Wearing Words - Jewelry That Speaks To Me

I love words. I love to see them on everything. . . especially jewelry. On days when my confidence is low it is especially helpful to wear something that boosts my morale, makes me feel secure, gives me hope I am not a blithering idiot with dreams that are too big for my life.

Writing is a release for me, allows me put life into perspective as I jot down my own personal stories under the title memoir author. Sometimes I worry I tell too much. (Example My Hysterical Hysterectomy on my Sparkle blog where I talk about my upcoming surgery, not from a medical standpoint, but how to recover with six dogs underfoot. ) The Unfaithful Widow started me on sharing my experiences with others. It was the therapy I needed to get on with my life as I wrote about bad dates, adopting dogs, finding my place again.  I found a bracelet that kept me moving and wore it faithfully as I went about recreating myself. A white hard plastic bangle with the words Redefine The Impossible in black letters across it. That bracelet was my security. I'd touch it, twirl it, read it, and find the way to move forward.

Dream. Believe. I needed more words to wear for what came next. I decided to write a novel. My first attempt at fiction. It scared me more than any personal story I shared over the last years.  My confidence left me as I sat at the computer at night. What if the words don't come? What if they do, and they are horrible? Between bouts of writing at those late hours when most of the world is sleeping, I took my break by looking at jewelry on Etsy and found my inspiration to keep plugging away at my book. She believed she could so she did. And I did. Danger In Her Words was released in February.

Inspiration words - our own, from friends, on jewelry, or the written word. Cheaper than therapy - if we open our hearts to the possibilities around us. If it takes a piece of jewelry to remind me of that, bring on my Visa and I'll shop til I drop.

Some jewelry I own purchased from Etsy dealers and designers! How can anyone be discouraged wearing any of these pieces!

 

 

 

 

And the most important of all words to guide you...

 

 

 

 

Southern Sin: True Stories of the Sultry South and Women Behaving Badly

Amazon

There is nothing an unfaithful widow from Georgia likes better than to read stories of southern sin and women behaving badly. Sometimes I behave badly myself and when I do, I write about it. My curiosity got the better of me, just how sinful were these women? And how did I shape up in the naughty department in comparison? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Featured today on The Muffin, Women On Writing's (WOW) blog, this collection of short stories caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you.

Visit The Muffin (click here) to read more about this anthology and enter in a book giveaway on their site.   And BTW - yours truly will be on a blog tour with WOW with my new book, Danger In Her Words, beginning May 5th. Oh my, am I behaving badly with a bit of self-promotion?

If you don't get their newsletter in your e-mail, you should sign up and keep up with what women and writing are doing! Click here to go to WOW.



About the book:

23 strange-but-true stories of women flirting with perdition... In the steamy South, temptation is as wild and plentiful as kudzu. Whether the sin in question is skinny-dipping or becoming an unlikely porn star, running rum or renting out a room to a pair of exhibitionistic adulterers, in these true stories women defy tradition and forge their own paths through life—often learning unexpected lessons from the experience.

As Dorothy Allison writes in her introduction, “The most dangerous stories are the true ones, the ones we hesitate to tell, the adventures laden with fear or shame or the relentless pull of regret. Some of those are about things that we are secretly deeply proud to have done.”

A diverse array of contributors—mothers, daughters, sisters, best friends, fiancées, divorcees, professors, poets, lifeguards-in-training, lapsed Baptists, tipsy debutantes, middle-aged lesbians—lend their voices to this collection. Introspective and abashed, joyous and triumphant (but almost never apologetic), they remind us that sin, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Update March 26th: This post has been added to Julie Valerie's Hump Day Blog Hop. Click on the link below to see what's happening Hump Day with some great blogs and authors! Look for Hump Day Blog Hop the last Wednesday of each month.  Halfway to the weekend and lots of great finds mid-week. Doesn't get any better!

Like to party? Hop along the Hump Day Blog Hop on Julie Valerie’s Book Blog. Click here to return to the Hump Day Blog Hop.


 

Author Jamie Salisbury Winner of Giveaway From Last Week's Blog On Sisterhood

 

Lovely earrings made by one of my good friends, Angela, from her Etsy shop

BerthaLousieDesigns
 

 

Thanks to those who left their comments on last week's blog post on sisterhood as part of WOW (Women On Writing) event for author Therese Walsh and her new book The Moon Sisters.  I've ordered my copy and can't wait to read it. If you missed the interview with Therese Walsh on WOW's The Muffin, click here to read it.

