Title: Homefires
Autho: Emily Sue Harvey
Paperback: 450 pages
Publisher: The Story Plant (June 7, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1611880068
ISBN-13: 978-1611880069
Synopsis:
Homefires is set in the Deep South’s Bible Belt on the eve of unprecedented moral changes. It is the story of Janeece and Kirk Crenshaw, a couple married just after their high school graduation who set out to make a life for themselves. It is a life marked by surprises, none more dramatic than when Kirk receives his “high-calling” and becomes a pastor. It is a life marked by tragedy, the most heart-rending of which is a devastating event very close to home. And it is a life marked by challenges: to their church, to their community, and most decidedly to their marriage. And as the fullness of time makes its impact on their union, Kirk and Janeece must face the question of whether they have gone as far as they can together.
Filled with the rich emotions and evocative characters that fans have come to expect from Emily Sue Harvey, and reminiscent of the work of Jan Karon and Anne Rivers Siddons, Homefires is a poignant and compelling novel that will steal readers' hearts.
About the Author:
Emily Sue Harvey’s writing to make a difference. Her upbeat stories have appeared in dozens of anthologies including “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” “Chocolate for Women,” “From Eulogy to Joy,” “A Father’s Embrace,” “True Story,” “Compassionate Friends Magazine,” and “Woman’s World.” Emily Sue served as president of Southeastern Writers Association in 2008-2009. Her first novel, Song of Renewal, published by Story Plant, was released in the spring of 2009. For more information visit www.renewalstories.com.
My review:
Emily Sue Harvey has now become a new favorite author for me after reading this book. The book is filled with gripping emotion that leaves you joyful yet heartbroken and everything in between. The writing is superb and she is a great story teller that had me wrapped around her words after the first page. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed in this book.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Book Review: Trail of Thread
Title: Trail of Thread
Author: Linda Hubalek
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Butterfield Books (September 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781886652064
ISBN-13: 978-1886652064
I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest review.
Synopsis:
In this first book of the Trail of Thread series, in the form of letters she wrote on the journey, Deborah Pieratt describes the scenery, the everyday events on the trail, and the task of taking care of her family. Stories of humor and despair, along with her ongoing remarks about camping, cooking, and quilting, make you feel as if you pulled up stakes and are traveling with the Pieratts, too. This series is based on author Linda K. Hubalek's ancestors that traveled from Kentucky to Kansas in 1854. Besides the history of the times, Hubalek weaves quilting facts and quilt pattern sketches in her book series.
About the Author:
In sixth grade we had to write a paper on what we wanted to do when we grew up. My mom had kept it and I found this paper while cleaning through my closet during my college days. According to my dreams back then, I wanted to be a farmer, but my last line was "but alas, girls can't be farmers."
Well, I got my Bachelors Degree in Agriculture/Horticulture from Kansas State University, did agronomy research for years before starting a wholesale horticulture business. My company, Prairie Flower Creations, grew and dried flowers, ornamental corn, and mini pumpkins for the florist trade.
In 1990 I was featured in Country Woman Magazine, but at the same time, my husband's job was transferred to California. I sold my business and tried to cope, growing flowers and pumpkins in five-gallon buckets on our "cement lawn".
I started writing about the family and farmland I was homesick for and started a new career, writing about women ancestors who had moved to the new state of Kansas and farmed its land.
We eventually moved back to Kansas, bought land next to my family, raised buffalo, and I have a garden again. So not only have I fulfilled my dream to be a farmer, I've written about past and present women that have also tilled the prairie land of Kansas.
Please read and enjoy my book series which are about the family that homestead our family farm, and my ancestors that homesteaded in Kansas in the 1800s.
Considered historical fiction, these quality paperback books are age appropriate for everyone from age 9 to 99. Book, quilt, and Scandinavian gift shops sell them (or ask your local store to stock them for you) and schools use them in class studies to portray early pioneer and Kansas history.
My writing time most days is spent on the computer with marketing my businesses, but I am also working on the next book series.
Until my next book is available, you can read my current postings on my weekly newsletter to keep in touch with me, the buffalo herd, and the Kansas farming seasons. Sign up at www.BisonFarm.com.
Welcome to my Kansas prairie!
My review:
I am a history buff and love books that give details of past lives. The book is written as an epistolary novel from a daughter to her mother. It describes the daughter's journey as she is traversing from Kentucky to Kansas. It is written with a very real quality that gives the reader a visual of what is happening on the journey and places the reader along the trail as the family camps, eats, and shares the experience. Although the book is written for the younger reader, (ages 9-12) I think the book would be enjoyable for any age and will bring about a love for wanting to discover the past. It brings the reader into the world that is taking place and does not give boring details-in the vein of history books used in schools today. The book makes it interesting and lively and a great selection to read along with your children. The selection is the first in a series of books that will follow the journey west and I can't wait to read the next installment.
Author: Linda Hubalek
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Butterfield Books (September 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781886652064
ISBN-13: 978-1886652064
I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest review.
Synopsis:
In this first book of the Trail of Thread series, in the form of letters she wrote on the journey, Deborah Pieratt describes the scenery, the everyday events on the trail, and the task of taking care of her family. Stories of humor and despair, along with her ongoing remarks about camping, cooking, and quilting, make you feel as if you pulled up stakes and are traveling with the Pieratts, too. This series is based on author Linda K. Hubalek's ancestors that traveled from Kentucky to Kansas in 1854. Besides the history of the times, Hubalek weaves quilting facts and quilt pattern sketches in her book series.
