Category Archives: memoir

Voice of Conscience

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For art to be relevant, artists must address the social and spiritual issues of our time. ~ Suzi Gablik

This week I’m taking time to focus on Project REGROUP. Here is what it entails:

R – Reviewing the future

E – Envisioning a message

G– Growing ideas for new horizons

R- Rejoicing, in new directions

O– Organizing thoughts and concepts

U – Utilizing whats been started

P – Praying that the voice within me steers me right

Regrouping is often associated with failure, disappointment or recovery. Many people automatically equate the word regroup with set-backs.

I look at it from a different tact – from the perspective of positive energy flow. Where do I want to place my attention next? I’ve got some ideas beginning to sprout, now I need to listen to what  my readers are saying. “How can I creatively communicate from a different level,” I ask myself.

heavens to betsy

My  family is probably sending communications saying “Fanny, what’s Sue up to now?” to the central character of my book. With my publication, she has come into a different realm. 

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Sue’s memoir

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling

 

Finding New Viewpoints

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moving ahead disney image

I am excited. My husband and I have been packing up. At the end of the month we are moving to new surroundings.

Taking a breather from routine is always a good thing whether it’s a short get away or a permanent move into a whole new environment. Last week I felt I had hit my limits since I hadn’t stepped away from what I was doing all winter trying to get my book finished and into the marketplace. I desperately needed to look out for myself. So I took  a reprieve and went on a one day road trip with a friend. By the end of the day, I felt like a renewal of life had already begun to spring up inside of me. Change is good. It provides us with new perspectives and insights.

Over the coming months, I am going to be brainstorming new ideas for my writing. A seed of an concept is beginning to take form. I hope our new environment will serve as a good source of inspiration to help sprout and grow the story.

Do return on Tuesday to All Things Fulfilling. Change and circumstance will be the topic of conversation.

This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Sue’s memoir
 

Histrionics of Twins

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Life is like a moustache. It can be wonderful or terrible. But it always tickles. ~ Nora Roberts, From the Heart

Pet white mice!  “They’re so cute,” we’d say to our parents. “We want one to play with.” My sister and I nagged at our parents to let us have a domesticated mouse until finally they gave in. Did anyone else have one or more of those creatures as a kid?

Ohhh- now, that pet brings back memories to yours truly and her sister. We kept our mouse in a glass aquarium with a screen over it for a cover so it wouldn’t escape. However intruders were more the problem. More than once we were awoken in the middle of the night by loud squealing. A wild mouse that came from somewhere within our house had found it’s way into the cage. When we turned on the bedroom light to investigate all the noise, we caught the mice in action mating. You’ve never seen two little, screaming naive twins scamper into their parents’ bedroom in the middle of the night so quickly! We jumped on mom and dad’s bed with wide-eyes to apprise our parents of the situation!

Three weeks later, an unexpected development! We learned more about the facts of life, when we awoke to little, translucent pink  bodies squirming in the clear glass cage.

photo of white mouse withbackpackWho knows where the newborn babies went when they disappeared the next day. As a young child, I figured the cat clock hanging on the wall in our bedroom, that I mentioned in yesterday’s blog,  had come alive and eaten them up. After this happened twice, my parents sent the pet white mouse packing!

Would your parents have let you have a white mouse for a pet? I grew up in a bit of a crazy house. Domesticated white mice were only the start of the many animals that could be found inside and out on our family’s property – more about our zoo in my memoir.  Add a wonderful character named Fanny into the mix of the menagerie, and life was lived differently than many of our neighbors.

Oh….I can only image the stories my parents could tell about the histrionics of life with two twins.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

 

Memoirs Connect People

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Kit Cat

“Each day provides it’s own gifts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

I am very excited! Last week I reconnected with a childhood friend who I have been out of touch with since I graduated high school in 1975. That was many,many moons ago – do the math!

Out of the blue, she connected with me through my Facebook page and said “that she had learned I had published a book and had ordered “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” for her Nook. She had questions about a few details of our childhood in trying to recall exactly when we moved down the street to our second childhood home, built by my father. When I was an newborn we lived next door to her parents. She said, “I still remember the cat clock you had in your bedroom.” Hard to believe after all these years she’d remember, with clarity, a detail like that.

Did any of you readers have a cat clock like the one in the image?  It’s still available through the Vermont Country Store! http://bit.ly/1hVqDkQ.

Mine hung in my bedroom. It  was a gift from my maternal grandparents to my twin sister and me.  They both passed away when we were very young children, and the clock is a remaining memory that I associate with my mother’s parents. I remember laying in my bed mesmerized every night watching the cat’s glowing eyes go back and forth, along with it’s swishing tail  until I drifted off into laaa laaa land.

What I have since learned from my childhood friend, Cindy, is that her sons, Brian and Jason Lyles, are involved with a publishing endeavor also. They recently published The Lego Neighborhood Book: Build a Lego Town  which gives tools to create your favorite architectural styles in homes and buildings. How cool is that? http://bit.ly/1hd18dm 

If I hadn’t written a memoir, who knows if Cindy and I would have ever connected again throughout our lifetime! So today’s story is all about neighborhood and community connection! See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

 

 

Book Club Selection

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“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” ― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
Last summer I had the opportunity to join in with a Dorchester County Book Club as they discussed the book The Postmistress. I enjoyed being with this group of ladies immensely. Here is the blog that I wrote last summer about the experience. https://allthingsfulfilling.com/2013/06/26/book-clubs-buzz/

book clubI have been notified by this Maryland-based book club that my new publication “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” will be their group’s June selection and the subject of their discussion. How exciting is that! They’ve asked whether the author (yours, truly!) can be present.  Of course, I’ll do all I can to be there in person. But, if the logistics don’t work out, perhaps I can Skype in and have an “author chat,” like many libraries and bookstores arrange in this day and age.http://bit.ly/1gMOBNs.