 

Jamie Salisbury's name was picked in the random drawing and I will be sending these darling earrings to her. Thanks Jamie for sharing with us and congratulations! FYI, Jamie is an author too. She writes contemporary and historical women's fiction, with a bit of the steam factor.  Check out her blog here. Jamie's book Life and Lies has been nominated for the 2013 RONE award.



 

Everybody's Talking About Sisterhood - (Giveaway And A Bit Of Bling)

A wonderful book, a bit of bling, and girlfriends. Does it get any better?

 

You could win these by leaving a comment below.

 

Join in the discussion of sisterhood and leave a comment below on 'sisters' in your life. On Friday I will do a random selection of a winner to receive the lovely one-of-a-kind rhinestone earrings pictured above and at the end of this post. They were made by my friend Angela and came from her Etsy shop. Winner will be announced here Friday afternoon. This is a giveaway on my blog. There are many others. Go to The Muffin  (Women On Writing) (click here) and read other bloggers comments and other giveaways.

Want to peek inside. Click here and go to Amazon.

I was thrilled to be invited to  the party to celebrate sisterhood and the release of Therese Walsh's new book, The Moon Sisters. I started to think about the women I am friends with and how much more than friends they are to me, they are family.

Sisterhood. The word makes me smile. My own little group of friends have helped me see the light in the darkest hours. Members of my 'hood' include my sister, my mother, and my girlfriends, both the new friends I've recently met, and my group of antique dealer buddies that go back as far as I can remember.

My sister and mother live in Florida. I am a widow. I don't have kids. Well, stop that. Sounds like a pity party! I do have six fur kids - six rescue dogs! The point of saying the above, is that I don't have family within a few hours of me who can show up if I need help. What I have is my wonderful friends, my family of gal pals. Each different, each surprising me in different ways. I hate to ask for help, but girlfriends know when to step in.

It was that band of merry antique dealers that helped me get back on my feet after my husband died. They refused to let me sit alone. As long as we'd known each other, we did our antiquing during the day, but were home with our spouses at night. These were my girlfriends - not couple friends with our husbands. The first year on my own, that loomed to be the worst year ever, took on a bit of magic under the care of my friends who would not let me sit alone. I wrote about that year in my book, The Unfaithful Widow.

Two weeks ago I had a hysterectomy for preventative reasons, my hysterical hysterectomy as I liked to call it. How does one cope with surgery and six dogs?  My life-style was about to change dramatically. How would I take care of my dogs? In fact, how would I take care of myself? While I am known to write about personal things, asking for help is the hardest thing for me to do.  I am usually the one in charge. I don't like to impose on friends. I'd forgotten that girlfriends don't let you sit alone. While I did hire a pet-sitter to come take care of the hounds, my girlfriends have brought me food, helped me with daily tasks - laundry, cleaning house.

A best friend, a sister, a group of wild antique ladies, a mother who still worries about me even though I am getting old (wink, wink - you figure the math!), I am lucky with friendships. We each have our own lives, but are there for each other when trouble brews.  Isn't that what family should be about? Hug your 'sisters' and keep them close.

Meet the author:

Visit Therese Walsh's website. 

 

In The Moon Sisters, her second novel, Therese Walsh wanted to write about one sister’s quest to find will-o’-the-wisp light, which was her mother’s unfulfilled dream. Also called “foolish fires”, these lights are sometimes seen over wetlands and are thought to lead those who follow them to treasure. Despite the promise, they are never captured and sometimes lead to injury or even death for adventurers who follow them. The metaphor of that fire – that some dreams and goals are impossible to reach, and that hope itself may not be innately good – eventually rooted its way into deeper meaning as the Moon sisters tried to come to terms with real-world dreams and hopes, and with each other, in their strange new world.

 

Olivia and Jazz Moon are polar opposites: one a dreamy synesthete, able to see sounds and smell sights and the other controlling and reality driven. What will happen when they are plunged into 24/7 togetherness and control is not an option? Will they ever be able to see the world through the other’s eyes and confront the things they fear the most? Death. Suicide. The loss of faith and hope. Will they ultimately believe that life is worth living, despite the lack of promise? 

 

The writing of The Moon Sisters was a five year journey and at times author Therese Walsh felt like it was her own “foolish fire”. But remember, some fires are worth the chase!

My giveaway on this blog only.

Remember to leave a comment below on the 'sisters' in your life and you may win these beautiful earrings made by my friend Angela. Random drawing on Friday. Every sister needs a bit of bling!