About the Author:
In sixth grade we had to write a paper on what we wanted to do when we grew up. My mom had kept it and I found this paper while cleaning through my closet during my college days. According to my dreams back then, I wanted to be a farmer, but my last line was "but alas, girls can't be farmers."
Well, I got my Bachelors Degree in Agriculture/Horticulture from Kansas State University, did agronomy research for years before starting a wholesale horticulture business. My company, Prairie Flower Creations, grew and dried flowers, ornamental corn, and mini pumpkins for the florist trade.
In 1990 I was featured in Country Woman Magazine, but at the same time, my husband's job was transferred to California. I sold my business and tried to cope, growing flowers and pumpkins in five-gallon buckets on our "cement lawn".
I started writing about the family and farmland I was homesick for and started a new career, writing about women ancestors who had moved to the new state of Kansas and farmed its land.
We eventually moved back to Kansas, bought land next to my family, raised buffalo, and I have a garden again. So not only have I fulfilled my dream to be a farmer, I've written about past and present women that have also tilled the prairie land of Kansas.
Please read and enjoy my book series which are about the family that homestead our family farm, and my ancestors that homesteaded in Kansas in the 1800s.
Considered historical fiction, these quality paperback books are age appropriate for everyone from age 9 to 99. Book, quilt, and Scandinavian gift shops sell them (or ask your local store to stock them for you) and schools use them in class studies to portray early pioneer and Kansas history.
My writing time most days is spent on the computer with marketing my businesses, but I am also working on the next book series.
Until my next book is available, you can read my current postings on my weekly newsletter to keep in touch with me, the buffalo herd, and the Kansas farming seasons. Sign up at www.BisonFarm.com.
Welcome to my Kansas prairie!
My review:
I am a history buff and love books that give details of past lives. The book is written as an epistolary novel from a daughter to her mother. It describes the daughter's journey as she is traversing from Kentucky to Kansas. It is written with a very real quality that gives the reader a visual of what is happening on the journey and places the reader along the trail as the family camps, eats, and shares the experience. Although the book is written for the younger reader, (ages 9-12) I think the book would be enjoyable for any age and will bring about a love for wanting to discover the past. It brings the reader into the world that is taking place and does not give boring details-in the vein of history books used in schools today. The book makes it interesting and lively and a great selection to read along with your children. The selection is the first in a series of books that will follow the journey west and I can't wait to read the next installment.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
This Day in Literary History
Scholars believe an arrest warrant was issued on this day in 1593 for Christopher Marlowe, after fellow writer Thomas Kyd accused Marlowe of heresy.
Playwright Thomas Kyd, whose Spanish Tragedie (also called Hieronomo) was influential in the development of the revenge tragedy, was arrested on May 15, 1593, and tortured on suspicion of treason. Told that heretical documents had been found in his room, Kyd wrote a letter saying the documents belonged to Christopher Marlowe, with whom he had shared rooms previously. An arrest warrant was issued, and Marlowe was arrested on May 20. He bailed out but was killed in a bar brawl May 30.
Though little is known about Kyd's childhood, scholars believe he was educated at the Merchant Taylor's School in London and raised to be a scrivener, a professional trained to draw up contracts and other business documents. Of his early work, the Spanish Tragedie (1592) brought him the most recognition. Some scholars believe it served as a model for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Kyd died penniless in 1594.
Originally published on History.com
Playwright Thomas Kyd, whose Spanish Tragedie (also called Hieronomo) was influential in the development of the revenge tragedy, was arrested on May 15, 1593, and tortured on suspicion of treason. Told that heretical documents had been found in his room, Kyd wrote a letter saying the documents belonged to Christopher Marlowe, with whom he had shared rooms previously. An arrest warrant was issued, and Marlowe was arrested on May 20. He bailed out but was killed in a bar brawl May 30.
Though little is known about Kyd's childhood, scholars believe he was educated at the Merchant Taylor's School in London and raised to be a scrivener, a professional trained to draw up contracts and other business documents. Of his early work, the Spanish Tragedie (1592) brought him the most recognition. Some scholars believe it served as a model for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Kyd died penniless in 1594.
Originally published on History.com
Poetry for Wednesday
When All My Five and Country Senses See
By Dylan Thomas
When all my five and country senses see,
The fingers will forget green thumbs and mark
How, through the halfmoon’s vegetable eye,
Husk of young stars and handfull zodiac,
Love in the frost is pared and wintered by,
The whispering ears will watch love drummed away
Down breeze and shell to a discordant beach,
And, lashed to syllables, the lynx tongue cry
That her fond wounds are mended bitterly.
My nostrils see her breath burn like a bush.
My one and noble heart has witnesses
In all love’s countries, that will grope awake;
And when blind sleep drops on the spying senses,
The heart is sensual, though five eyes break.
By Dylan Thomas
When all my five and country senses see,
The fingers will forget green thumbs and mark
How, through the halfmoon’s vegetable eye,
Husk of young stars and handfull zodiac,
Love in the frost is pared and wintered by,
The whispering ears will watch love drummed away
Down breeze and shell to a discordant beach,
And, lashed to syllables, the lynx tongue cry
That her fond wounds are mended bitterly.
