Book Review: Writing for Bliss by Diana Raab

I've been a fan of Diana Raab's writing since 2010 when I reviewed Healing with Words for her virtual book tour. Her work then, like her work now, is emotional; it's deep and touches the soul.

Writing for Bliss is for those interested in journaling and writing a memoir. Raab believes, as I do, that journaling has a positive impact on your health. In Writing for Bliss she provides techniques, tips, and prompts for writers at any stage of their career. The reader is encouraged to write in an effort to bring about change, to heal, and transform their lives. Drawing on personal experiences brings much meaning to an author's work, which Raab has experienced first hand.

Broken down into seven steps, Writing for Bliss takes you from beginning to end: getting started, finding your form, and sharing your work, with all the steps in between. There is an appendix with additional prompts and a substantial list of recommended reading materials listed by topic.

I'll be sharing this book with my writing group and at the local writers conference I attend. If memoir writing is in your future, Writing for Bliss should be a on your list of books to read.


Publisher: Loving Healing Press (September 1, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1615993231
ISBN-13: 978-1615993239

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Guest Blogger: Tina M. Games, Author of Journaling by the Moonlight

You're a mother, but who are you really? The moon brings great comfort to mothers during challenging periods in their lives, particularly during a time when they've felt a loss of personal identity. Motherhood brings much joy, but it can also bring anxiety, depression and confusion. Working with the phases of the moon as a source for personal transformation, mothers who are challenged by the loss of personal identity are gently guided on a path of self-discovery. Using a variety of creative methods, including journal writing and visual collage techniques, this book allows for personal reflection with many opportunities to answer the question, "I'm a mother, but who am I really?" Designed as a workbook with a journaling format, the author shares her personal story while weaving in stories from other mothers. She also introduces moon sign astrology and moon folklore to lay the foundation for a spiritual, moonlit journey toward an authentic life filled with purpose, passion and creative expression. Embark on an intimate adventure of self-exploration - and discover your full moon.

Mother's Guilt - who, what, when, how why?

by Tina M. Games

Thanks for the opportunity to join you on your blog today, Cheryl! And thank you for your interest in my book, Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother's Path to Self-Discovery and its accompanying deck of 54 journaling prompt cards.

I believe that mothers are a significant part of the "ripple effect" - that will transform the world into a more loving, more nurturing place. Imagine for a moment a "pebble thrown into a pond." It creates a ripple that goes on and on and on.

When a mother is living life with complete authenticity, she's subconsciously giving permission for her kids to do the same. She's truly at her best - creating powerful change for her family, her community, and for the world at large. It's all part of "the ripple."

It's my belief that "a happy mother makes the best mother" - and our kids really do want to see their moms happy!

But what if something goes awry - and "the ripple" stems from a place of frustration, confusion, disconnect or unhappiness?

My work with the moon phases came out of my own experience of connecting with the moon during a really dark period in my life. Shortly after the birth of my first child, and after making some fairly significant life changes at the same time, I fell into depression - a place that felt so foreign to me, a place where I felt like I had fallen into a black hole with no way out. It was during this time, a period that spanned over two years, that I had disconnected from everything that made me happy. Because my son suffered from chronic illnesses related to serious colds and severe ear infections, I made a very difficult choice to give up a successful career in order to care for my son full-time. I hadn't realized until this experience how much of my identity was tied into my career. Without it, I felt very lost and very unhappy.

It was during this time that I fell back on a great passion of mine - journal writing. And as a mom of a baby who did not have a normal sleep schedule, I found myself exhausted and emotional much of the time. So night after night, after I'd get my son settled and after my husband went to bed, I'd grab my journal and retreat to my favorite chair - beside a big bay window where I caught a glimpse of the moon. It was the moon that taught me the meaning of transition. I'd watch this beautiful lunar goddess, night after night, move in and out of her various phases. And before long, I began to connect her phases with my own emotional tides.

I noticed that the moon always began in darkness and gradually, she'd move into full light - and cycle back around again. And I noticed the contrast between dark and light - the darkness of the night sky against the beautiful full moon light. I started connecting to this - as if I was being divinely guided through my own transitions of dark and light. I began to notice the ebbs and flows of my emotions. There were good days and bad days.

So when I came to the point of writing my book, I wanted mothers to realize that every human transition begins in darkness and gradually moves into light, where we get a glimpse of what is possible. And then we retreat, to ponder the many ways we can manifest these possibilities into reality. This requires deep work, where we step into our own truth and into our own power - and where we can emerge in the most authentic way possible. This is what I call the Blue Moon phase - when we finally realize that we are here on this Earth to be WHO we are, to put our personal thumbprint on the world in the most truthful, most authentic, most unique way possible. Each one of us are individuals being divinely guided on our own purposeful path.

