Marjorie’s 2nd Writing Book Just Published!

JUST PUBLISHED!

Aloha Dear Writers & Friends,

I’m so happy to share with you the publication of my 2nd writing book, Writes of Passage: Writing Through the Seasons of Your Life. Available HERE on Amazon. Richly illustrated with stories, myths and inspirational writing done by former Writes of Passage participants, the book takes you on a personal journey through the phases of development from Youth to Adult to becoming an Elder. Using writing and art exercises to help you document your movement from one phase to the next, the book calls for deep introspection of your life’s rites of passage and provides an insightful and penetrating re-telling of your life’s story that can easily be used as material to create your own memoir or simply as a beautiful stand-alone record to keep and share.

Writes of Passage: Writing Through the Seasons of Your Life would not have been possible without the participation of the many writers who have taken this class since its inception in 2009. I learned so much from their feedback & diverse writing styles. Writing from class participants such as Rebecca Leeman in the photo below are featured in the book, making it is a richer experience for all who go on this journey of personal self-exploration.

Rebecca Leeman with her Treasure Map & Cinnamon Kitty, the Writer’s class mascot, peeking out underneath!

ONLINE/ZOOM CLASSES COMING IN 2021!

An Online/Zoom class Writes of Passage: Writing Through the Seasons of Your Life using the just published Writes of Passage workbook is being scheduled for 5 Saturdays, beginning January 30th to February 27th, 2021.  Limited to 12 people. Cost: $175.  Click HERE to learn more & to reserve your spot in this group. All writing levels welcome!

A second online/Zoom class, Wild Women Write: A Writing Class for Bodacious Women, will happen for 5 Saturdays, starting March 20th to April 17th. Cost is $175.00 & class size is limited to 12 people. Click HERE for more class details & to register.

FROM THIS…

TO THIS……

I recently moved from the desert landscapes of the SouthWest to the ocean & the tropical island of Maui, experiencing my own personal rite of passage that comes with any big change such as moving. Although I had lived on Maui many years ago, I returned to find that big changes had occurred to my island home, primarily the thousands of tourists that arrived daily on planes & cruise ships, creating traffic jams in the seemingly endless stream of rental cars that poured out onto the limited roads on the island.

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the tourists abruptly stopped coming & the thousands of empty rental cars literally covered acres & acres near the airport, creating a surreal landscape.  The pandemic created a challenging reality for everyone everywhere, shifting us into an awareness that we are but one part of an ever-changing and evolving planetary narrative and cycle of events.

Many writers and other creative folks I know, like those who post those amazing food dishes on FaceBook; parents who overnight became innovative teachers for children who now had to learn from home; or those whose gardens have thrived with so much attention…all found ways to focus their “alone” time into projects they love and care about. Others of us, like myself, have lumbered along in various degrees of optimism to outright sorrow, while still turning our attention to the written word, which has provided shelter from the raging storm of politics and the virus threat.

For the first months of the pandemic, I could find few words for what I was personally experiencing during this storm of events. My old life with friends, writing groups & a large garden to attend to had faded and my new life was put on pause as we all “stayed home.” As the months passed, and supported by phone calls & Zoom events with friends, I managed to take to the keyboard often enough to pull together the material for the Writes of Passage book & get it off to the wizard of art & technology, Denise Weaver Ross to put it all together for publication on Amazon. Let it be know that it takes a village to pull off any big creative project, especially during a pandemic! My prayer for all of you is that you have found your tribe of supporters during this time. I think we have all re-discovered in a deeper way that we are united through our acts of kindness & gratitude to one another.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me in the past by taking classes & buying my first writing book Wild Women Write; hopefully you’ll feel inspired to also buy Wild Women Write if you haven’t already!

I’ll close with an endorsement from a former writing student & author, Phyllis Ryan, whom many of you know & love!  “Marjorie mentioned once that during our writing lives we’re often given a piece of bread, a sip of water and a splash of fairy dust. This book is the splash of fairy dust we’ve become accustomed to in her teaching and writing.”