My nostrils see her breath burn like a bush.
My one and noble heart has witnesses
In all love’s countries, that will grope awake;
And when blind sleep drops on the spying senses,
The heart is sensual, though five eyes break.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
This Day in Literary History
Influential English writer Dorothy Richardson, whose stream-of-consciousness style will influence James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, is born on this day in 1873.
Richardson, though seldom read today, was widely read and discussed in her own time. The daughter of a grocer who went bankrupt when she was 17, Richardson was well-educated and highly independent. After her father's economic catastrophe, she took a job as a teacher in Germany for six months, then taught in London and worked as a governess for two years. In the late 1890s, Richardson devoted herself to caring for her severely depressed mother, who killed herself in November 1895 while Richardson was out taking a walk.
Richardson moved to the Bloomsbury district in London, determined to support herself. She took a job as a dental assistant and earned extra money by writing essays and reviews. Unusually liberated for the time period, Richardson made friends with other young women who worked in offices. She attended public events and lived sparsely so she could afford concert tickets.
Richardson met H.G. Wells, the husband of an old school friend, in the early 1900s. She had an affair with Wells and in 1906 found herself pregnant with Wells' child. She broke off with him, hoping to raise the child herself, but miscarried. She then moved to Sussex, where she wrote a monthly column for The Dental Record and sketches for The Saturday Review while working on the first volume of her stream-of-consciousness novel, Pilgrimmage. The novel, which eventually stretched to 12 volumes, traced the development of a young woman whose life paralleled Richardson's.
The first volume of the novel, called Pointed Roofs, was published in 1915, followed by two more volumes in 1916 and 1917. Richardson married an artist, 15 years her junior, in 1917 and supported him with her writing. A review of her first three volumes published in 1918 first used the literary term "stream of consciousness" to describe her groundbreaking style. Many important 20th century writers adapted her techniques. Richardson died in 1957 at the age of 84.
Originally published on History.com
Richardson, though seldom read today, was widely read and discussed in her own time. The daughter of a grocer who went bankrupt when she was 17, Richardson was well-educated and highly independent. After her father's economic catastrophe, she took a job as a teacher in Germany for six months, then taught in London and worked as a governess for two years. In the late 1890s, Richardson devoted herself to caring for her severely depressed mother, who killed herself in November 1895 while Richardson was out taking a walk.
Richardson moved to the Bloomsbury district in London, determined to support herself. She took a job as a dental assistant and earned extra money by writing essays and reviews. Unusually liberated for the time period, Richardson made friends with other young women who worked in offices. She attended public events and lived sparsely so she could afford concert tickets.
Richardson met H.G. Wells, the husband of an old school friend, in the early 1900s. She had an affair with Wells and in 1906 found herself pregnant with Wells' child. She broke off with him, hoping to raise the child herself, but miscarried. She then moved to Sussex, where she wrote a monthly column for The Dental Record and sketches for The Saturday Review while working on the first volume of her stream-of-consciousness novel, Pilgrimmage. The novel, which eventually stretched to 12 volumes, traced the development of a young woman whose life paralleled Richardson's.
The first volume of the novel, called Pointed Roofs, was published in 1915, followed by two more volumes in 1916 and 1917. Richardson married an artist, 15 years her junior, in 1917 and supported him with her writing. A review of her first three volumes published in 1918 first used the literary term "stream of consciousness" to describe her groundbreaking style. Many important 20th century writers adapted her techniques. Richardson died in 1957 at the age of 84.
Originally published on History.com
Book Review and Giveaway: Before You Launch Your Business
Title: Before You Launch Your Business: How to decide if being an Entrepreneur is for you
Author: Ruchira Agrawal
ISBN: 978-0-9868390-0-9
Pages: 63
Format: eBook
I received a free copy of this ebook from the author for my honest review.
My review:
Ruchira Agrawal was very informative on what you need to think about when you are contemplating starting your own business. The book contains information on what it means to be an entrpreneur and it gets the reader to explore different aspects of their lives to see if starting a business is for them. I particularly liked that a quiz was included so you can think about your personal qualities and decide if you are better at being the boss or an employee for someone else. The book is refreshing in that it does not overwhelm the reader and states simple, practical advice. The book is a great tool for anyone doing research on starting their own business. The author offers career counseling and you can sign up below to enter to win a free consultation.
About the Author-as listed on her site:
Ruchira Agrawal is the CEO of InnerVeda Communications and a Mindset and Intuition expert. She is an Intuitive, Coach for Businesses and Individuals and an Author. She calls herself a Spiritual Entrepreneur who makes a living doing what she absolutely loves to do. After having lived in San Francisco Bay Area for over 10 years, she currently resides in Vancouver, BC.
Her Personal Story
Ruchira embarked on a journey of self-awareness in 1995. A short term illness that triggered a Near Death Experience is what proved as a catalyst for it. This (NDE) experience created some dramatic shifts internally for her that led to opening up her psychic senses, changing her outlook on life - dreams, goals and desires; and finally helping her discover her own Purpose in Life. Why was she here on earth, What Work was she supposed to do - these were some of the deeper questions she had wondered about before and they had finally gotten answered.