I'm a big believer that each and every one of us are living OUR life story - in whatever way that story needs to play out. And for many of us, this story involves lessons.

In order to learn OUR lessons, we must journey through the challenges. This is where we grow - emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And for mothers, these challenges often include guilt.

Guilt is a normal emotion for every mother. We're always feeling guilty about something we've done - or not done - for our children. As mothers, it's very natural to put our kids above ourselves. And while this may be necessary some of the time, it's not necessary all the time. As the airlines so smartly proclaim, "Always put the air mask on yourself before assisting a child or another adult passenger." In other words, "Take care of yourself, so that you can assist in the caretaking of someone else."

I often ask moms to describe what the guilt is about - and we work from there, trying to unravel its deeper meaning. What is the guilt trying to teach us about ourselves? What is it that we need to work through so that guilt doesn't rear its head time and time again? And how can releasing the guilt help us become better mothers?

I've devoted an entire chapter in my book and an entire moon phase in my self-discovery process, to mother's guilt. This is how big a role it plays in motherhood and it’s why a mother needs to face it head-on. See guilt for what it really is - an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and why it plays such a significant role in our life story. There's a lesson wrapped up, beautifully disguised as mother's guilt. What is that lesson - for you? Once you discover it, you can shift the grip it has on you.

Because moms are natural role models, our kids are observing all the time. There's a lot of truth in the saying, "Monkey see, monkey do." In other words, when a mom is modeling the value of following her heart, her kids "get it" - much more than they would if she was just saying it. Kids feel energy. They know when a person is happy and when they're not. So why not be happy - and let the ripple flow?

Wouldn't the world be a much better place if we were all following our hearts? If we could truly live life with passion and purpose, everything would have a richer and deeper meaning. It would create a ripple of positive and loving energy that could literally heal the world.

Self-empowerment is a beautiful thing!


* For more information about my book and the work that I do, please visit: www.JournalingByTheMoonlight.com and receive my 12 best tips for journal writing.

Book Review: Class Struggle by Steven Verrier

Gain insight into America's public school system and the obstacles educators face day-to-day with Class Struggle by Steven Verrier.

Class Struggle journals Verrier's third year at San Antonio's Webster High School (name changed): the few goods, the numerous bads, and the tons of uglies. With a school board and administration seemingly in fear of disgruntled parents and manipulative students, Verrier's account shows how teachers have become the scapegoats for failures in the system.

Like No Teachers Left Behind, which we also reviewed, the author shares his experiences with the general public. For someone like me, who is in her children's schools on a regular basis, I doubt anything in this book will shock you. Rampant teenage pregnancy, billigerant parents, creativity stiffled in favor of mandated standardized curriculum, and arbitrary rules handed down from unsympathetic administrators, plague America's public school system in this account.

For those on the outside of it, Class Struggle might be downright scary. Thinking how much things have changed even since my son attended school in the 90's and early 2000's could make your hair curl.

What I find interesting about Class Struggle, and No Teachers Left Behind before it, is that no solutions are ever presented. Perhaps that's because by the time the authors get to penning their tales, they've been part of a broken system so long they don't see any way to fix it. I still admire their passion and desire to bring these issues to light. I once wanted to be a teacher. I could never handle what today's educators are forced to cope with.


Title:  Class Struggle: Journal of A Teacher in Up to His Ears
Author:  Steven Verrier
Publisher: Global Authors Publishers
ISBN-10: 0982122365
ISBN-13: 978-0982122365
SRP:  $15.99

I received a copy of this book from the author and Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no monetary compensation to provide this review.

Interview with Angelia Menchan, Author of Re-Rambled

Joining us today is Angelia Menchan. She is an author, publisher, mentor, wife and mother. Though formerly employed as a Job Corps Counselor and currently employed as a Fiscal Officer, writing is what brings joy and allows her to mentor through the written word.

We'll talk to Angelia today about her journey to publication, her work, and what the future holds.

Welcome to The Book Connection, Angelia. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am an avid reader, since age four and writing is like therapy for me. I have been married 32 years and have two sons. I love mentoring young girls in my community, because I truly believe it is personal responsibility to pass on what has been learned or given.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Ocala, Florida.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

My fondest memory is of the times, my younger sister and I would pile in bed with my mom on cool mornings and wriggle next to her.

