After the Launch...
Welcome, I'm glad you're here!
Allow me to tell you a bit about me.
My memoir launched last Wednesday on Amazon, and will soon be widely available. I'm elated, tired, and in full-on marketing mode! Reviews are coming in for I Must Have Wandered: An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls and I'm so grateful!
Thank you!
I Must Have Wandered: An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls is about trauma and loss; the primal trauma of an infant relinquished at birth and the loss of biological family without a trace in many circumstances. Adopted into a transient military family, I couldn't let go of the pursuit of my truthful heritage, and after a dogged search at age forty, I discovered the woman who gave me life. I've come to know a wealth of biological kin, and continue to research my heritage.
At forty, I began to study horticulture and started to design, create, and maintain gardens in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery counties, PA. I operated "The Cottage Gardener" for fifteen years.
The brain hemorrhage (stroke) I survived at fifty-eight pushed me into a lengthy rehab. When I was able to sit at my desktop, I decided to take online writing courses. I delved into memoirs--the meaning and writing of my personal truths, and creative non-fiction.
I self-published Stroke Story: My Journey There and Back in 2016. The sequel, Coming to Terms: My Journey Continues, is a memoir of survival; a reflection in lyrical prose and poetry of loss, and a return to self following major trauma. I revised and compiled the two books and published Fortitude's Footing: Coming to Terms With Stroke on Smashwords and Amazon--also this month!
My personal essays have been published in many literary magazines, including "Borrowed Solace," "Spillwords," "BookEndsReview," "mac(ro)mic," "Halcyon Days," "Portland Metrozine," "Memoir Magazine," "Visible," "True Stories Well Told." and the "Remembered Arts Journal." A number of these essays are collected in my book, Permanent Home: Memoir.
The practice of writing has brought me closer to self-discovery. I greatly admire the work of Brenda Miller, Vivian Gornick, Annie Dillard, Dani Shapiro, and many more female memoirists.
My husband and I have made our retirement home in Lewes, DE, with our retired senior Chihuahua, Maxwell. (less)
Visit my website, and subscribe to my occasional newsletters!
Until next time.
Warmly,
Mary Ellen
