Maybe there’s a pattern or maybe it’s happenstance. After I published my first memoir, I felt for the first time in adulthood that I could write a novel. Allowing myself to tell my own story in My Music Man, fed by memories of my past and stories lived by others, invited my brain to be more open to imagination. After publishing Beyond the Ripples, pushing back on the darkness of national and local politics, but not yet quite imagining what COVID had in store for us, I began the next: continuing a few characters into the linked short story collection of Humanity’s Grace. Then, yes, I was on a roll with my fiction – intermittently blogging as a way to drop in and out of “real life” and story telling. I began my next work, unsure what it would be but knowing that the character Celia from Humanity’s Grace had more in her.
It was then life pulled me back into its reality. I cared for Mom while still working full-time, adapting to first the constraints placed by the pandemic on my visits, and not long after, adding her to our household. After she died, it was another memoir (From First Breath to Last) that clawed at me for release. Soon after, though, the story about Celia, Paul and a host of new characters knocked again. I looked back at those rough notes for this next book as it took on a life of its own.
I’m thrilled to share the expected release of A Map of Her Own this October, 2025, by Bedazzled Ink Publishing. Other writers more successful and experienced then me advise us to take time as our stories percolate. So far, I’ve been a bit of a compulsive writer. As I’ve often said, words circle my brain, nearly frantically seeking a way out. This time around, I reminded myself with a few notecards tucked next to my computer, including these two.
The second reminds me to slow down and enjoy the journey of writing. To not be in such a hurry! I am certain as I wrote now, most recently without the constraints of a full-time job, I was able to better embrace this concept. As I wrote, I too recognized, although I hadn’t planned on it, the mother-daughter theme deeply influencing my key characters. No surprise?!
A Map of Her Own is a dual timeline, historical-contemporary hybrid work of fiction. I look forward to sharing with you the fictional lives of Celia, a fisherwoman living in contemporary Astoria, Oregon, and Emma, who lives one hundred years earlier one hundred miles up the Columbia River. While A Map of Her Own is a work of fiction, I did my best to weave in historical accuracy. My professional friends will recognize my nods to workplace safety, unions, and the role of women in non-traditional work.
In the meantime, if you haven’t read Humanity’s Grace you might check it out – although that won’t be essential to enjoy A Map of Her Own. If you do read it, be prepared for sadness meshed with the joy of the power of human connection, and pay attention to stories about Celia and Paul. I’m excited for this journey and hope you’ll join me! Stay tuned.
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