Having found the clarity to her Life's Work and Purpose, next step was to act upon her findings and make things happen, in other words, translate them into real life. This meant taking big risks including leaving a life of security and ease behind, making a total career shift and embarking on a brand new path with little or no support personally or otherwise. With no one besides her to hold her hand, to guide, to show her the way, it meant she had to walk and do things on her own. All she had to go by was her faith and an intense urge to follow her Purpose. Not all the pieces to the puzzle (what lay ahead) were evident right away, a lot of it required walking in faith until the next step was revealed.
'It was tempting just to hold onto the old life rather than to step into the unknown all alone' she says, 'but the pull to move forward and fulfill what she was meant to do was far greater'. Around the same time, she also became a victim of the US economic recession (2001-02) that caused her to get laid off; the company she was employed at decided to close down its operations. This was a sign enough for her to know that it was time. Being at a juncture where she was just one month's rent away from being without a home, she took the leap forward. She had nothing to lose and rest as they say is history.
She started enriching and educating herself by taking courses and self-studying. First informally and later more formally, Ruchira started fulfilling her Life Purpose of assisting others, spreading her message and what she had learnt via services and products that make a difference. Her greatest joy is in providing clarity and assisting people work through what's holding them back from achieving their goals and passion. Her work is ever-evolving and so besides working with Individuals, she also later started to work with aspiring and existing Entrepreneurs that want to succeed but find themselves stuck.
She is continually a student of life and mind, passionate about living the best life she can. She loves to impart what her discoveries and findings are with her clients.
Her Current Work
The services and products that Ruchira provides for her clients is what resonates with her in her heart. When she initially began her work, she concentrated on providing insight and higher guidance to people. She enriched her self in the fields of metaphysics and personal development gaining deeper insight into the Power of Self and mind as well as on eternal quest subjects such as Happiness and Balance. She started working with companies, applying her intuitive senses in every day business practices. She already had the prior corporate world experience so that made it easy for her to understand business situations. As time went on, she started realizing that what her clients needed was much more than clarity, they needed tools and a guide map of sorts to help them get to their goals. They often did not know how to up level, whether it was in business or in life. What she also realized was that more than often, what stands in the way of a person's success is actually their own mindset. And if they just worked through unproductive and toxic behavioral patterns and beliefs, a lot could get accomplished. So she studied Hypnotherapy to understand the Human Mind better - both conscious and sub-conscious and it's inner workings. With a natural flair for Coaching, she slowly started integrating everything, customizing it for individual clients and thereby providing unique and a more whole rounded approach.
Her work with Business owners and Solopreneurs primarily centers around Marketing and Mind-set, helping them personally grow, so they can excel as business owners. It combines her rich experience in these fields for over 20 years. More on her work can be read by visiting the specific pages on the website.
Ruchira brings a unique blend of education, experience and talent to her work. Working with her is like getting the best of both worlds in many ways; she has the business (management, marketing, entrepreneurship) background which is backed by extensive personal and spiritual development experience.
Ruchira is the author of Before You Launch Your Business, a book offering entrepreneurial wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs.She has authored numerous Entrepreneurial, Intuition, Self-Help and Motivation related articles. You can find her online and even in Print Magazines. Most of her work consists of Private consultations with clients based in US, Canada and India. Connecting via modern technology has made it easy and convinient to connect. Her interest in human behavior, psychology coupled with desire to lead an authentic fulfilling life, forms the basis for many of her transformational workshops and seminars. She considers herself as a student of life, continuously working on expanding her own consciousness and sharing her learning and findings with her students and those who come in contact with her. She is currently involved in creating books, e-books, programs for entrepreneurs that are informational, educative and thought provoking at the same time.
Her latest project launch is a Business Program focused solely on women, called - Purpose Rich Women's Business Program ! This is designed for aspiring, newbie and existing entrepreneurs.
Ruchira's Expertise
Intuition - Helping you connect with your Intuition so you can utilize that in Business and Personal Life
Mindset- Clear the mental clutter for clarity, increased focus, achieving business and personal goals. Work through unproductive thoughts and belief patterns
Helping you discover and lead meaningful, purpose-rich life
Helping you create meaningful, purpose-rich businesses and career for increased personal satisfaction and success
Strategies for expansion of mind, spirit and wealth consciousness
Motivation and Personal Development
Education and Experience
Master's in Business Administration
Certified Hypnotherapist from the National Guild of Hypnotists
Certified Past life regression therapist
Work Experience
20 years of total work experience in the Service industry, in fields of Personal Development, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing and Recruiting
60,000+ Business and Personal sessions
Giveaway:
Everyone who buys this ebook between May 17th and May 21, gets added to contest. Winners will be chosen on May 22.
1. 1 Grand Prize winner - 30 mins special Career or Business Intuitive Consultation (worth $200. - $250.00)
2. 5 Prize winners - 50% off of 1 hour Career or Business Intuitive Consulations ( worth $ 100 - $ 125.00)
Follow this link to purchase. Be sure to mention The Book Tree blog when you purchase so that you are entered in the contest.
Author: Ruchira Agrawal
ISBN: 978-0-9868390-0-9
Pages: 63
Format: eBook
I received a free copy of this ebook from the author for my honest review.