When did you begin writing?

I have been a journaler for over forty years but didn’t publish any work until 2006.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

I write when inspired throughout the day. Mostly I write on Fridays since I don’t work or schedule any activities on that day.

What is this book about?

Re-Rambled: Food and Thought is a non-fiction account of experiences and thoughts as they have occurred to me.

What inspired you to write it?

Years ago when I started blogging, I entitled my blog ,Ramblings and I was encouraged by so many to write my blog in book form. I wrote volume one and it did very well. Earlier this year I was asked to write volume II and a cookbook, so I compiled the two and it has been an absolute blessing for me.

Who is your biggest supporter?

I will have to say my husband, but I have many readers and literary people who are avid supporters.

Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?

I do. Reading and Writing Sisters, also local author groups.

Who is your favorite author?

Colin Channer.

Do you have an agent or are you looking for one?

I do not. I may at some point.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

It has been a mixture. Once I started my own publishing company it became smoother, however, owning oneself is a grand bit of work.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Absolutely, I know I would have moved a bit slower.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

My website and all online booksellers.

What is the link to your website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

Website: http://www.angeliamenchan.com/
Blog: http://acvermen.blogspot.com/

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?

Yes, on my blog. http://acvermen.blogspot.com/

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

My time and learning to listen to and respect the advice of others who were on this journey before me.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

To read as much as you write and understand the all books do not appeal to all people. That will save you much pain. And write, write, write!

What is up next for you?

I am working on Zen Cooper, Girl Genius, and am very excited about it. I started it with a short story and the readers are clamoring for more. YES!

Is there anything you would like to add?

I simply want to thank you for extending such a gracious offer. I am so appreciative.

Be the Peace You Seek!

Angelia

Healing with Words by Diana M. Raab -- Book Review

Beautifully written, powerful, and inspiring, Healing With Words: A writer's cancer journey by Diana M. Raab will touch your heart and encourage you to use your writing to ease your suffering and improve your overall health.

In this emotional memoir, author Diana M. Raab shares the story of how her life was shattered by her first cancer diagnosis. Raab would face her mortality again, five years later, when she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma; a battle she continues to wage and is determined to win.

I had selfish reasons for requesting this book. For those of you who might not know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 45. Cancer returned a year later, and she died a week before Christmas at the age of 47. I found the first lump in my breast when I was 25.

Writing helped me cope with the grief of losing my mother when I was a young teen. I still keep a journal, though since I began blogging, it hasn't seen as much time as it used to.

Healing with Words made me cry, it made me sympathize with what the author had to--and still has to--endure. The majority of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma will die from it. Perhaps this is why Raab can share her story with such grace and compassion. Whatever the reason, I admire her for it.

When she spoke of the anxiety over waiting for test results, I understood her. The three weeks I waited for the results of my genetic testing to see if I had a mutated gene that would highly increase my risk for breast cancer, were the most difficult weeks of my life. Not knowing how my life would change if the test came back positive seemed unbearable at times. And then when Raab discussed the sense of loss before and after her mastectomy, I thought of my mother, and also what might have been in my future--could still be.

What ties all this together nicely, is that in Healing with Words, the author shows how journaling can impact your overall health. Included are some poems Raab wrote since her original diagnosis and on through her continuing journey. In addition, each chapter ends with thought-provoking questions and plenty of blank space for the reader to write. On Page 7 it says, "Write about the day you first thought you had cancer." While I have been fortunate never to actually have been diagnosed, let me tell you, that first lump scared me as if it was already a forgone conclusion that I was going to lose a breast.

Healing with Words is a phenomenal book. Not only will you read one woman's story, you will be changed by it.


Title: Healing with Words: A Writer's Cancer Journey
Author: Diana M. Raab
Publisher: Loving Healing Press (May 12, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1615990100
ISBN-13: 978-1615990108
SRP: $19.95

Sheryl Keen and Journal According to John

Our special guest today is Sheryl Keen, author of Journal According To John.

Following a nasty bar brawl, John, a twenty-eight-year-old man, follows a close friend’s advice and begins keeping a journal. He’s recently divorced from his wife, Debbie, and he hopes the journal will provide a tool with which to make sense of his brief, failed marriage and to determine why he is so emotionally challenged.

As a therapist specializing in behavioral issues, he knows he has to pull his own life together. If he tells people to clean up their own lives, modify their thoughts, and learn new, more appropriate behaviors, he knows that he’s got to step up and follow his own advice. Early on, he realizes that his mother, the curator of a gallery that specializes in steel art and other nontraditional works, has largely shaped his thoughts and actions. But just how much can he blame her for his current state of affairs?

