It’s
time to say goodbye to my Senior Sampler column after almost six years of writing Looking
Back… Not moving away, just ready for a change.
This column started in April 2008, a year after we moved to St. George and
settled into our Sunriver retirement community. I joined several writing groups
locally: Heritage Writers Guild and the Dixie Poets. Having contributed
articles to several magazines, the idea came to me to write a weekly column.
During a bout with a bad cold, I spent time thinking about what to write. Because
of my love for family history,
the idea came quickly to explore my younger days as child growing up in rural
Utah. thus came this column’s title Looking Back…
How
fun to recall experiences with my grandparents, Saturday night baths in an old
tub, using the outhouse, gathering pine nuts, etc. Sending out query e-mails to
several local newspapers, the Senior Sampler responded positively. Thus began
my new hobby of volunteer journalism.
After writing about my youth and things I learned growing up, I decided to
gather these stories together to publish a book with all my columns in one
place.
My first self-published book is entitled: Looking Back at the Good Old Days describing my experiences growing up with the old fashioned values of my parents and grandparents. That, of course, lead to my next book Find Your Voice, Write Your Life Story which examines my journey from teenager to bride to mother to grandmother. It also includes tips on writing, editing and publishing your own life story. Both of these books are tied to my weekly columns and can be read for free at seniorsampler.com. Just click on my author’s name in the left column and you’ll find a collection of my past weekly articles or better yet buy my books or read my blog lettersfromlin.blogspot.com which contains all my articles and current books.
Writing has brought me enormous rewards
and free therapy as I discovered the value of contemplating your life to
understand the journey we each take. My final book (so far) Discover Your
Voice After Divorce: Writing Workbook for Healing and Recovery evolved. It is available in print from me for $15 or
as an e-book for $5.99 at Amazon.com.
Thanks to my many readers who have encouraged me along the way. May you find
your voice by writing about this journey called life. No
NEXT TIME.