My review:
Ruchira Agrawal was very informative on what you need to think about when you are contemplating starting your own business. The book contains information on what it means to be an entrpreneur and it gets the reader to explore different aspects of their lives to see if starting a business is for them. I particularly liked that a quiz was included so you can think about your personal qualities and decide if you are better at being the boss or an employee for someone else. The book is refreshing in that it does not overwhelm the reader and states simple, practical advice. The book is a great tool for anyone doing research on starting their own business. The author offers career counseling and you can sign up below to enter to win a free consultation.
About the Author-as listed on her site:
Ruchira Agrawal is the CEO of InnerVeda Communications and a Mindset and Intuition expert. She is an Intuitive, Coach for Businesses and Individuals and an Author. She calls herself a Spiritual Entrepreneur who makes a living doing what she absolutely loves to do. After having lived in San Francisco Bay Area for over 10 years, she currently resides in Vancouver, BC.
Her Personal Story
Ruchira embarked on a journey of self-awareness in 1995. A short term illness that triggered a Near Death Experience is what proved as a catalyst for it. This (NDE) experience created some dramatic shifts internally for her that led to opening up her psychic senses, changing her outlook on life - dreams, goals and desires; and finally helping her discover her own Purpose in Life. Why was she here on earth, What Work was she supposed to do - these were some of the deeper questions she had wondered about before and they had finally gotten answered.
Having found the clarity to her Life's Work and Purpose, next step was to act upon her findings and make things happen, in other words, translate them into real life. This meant taking big risks including leaving a life of security and ease behind, making a total career shift and embarking on a brand new path with little or no support personally or otherwise. With no one besides her to hold her hand, to guide, to show her the way, it meant she had to walk and do things on her own. All she had to go by was her faith and an intense urge to follow her Purpose. Not all the pieces to the puzzle (what lay ahead) were evident right away, a lot of it required walking in faith until the next step was revealed.
'It was tempting just to hold onto the old life rather than to step into the unknown all alone' she says, 'but the pull to move forward and fulfill what she was meant to do was far greater'. Around the same time, she also became a victim of the US economic recession (2001-02) that caused her to get laid off; the company she was employed at decided to close down its operations. This was a sign enough for her to know that it was time. Being at a juncture where she was just one month's rent away from being without a home, she took the leap forward. She had nothing to lose and rest as they say is history.
She started enriching and educating herself by taking courses and self-studying. First informally and later more formally, Ruchira started fulfilling her Life Purpose of assisting others, spreading her message and what she had learnt via services and products that make a difference. Her greatest joy is in providing clarity and assisting people work through what's holding them back from achieving their goals and passion. Her work is ever-evolving and so besides working with Individuals, she also later started to work with aspiring and existing Entrepreneurs that want to succeed but find themselves stuck.
She is continually a student of life and mind, passionate about living the best life she can. She loves to impart what her discoveries and findings are with her clients.
Her Current Work
The services and products that Ruchira provides for her clients is what resonates with her in her heart. When she initially began her work, she concentrated on providing insight and higher guidance to people. She enriched her self in the fields of metaphysics and personal development gaining deeper insight into the Power of Self and mind as well as on eternal quest subjects such as Happiness and Balance. She started working with companies, applying her intuitive senses in every day business practices. She already had the prior corporate world experience so that made it easy for her to understand business situations. As time went on, she started realizing that what her clients needed was much more than clarity, they needed tools and a guide map of sorts to help them get to their goals. They often did not know how to up level, whether it was in business or in life. What she also realized was that more than often, what stands in the way of a person's success is actually their own mindset. And if they just worked through unproductive and toxic behavioral patterns and beliefs, a lot could get accomplished. So she studied Hypnotherapy to understand the Human Mind better - both conscious and sub-conscious and it's inner workings. With a natural flair for Coaching, she slowly started integrating everything, customizing it for individual clients and thereby providing unique and a more whole rounded approach.
Her work with Business owners and Solopreneurs primarily centers around Marketing and Mind-set, helping them personally grow, so they can excel as business owners. It combines her rich experience in these fields for over 20 years. More on her work can be read by visiting the specific pages on the website.
Ruchira brings a unique blend of education, experience and talent to her work. Working with her is like getting the best of both worlds in many ways; she has the business (management, marketing, entrepreneurship) background which is backed by extensive personal and spiritual development experience.
Ruchira is the author of Before You Launch Your Business, a book offering entrepreneurial wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs.She has authored numerous Entrepreneurial, Intuition, Self-Help and Motivation related articles. You can find her online and even in Print Magazines. Most of her work consists of Private consultations with clients based in US, Canada and India. Connecting via modern technology has made it easy and convinient to connect. Her interest in human behavior, psychology coupled with desire to lead an authentic fulfilling life, forms the basis for many of her transformational workshops and seminars. She considers herself as a student of life, continuously working on expanding her own consciousness and sharing her learning and findings with her students and those who come in contact with her. She is currently involved in creating books, e-books, programs for entrepreneurs that are informational, educative and thought provoking at the same time.
Her latest project launch is a Business Program focused solely on women, called - Purpose Rich Women's Business Program ! This is designed for aspiring, newbie and existing entrepreneurs.