Soon the words in the journal are flowing easily and quickly. When painful thoughts are no longer avoided and dreams provide fuel for his writing, the journal takes on a life of its own. Will John discover the reasons for his dysfunctional situation? Can keeping a journal help him improve his life?

I asked Sheryl to discuss what research she performed to make John a realistic psychologist. Here is what she had to say:

I tried to make John real for the reader by making his profession as a therapist as authentic as possible. Drawing on my own background knowledge that I had from having worked for an institution that dealt specifically with addiction and mental health, I was able to proceed with a bit of confidence. I was in a position where I was able to see psychologists and psychiatrists on a daily basis and I was able to see some of the issues that they dealt with and the analysis that they made about patients. The organization’s environment and culture were helpful in forming a framework in my mind that I able to use to form a backdrop to John’s practice. At the time I had no idea that this would be helpful to me as a writer but I have learnt that all experiences can become fodder for writing.

Of course, this background knowledge was not enough to make John as bona fide a therapist as I wanted him to be for readers. I had to delve deeper. So I did more research especially into what would actually happen in a session and the methods that a therapist would use to encourage patients to change. This was important because there is a parallel here. John is not just a therapist; he is also a man who is trying to make changes in his personal life. The question is, are there any techniques that he uses in his office that he can use in his own life?

I concentrated on behavioral therapy because the research clearly states that self destructing behavior can be altered by learning more appropriate actions. This research allowed John to act and speak in an authentic way about things like aggressive behavior, anger and anxiety. To take this a step further John could speak about and choose between various techniques of treatment. So, from time to time readers may hear John talking about treatment choices such as rehearsed behavior and role playing, modeling through observation, behavioral homework assignments and conditioning where a desired behavior is reinforced and encouraged by something like a gold star. At one point in the novel John contemplated this kind of conditioning for himself.

A major part of making John real was not just doing research at the library or on the Internet about his profession. It was the duality of showing him as a therapist who probably needed therapy himself. I think that made him more relatable and accessible to the readers who could identify with the frailties of the human condition.

Sheryl A. Keen has a bachelor’s degree in History with a minor in English Literature from the University of the West Indies. She lives in Canada where she works in Administration.

In addition to prose, Sheryl also writes poetry. When she is not writing, one of her other loves is painting.

You can visit Sheryl A. Keen’s website at www.sherylkeen.com.

Marilyn Morris talks about Diagnosis: Lupus

When she was suddenly assaulted by myriad baffling symptoms of joint pain and extreme fatigue, Marilyn Celeste Morris embarked on an intensive three-year, five- doctor search for diagnosis and treatment of what would be diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus, a little-known autoimmune disease that promised to destroy her body, her mind and her spirit. From the pages of her intimate daily journal came a book, Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient (PublishAmerica ISBN# 1-4137-6789-3). While journaling daily, Marilyn writes of her chronic pain, frustration, anger and grief of her former self to her current state of remission.

“Far from being a litany of complaints, these pages reveal not only what this disease did to me, but also what this disease did for me: an unexpected spiritual growth and gratitude for life itself.

“I hope this book will lead those who suffer from this chronic disease and other diseases to a better understanding of themselves and acceptance of their conditions,” she says.

In this book, she reveals:

* her struggles with anger and depression and their direct correlation to dealing with an alphabet soup of social service agencies;
* her loss of self-esteem and its direct correlation to weight gain;
* her frustration with insurance companies, physicians and employers;
* her daily struggle to simply get out of bed and go to work, in many places where employers and coworkers didn’t understand her disease;
* and, ultimately, a spiritual crisis, which taught her important life lessons.

This book can reassure readers that their pain, confusion, anger and depression are typical for lupus patients, and encourage them to keep moving forward toward definitive diagnosis, treatment, and eventual remission.

Ms. Morris is the co-facilitator of the Fort Worth Lupus Support Group, North Texas Chapter, Lupus Foundation of America and is also the author of two other books, Sabbath’s Room, a supernatural novel; and Once a Brat, detailing her life with her army officer father all over the world directly after WWII until his (their) retirement in 1958.



To book her as a speaker or for further information, email her at marilyncmorris@sbcglobal.net. The book is available at http://www.PublishAmerica.com, Amazon.com and other online bookstores, or your local bookstore may order for you.

Half the proceeds will be donated to The Lupus Foundation of America for research and education.