Feisty - a memoir in little pieces

My friend, Jean Peelen, has just published her memoir, Feisty, a memoir in little pieces. The title exactly describes this small powerfully written memior. The book measures 5 x 7" and each piece is no longer than two pages. But Jean successfully captured the most important periods of her life in these short succinct chapters. The back cover reads: "Feisty is the story of a woman with attitude - told in short reflections that capture a life of awakening activism. From her exploits as a five year old New Jersey cowboy, to hosting Gloira Steinem in Alabama, to an awkward drink with a young Clarence Thomas, Jean Peelen shares her civil rights journey and the most vulnerable moments in her life. This book is funny and sad, deep and wide. Feisty shines a light on what is possible when a woman rejects roles she is expected to fulfil and finds her own path." As a memoir writer I was interested to see her unique style of telling her story. The book pulled me in and kept me reading until the end. Right now Jean is doing a number of author visits in Washington, DC, where she worked for the federal government enforcing civil rights laws. And, she does not make it a secret that she did all this at the age of 82.

Autumn and Yuri - a new book in progress

I'm pleased to announce the good progress on a book I started exactly a year ago. This book was born from hybrid Zoom meetings at two rural Upstate New York libraries in mid-October 2022. At the end of each author presentation, I asked those in attendance, both at the library and on Zoom to develop a character. One library's patrons developed a man, Yuri, the other library's patrons developed a female that they named Autumn. They dictated a full bio of each character and when they were done, I thought - I can make a book incorporating these two characters. I ran with their characters, and it has been great fun. Autumn's bio stated she started as a police officer in North Carolina, but got fed up with the politics and moved to New York State. Yuri is Ukrainian (the woman who named him said his last name began with an "R"). He was head of their national archives, and the patrons gave me many of his qualities, like he has a good sense of humor. It's been interesting and sometimes challenging to further develop the storyline around these two characters, but it is coming together as they both meet in a university town in the Finger Lakes Region. With a university setting their is much to work with: politics, passions, creative minds, turf wars. Of course there's a crime involed, actually more than one, and Yuri ends up being the prime suspect. I'll do my best to get him out of this bind. As of now, he has had to give up his passport until the investigations are finished. I'm thankful for the Sisters-in-Crime, Connecticut Chapter for having their twice weekly write-ins. That gives me dedicated writing time with other SinC members.