Ruchira's Expertise
Intuition - Helping you connect with your Intuition so you can utilize that in Business and Personal Life
Mindset- Clear the mental clutter for clarity, increased focus, achieving business and personal goals. Work through unproductive thoughts and belief patterns
Helping you discover and lead meaningful, purpose-rich life
Helping you create meaningful, purpose-rich businesses and career for increased personal satisfaction and success
Strategies for expansion of mind, spirit and wealth consciousness
Motivation and Personal Development
Education and Experience
Master's in Business Administration
Certified Hypnotherapist from the National Guild of Hypnotists
Certified Past life regression therapist
Work Experience
20 years of total work experience in the Service industry, in fields of Personal Development, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing and Recruiting
60,000+ Business and Personal sessions
Giveaway:
Everyone who buys this ebook between May 17th and May 21, gets added to contest. Winners will be chosen on May 22.
1. 1 Grand Prize winner - 30 mins special Career or Business Intuitive Consultation (worth $200. - $250.00)
2. 5 Prize winners - 50% off of 1 hour Career or Business Intuitive Consulations ( worth $ 100 - $ 125.00)
Follow this link to purchase. Be sure to mention The Book Tree blog when you purchase so that you are entered in the contest.
Monday, May 16, 2011
This Day in Literary History
Writer Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, is imprisoned in the Bastille on this day in 1717.
The outspoken writer was born to middle-class parents, attended college in Paris, and began to study law. However, he quit law to become a playwright and made a name for himself with classical tragedies. Critics embraced his epic poem, La Henriade, but its satirical attack on politics and religion infuriated the government, and Voltaire was arrested in 1717. He spent nearly a year in the Bastille.
Voltaire's time in prison failed to dry up his satirical pen. In 1726, he was forced to flee to England. He returned several years later and continued to write plays. In 1734, his Lettres Philosophiques criticized established religions and political institutions, and he was forced to flee again. He retreated to the region of Champagne, where he lived with his mistress and patroness, Madame du Chatelet. In 1750, he moved to Berlin on the invitation of Frederick II of Prussia and later settled in Switzerland, where he wrote his best-known work, Candide. He died in Paris in 1778, having returned to supervise the production of one of his plays.
Originally published on History.com
The outspoken writer was born to middle-class parents, attended college in Paris, and began to study law. However, he quit law to become a playwright and made a name for himself with classical tragedies. Critics embraced his epic poem, La Henriade, but its satirical attack on politics and religion infuriated the government, and Voltaire was arrested in 1717. He spent nearly a year in the Bastille.
Voltaire's time in prison failed to dry up his satirical pen. In 1726, he was forced to flee to England. He returned several years later and continued to write plays. In 1734, his Lettres Philosophiques criticized established religions and political institutions, and he was forced to flee again. He retreated to the region of Champagne, where he lived with his mistress and patroness, Madame du Chatelet. In 1750, he moved to Berlin on the invitation of Frederick II of Prussia and later settled in Switzerland, where he wrote his best-known work, Candide. He died in Paris in 1778, having returned to supervise the production of one of his plays.
Originally published on History.com
First Card Feature
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today's Wild Card authors are:
and the book:
Kregel Publications (March 9, 2011)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Heather Munn was born in Northern Ireland of American parents and grew up in the south of France. She decided to be a writer at the age of five when her mother read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books aloud, but worried that she couldn’t write about her childhood since she didn’t remember it. When she was young, her favorite time of day was after supper when the family would gather and her father would read a chapter from a novel. Heather went to French school until her teens, and grew up hearing the story of Le Chambonsur-Lignon, only an hour’s drive away. She now lives in rural Illinois with her husband, Paul, where they offer free spiritual retreats to people coming out of homelessness and addiction. She enjoys wandering in the woods, gardening, writing, and splitting wood. 
Lydia Munn was homeschooled for five years because there was no school where her family served as missionaries in the savannahs of northern Brazil. There was no public library either, but Lydia read every book she could get her hands on. This led naturally to her choice of an English major at Wheaton College. Her original plan to teach high school English gradually transitioned into a lifelong love of teaching the Bible to both adults and young people as a missionary in France. She and her husband, Jim, have two children: their son, Robin, and their daughter, Heather. SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
When had God ever stopped a war because a teenager asked him to? For fifteen-year-old Julien Losier, life will never be the same. His family has relocated to southern France to outrun Hitler’s menace. But Julien doesn’t want to run. He doesn’t want to huddle around the radio at night, waiting to hear news through buzzing static. Julien doesn’t want to wait.
Angry, frustrated, and itching to do something, Julien finds a battle everywhere he turns.
Soon after his family opens their house to a Jewish boy needing refuge, Julien meets Nina, a young Austrian who has fled her home by her father’s dying command. Nina’s situation is grave and Julien suddenly realizes the enormity of having someone’s life or death depend on… him.
Thrown together by a conflict that’s too big for them to understand, these young lives struggle to know what to do, even if it is not enough. Is there a greater purpose in the shadows of this terrible war? Or will their choices put them in greater danger?
