Writing a Memoir: drinking with the dead
How did I get here?
I'm a nonfiction writer
What am I working on?
At my high school senior banquet, I won the award for Outstanding Student in English. Imagine my surprise. Being a writer wasn't on my radar. I was going to be a veterinarian. After struggling through 19 credits in chemistry in college, I took a journalism class. It ignited an excitement I never had for the sciences. At 63, I signed up fo
At my high school senior banquet, I won the award for Outstanding Student in English. Imagine my surprise. Being a writer wasn't on my radar. I was going to be a veterinarian. After struggling through 19 credits in chemistry in college, I took a journalism class. It ignited an excitement I never had for the sciences. At 63, I signed up for a writing class and workshops with UW-Madison Continuing Studies. In 2022, I won Honorable Mention for "Dead Body One" in the Hal Prize literary magazine, 8142 Review. I've had articles published in Chicago Home and Garden, Corporate Report, Wisconsin Trails, Lake Michigan Travel Guide and Door County Living. For two years, I was a regular contributor to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. One of my feature stories won first place in a national contest. I self-published my first book, Tales from the Peninsula. Cheers to more!
What am I working on?
I'm a nonfiction writer
What am I working on?
I'm currently finishing my memoir about my childhood. I grew up in a tavern and learned to harvest sanity and beauty amidst crime scenes, alcohol abuse and heartbreak to find a family or else remain suspended in crisis forever. A college boyfriend wrote a Twilight Zone episode inspired by my parents' tavern called Kentucky Rye. You can w
I'm currently finishing my memoir about my childhood. I grew up in a tavern and learned to harvest sanity and beauty amidst crime scenes, alcohol abuse and heartbreak to find a family or else remain suspended in crisis forever. A college boyfriend wrote a Twilight Zone episode inspired by my parents' tavern called Kentucky Rye. You can watch it on YouTube and streaming channels.
I'm also trying to raise awareness for preventative care for children of parents with alcohol abuse disorder by reading research studies and writing essays on the topic.
I continue to study creative writing guided by my Sherpa, Julie Tallard Johnson. My fellow writers in the Writing Circle and the BeSpoke group inspire me to create sentences that keep the reader turning the page.
I'm a nonfiction writer
I'm a nonfiction writer
I'm a nonfiction writer
Growing up in a tavern attached to my house, by age ten I knew how to mix a perfect martini and top a beer with the correct amount of foam. Life skills supporting alcohol abuse disorder.
I spent my career working in public relations - mainly in issues and crisis management. One might say I spent my childhood in training. I retired to be
Growing up in a tavern attached to my house, by age ten I knew how to mix a perfect martini and top a beer with the correct amount of foam. Life skills supporting alcohol abuse disorder.
I spent my career working in public relations - mainly in issues and crisis management. One might say I spent my childhood in training. I retired to be a writer and play. I live with my husband and three 100- pound, black Mastadors in the hills of Southwest Wisconsin.
My parents were drunks. I'm not. What a difference a choice makes in the game of life.
When I mentioned my memoir to someone, she replied, "But didn't we all have bad childhoods?" Maybe. I call my story more interesting than the average girl with an ironed white shirt.
My childhood inspires me to hang on tight to my loved ones, help children in the same situation and write about it all.