This group of ladies, no doubt, will find the cultural and historical references  familiar. Many of them were living in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland and in the prime of their lives raising young children when the story takes place (1950’s- 1960’s). Their discussion of my memoir, is sure to be rich with opinions. And, I am sure, the book club members will have their own fulfilling memories to contribute to the discussion.

So, that’s the good news on this Easter Monday on All Things Fulfilling. We will see what transpires on that story. I will keep you posted.

Easter: An Awakening of Spirit

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In my opinion, for many people – 

The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. 

Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. 

But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice. 

~Henry Knox Sherrill

Easter spirit

 

easter bunny cake

 

have a happy easter for peeps sake

Looking for other meaningful Easter quotes to pass along to your loved ones this holy season? Here are some you might enjoy from http://www.findmeagift.co.uk/topics/easter-quotes.

Have a great Easter Weekend filled with All Things Fulfilling. If you missed  Monday’s post, a sample audio chapter called  “Easter Traditions” from  Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, by Sue Batton Leonard is on the About the Book page on this site.  Listen in as many times as you’d like!

 

Small Things Big Wonders

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“All of our life is a miracle. . . . There is not a minute in the twenty-four hours that is not filled with miracles.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you ever noticed how the smallest things sometimes hold the biggest wonders? Consider:

  • The sudden appearance of blue-speckled robins eggs in the nest
  • An unexpected phone call from someone you were just thinking about
  • The delightful scent of a newborn baby’s head
  • A colorful rainbow after a wicked storm
  • Perfumed air from a gardenia, rose or lilac
  • The extraordinary talent of a musician, painter, dancer, writer or singer who has had no training
  • The crowing glory of the daffodils through the snow

When did you last stop, take heed and intently observe  a small thing that holds big wonders? Springtime holds an abundance of opportunity! Recharge your life by being keenly observant as the season of renewal unfolds and opens up. Deeply inhale all the goodness and find gratefulness in each daybreak and sunset.

little is much

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.  See you tomorrow on http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com.

 

 

It’s Baltimore Lexicon, Hon

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If someone asked me to describe the people around the area where I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, I’d have to say –

MD-Flag-cropped“Loyal to their State.” In my opinion, that’s why so many Marylander’s rarely leave the state boundaries. Ocean City is the be all, end all, for family vacation spots for many Baltimoreans.

They are as loyal to “Bawlmer” as they are to their unique lexicon that they speak. It’s hard not to lapse back into it when I return to the soil of my native roots.

I may have to take some heat from my “Murlin” readers for these huge generalizations. Unless things have changed dramatically since the years of my childhood, I stand behind my opinions.

It’s ok if y’all send me a little feedback. I am only sharing what I noticed from my growing up. When I left hoskull and went off to cah-widge, I noticed a lot about y’all in Murlin. Besides, hon,we all have our own bleefs, including the Calf Licks. As long as I don’t end up going in the amblance to the hospital, a little heat from my readers won’t be harble. Bring it on, hon, bring it on.

family & love

This blog brought to you by All Things Fulfilling and the author of A Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Despite all my teasing about Maryland accents, please don’t ban me from the State of Murlin. I many want to do some book presentations! It is the setting of my publication.

 

The Nature of Easter

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 Fling off thy sadness!

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness! 

~Thomas Blackburn, An Easter Hymn

Today as my present to you, valued readers, I have posted an audio chapter of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

This audio recording will also be posted permanently to the About the Book page of All Things Fulfilling so you can return and listen to it as often as you’d like.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Your entire family will enjoy listening to what the stellar character in my memoir has to say about an element in nature that has more meaning than just a beautiful flower. Celebrate Easter week by sharing this story with others. Happy Spring!

To listen, click the arrow pointing  right, next to the speaker icon.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing about the King

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“The Irish – Be they kings, or poets, or farmers… They keep company with the angels, And bring a bit of heaven here to earth”~ Unknown 

My uncle, my mother’s brother, was named Joseph King. But he was called King his entire life.  Joseph was his father’s name (my maternal Grandfather’s first name).  King was his mother’s maiden name (my maternal Grandmother). If you ever met my Uncle King, you would never, ever forget him. And you’ll have a chance to meet in him my memoir. He was a lively character who really celebrated life! I believe he felt an obligation to live up to a reputation of being a magnanimous character.

Palm SundayToday, as we approach Palm Sunday, it seems fitting to dedicate this blog to him. The reason will become apparent if you read my upcoming book. The lifeline on the palm of my hand would most likely be very short, had King not become one of my saviors in life. The “King” is  part of my upcoming memoir “Gift of a Lifetime.” I share this small bit of insight into my story, as a gift to you this Easter season. I’m going to remember my King, enjoy Palm Sunday and celebrate the fact that spring is just around the corner. Hallelujah.

On Monday, I will posting a sample audio chapter of  Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected on All Things Fulfilling. The audio chapter is  for your listening enjoyment and it’s about Easter. Do return and listen in – you might learn something about this holy week you had never known before.