Monday, April 15, 2013

Anthology Book Launch for Harbor House


Join us! Book Launch in support of Harbor House

Monday, April 22, 6:30 PM
KCC Iroquois Room
Kankakee, IL

Imprints of the Past was written by members of KBBW (Kankakee, Bradley & Bourbonnais Wordsmiths).

Available on Amazon.com and WeavingDreamsPublishing.com.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Blue Skies and Apple Blossoms Available Now


New book by local author Vern Ream: Blue Skies and Apple Blossoms. Delightful stories about growing up in south-central Pennsylvania near Amish country. Available now on www.amazon.com.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Blue Skies and Apple Blossoms by Vern Ream

Here is a better image of Vern Ream's new book coming out this month. It's a delightful memoir of life on a Pennsylvania farm in a much simpler time.

Congratulations, Vern!

P. S. It will be available on Amazon.com shortly.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

From a Stack of Stories to a Beautiful Book




How do you take a stack of unrelated stories spanning some twenty years and create a cohesive book?
My friend Vern approached me with just that question. He started writing after he retired and decided he wanted to write a book. With over sixty stories recalled from his childhood in Pennsylvania, he was off to a great start.
Common themes ran throughout the stories, such as faith, family, friends, the farm, fishing, the future, and food—especially food. In fact, he mentioned his mother’s roast beef dinner multiple times. Not coincidentally, those topics made natural divisions into chapters for the book, filled with celebrations of humanity, caring, hope, gratitude, endurance, and respect.
Because food played such a big part in the daily life of this young boy, I was delighted when Vern provided original recipes from his childhood.

The next task consolidated related topics into chapters and then into the individual stories. This part of the process proved both exciting and challenging. Each of the heartwarming stories was edited and revised, sliced and diced, culled and expanded, reorganized and reworked, until the book felt right. With such a large variety of story lines, it became necessary to alternate uplifting tales with sad ones, heartbreak with courage, and discouragement with hope for the future.

It was a pleasure delving into Vern’s stories and creating the book of his dreams.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Friday, September 14, 2012

Memoir Writing Workshop - October


Memoir Writing Workshop for new students and those continuing from
previous classes.

1. Discover and preserve your own memoir and family stories
2. Use writing prompts, exercises, and sharing techniques to
capture memories
3. Learn to enjoy the process while you ferret out story ideas
4. Organize your thoughts and experiences, or elicit stories
from others
5. Consider publishing options for stories or a book

Please bring paper, a notebook or journal, and your favorite writing instrument.

Start Date: Thursday, Oct. 04, 2012

Location: The Center, 12700 Southwest Highway, Palos Park, IL 60464
The Center
Phone: 708-361-3650

Presenter: Beth LaMie

Sunday, April 15, 2012

6-Word Memoir Exercise


This exercise is to write a summary about your life (a.k.a., a mini-memoir) in just six words. You may want to give it a try from time to time to see what strikes you at the time. Have fun with it as you think about writing your own family stories and memoir.

I'd love to see what you come up with in the Comments below!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Spring renews me and my soul.

Write. Revise. Rewrite. Revise again. Sigh.

Fat. Thin. Fat. Thin. Fat. Thin.

Every 20 years I reinvent myself.

I dance daily, watched or not.

I raised a United States Marine.

Former Doc now wears art smock.

Beth LaMie’s: Live. Laugh. Love. Thank God Above!

Call to action: Now try your own 6-Word Memoir in the Comments area!