. . . and I second that, Mr. Depp.  Weird might just apply to most creative people.  At a certain point in life, it becomes a compliment! 

Free Audiobooks!

Dancing on Mars publisher, All Things That Matter Press, is giving away audio books!  Get details at the link below.  While you're at the site, check out all the titles offered by ATTM.  You'll find some compelling reads there.

  #Free #Audiobook promotion from #ATTMPress starts 10/1 at http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/attmpresspromotions.htm

'Tis True

(from the Virginia Woolf page - Facebook)

With a Little Help from My Friends

Actually Dancing on Mars is the result of a lot of help from generous friends.  And the help hasn't ended, even now.  Only today my friend Sue Willis surprised me by posting a plug for the book and this blog on Facebook!  Thank you, Sue.


I've been thinking about power, personal power, and wondering what would happen if all of us were to use our personal power in some way to make the crazy world a better place.  A lot of people DO use their power for that purpose.  But some of us put our personal power away for one reason or another and then forget to reclaim it.   Others of us don't recognize that we have power, that we have choices.  Sometimes the choices we face are clearly good and not so good; sometimes they're bad or worse than bad. But there are choices, almost always. 

        (Image from changetheworldorg.com, posted on Facebook)


Today, September 4, 2013, there's a New Moon.  A good time for beginnings.  For fresh starts.  My "New Moon wish" is that all who have forgotten their power will claim and embrace it.  And use it wisely.

Paying Attention

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(from Hippie Peace Freaks/Facebook)

It's all about paying attention, isn't it?  Being mindful in the unfolding moments of life.  Noticing the "little" things which usually turn out to be the "big" things.  This is one of the themes in a wanna-be book I'm working on now.  And this morning I'm remembering that we're all teachers and students for one another.