Endorsements:
“The Munns have written an engrossing historical novel that is faithful to the actual events of World War II in western Europe during the tumultuous year 1940. But How Huge the Night is more than good history; it is particularly refreshing because the reader sees the conflict through the lives of teenagers who are forced to grapple with their honest questions about the existence and goodness of God in the midst of community, family, and ethnic tensions in war-ravaged France.”—Lyle W. Dorsett, Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
“Seldom have the horrors of war upon adolescents—or the heroism of which they are capable—been so clearly portrayed. I loved this coming-of-age story.”—Patricia Sprinkle, author of Hold Up the Sky
“The book expertly weaves together the lives of its characters at a frightening moment in conflicted times. As we read of their moral dilemmas and of their choices, we too wonder, Would I do has these in the story have done?”—Karen Mains, Director, Hungry Souls
Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications (March 9, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082543310X
ISBN-13: 978-0825433108
AND NOW...AN EXCERPT:
From Chapter 23
Thursday the power came back on. They sat in the living room, around the radio that crackled with static; they looked at each other, and then away. The room grew quiet as the announcer began to speak.
“Since Mussolini’s declaration of war on France two days ago, Italian troops are pushing west—”
Mama was on her feet. “The thief!” she hissed. “The backstabber, the coward!” Her face was red. Everyone was staring. She sat down.
Papa looked at her. “Saw his chance, I guess.”
“He’s a shame to his nation,” Mama snapped. Julien stared. Then they heard the shift in the announcer’s voice and turned sharply to the radio.
“German troops are approaching Paris at a rapid pace. As we speak, the vanguard is reported to be fifteen kilometers from Versailles. This will be our last broadcast for a while.”
They did not look at each other. The silence was total.
“Today Paris has been declared an ‘open city.’ Our military will not defend it. This decision was made to avoid bombardment and the great destruction and loss of life that it entails. . . .”
Julien realized he had not been breathing. It was an amazing thing, breathing. Tears shone in Mama’s eyes.
“They won’t bomb Paris,” said Papa quietly.
“They won’t bomb Paris,” Mama whispered.
Benjamin stood, his face very still. He walked slowly to the door and took the stairs.
Julien waited, breathing, seeing Paris; seeing Vincent and his mother look up out of their second-floor window at a clear blue sky. He waited until the news ended, until they had read a psalm that said The Lord has delivered.
Then he followed Benjamin.
Benjamin’s door was closed. Julien hesitated, biting his lip, and went into his own room.
He looked out the window in the fading light. They wouldn’t defend it. This was it, then. What Pastor Alex said was true. German tanks would roll down the Champs-Elysées for real in just a couple days. Then the boches would come here. And they would stay.
He pulled Vincent’s last letter out from under his nightstand. I can’t believe you almost died, it said. That’s crazy. He got up, and went and knocked on Benjamin’s door.
No answer.
“Benjamin? You all right?”
“Fine.”
Julien opened the door. Benjamin turned quickly, scowling.
“Did I say you could come in?”
“Well sorry,” Julien growled. How am I supposed to help when he’s like this? “Just wanted to say good night.”
“Good night then.”
“Look, it’s not as bad as it could have been, okay? They could have bombed the place to shreds like Ro—” He bit his tongue.
“You’re right,” said Benjamin, looking away. “That’s good for your relatives. I’m glad.”
“And your parents!”
“Nothing’s good for my parents.” His voice was toneless. “Look, Julien, we can talk about this in the morning. I need to go to bed.”
Julien knew when to quit. He turned away. “Sleep well.”
“You too.”
But he couldn’t. He turned and turned in his bed, twisting the sheets.
He got up and looked out at the crescent moon and the stars high over Tanieux, so white, so far, always the same; they would still be there when the Germans were here; they would still be there all his life. They were still there over Rotterdam, too. It didn’t make any difference.
When he finally slept, he dreamed: Paris on the fourteenth of July, the fireworks, bursts of blue, of gold, of red above the city. A whirling rocket going up with a hiss and a bang. Then a louder bang. Then a bang that threw up a great shower of dirt and stones, and people screaming, people running as the shells began to fall—
He woke, and lay shivering. He got up to close the window. The stars shone down like cold eyes.
He heard a faint scratching. Mice maybe. A floorboard creaked. He listened.
And he heard it. Very slow, stealthy footsteps going down the stairs.
He sat up slowly. Magali or Benjamin. Tiptoeing down the stairs to the kitchen, wishing there was something to eat. . . . He got out of bed and leaned out the window, watching for the faint light that would come through from the kitchen. No light came.
But on the ground floor, the heavy front door opened, and a dark shape slipped out into the street. A shadow with a suitcase in its hand.
He ran across the hall and threw open Benjamin’s door. A neatly made bed, a letter on the pillow. He grabbed it, ran back to his room, jerked his pants on over his pajamas, and ran downstairs in his socks. He’d catch him. Benjamin was on foot. He had to catch him. He scrawled on the flip side of the note, I’ve gone after him, pulled on his shoes and jacket, and flew down the stairs and into the dark.
He raced down the shadowed street and stopped at the corner, heart pounding, looking both ways. North, over the hill: the road to St. Etienne. A train to Paris, like he’d said? There were no trains now. Or south—south to where? Oh Lord if I choose wrong I’ll never find him.
Think. What would he do if it were him? He’d go south—north was suicide, but—he didn’t know, he didn’t know Benjamin. Who did? Nothing is good for my parents, he’d said—he didn’t seem to even care that Paris wouldn’t be bombed—
Because his parents weren’t in Paris.
Julien turned, suddenly sure, and ran.
The Kellers had left Germany because of Hitler and his people. Would they stay in Paris and wait for them? “Let’s walk south,” Benjamin had said—and that stupid map—he should have guessed.
He ran, breathing hard, his eyes on the dark road ahead. Oh God. Oh Jesus. Don’t let me miss him please—please—
He broke free of the houses; the Tanne gleamed in front of him under the splintered moon, cut by the dark curve of the bridge. He froze. He ducked into the shadows and breathed.
There on the bridge was a slender figure leaning on the parapet, looking down at the dark water.
Oh God. Oh Jesus. Now what?
Benjamin turned and took a long, last look at Tanieux. Then he adjusted his backpack, picked up his suitcase, and walked away.
Julien slipped out of the shadows and up to the bridge, his heart beating help me Jesus help me, his mind searching for words. Come home. And if he said no? Drag him? Help me Jesus. He was across the bridge, ten paces behind Benjamin; he broke into a silent run on the grassy verge of the road. He caught up to him. Laid a hand on his arm.
“Benjamin.”
Benjamin whirled, eyes wild in the moonlight. They stared at each other. “Why.” said Julien. “Tell me why.” His voice was harder than he meant it to be.
“Let me go.”
“No.” He tightened his grip on Benjamin’s arm.
Benjamin tried to pull away. “Julien, let me go. You have no idea. You have no idea what they’re like.”
“The boches?” This time his voice came out small.
“The Nazis, Julien. Ever heard of them? Yeah, you heard they don’t like Jews—I don’t think any of you people understand.” The sweep of his arm took in the school and the sleeping town. “Your parents are great, Julien—offering shelter and all—they really are. But they don’t know. Yet.”
But they do. They know. “Know what? What’ll they—do?”
“I’m not waiting around to find out.” His face was white and deadly serious. “Trust me on this, Julien. They are coming here and when they do, it’s better for you if I’m long gone.” I believe it is very dangerous to be a Jew in Germany. And soon—
Julien stood silent. The night wind touched his face; the hills were shadows on the horizon where they blotted out the stars. Suddenly he felt how large the world was, how huge the night, how small they stood on the road in the light of the waning moon. Ahead, the road bent into the pine woods, and in his mind, Julien saw Benjamin walking away, a small form carrying a suitcase into the darkness under the trees. His fingers bit into Benjamin’s arm.
“I don’t care,” he said savagely. “Where would you go?”
Benjamin said nothing; the moonlight quivered in his eyes as they filled with tears. He turned his head away. “I don’t know.” His voice shook.
Julien caught him by the shoulders, gripped him hard. “Well I do,” he said fiercely. “You’re coming home.”
Thursday the power came back on. They sat in the living room, around the radio that crackled with static; they looked at each other, and then away. The room grew quiet as the announcer began to speak.
“Since Mussolini’s declaration of war on France two days ago, Italian troops are pushing west—”
Mama was on her feet. “The thief!” she hissed. “The backstabber, the coward!” Her face was red. Everyone was staring. She sat down.
Papa looked at her. “Saw his chance, I guess.”
“He’s a shame to his nation,” Mama snapped. Julien stared. Then they heard the shift in the announcer’s voice and turned sharply to the radio.
“German troops are approaching Paris at a rapid pace. As we speak, the vanguard is reported to be fifteen kilometers from Versailles. This will be our last broadcast for a while.”
They did not look at each other. The silence was total.
“Today Paris has been declared an ‘open city.’ Our military will not defend it. This decision was made to avoid bombardment and the great destruction and loss of life that it entails. . . .”
Julien realized he had not been breathing. It was an amazing thing, breathing. Tears shone in Mama’s eyes.
“They won’t bomb Paris,” said Papa quietly.
“They won’t bomb Paris,” Mama whispered.
Benjamin stood, his face very still. He walked slowly to the door and took the stairs.
Julien waited, breathing, seeing Paris; seeing Vincent and his mother look up out of their second-floor window at a clear blue sky. He waited until the news ended, until they had read a psalm that said The Lord has delivered.
Then he followed Benjamin.
Benjamin’s door was closed. Julien hesitated, biting his lip, and went into his own room.
He looked out the window in the fading light. They wouldn’t defend it. This was it, then. What Pastor Alex said was true. German tanks would roll down the Champs-Elysées for real in just a couple days. Then the boches would come here. And they would stay.
He pulled Vincent’s last letter out from under his nightstand. I can’t believe you almost died, it said. That’s crazy. He got up, and went and knocked on Benjamin’s door.
No answer.
“Benjamin? You all right?”
“Fine.”
Julien opened the door. Benjamin turned quickly, scowling.
“Did I say you could come in?”
“Well sorry,” Julien growled. How am I supposed to help when he’s like this? “Just wanted to say good night.”
“Good night then.”
“Look, it’s not as bad as it could have been, okay? They could have bombed the place to shreds like Ro—” He bit his tongue.
“You’re right,” said Benjamin, looking away. “That’s good for your relatives. I’m glad.”
“And your parents!”
“Nothing’s good for my parents.” His voice was toneless. “Look, Julien, we can talk about this in the morning. I need to go to bed.”
Julien knew when to quit. He turned away. “Sleep well.”
“You too.”
But he couldn’t. He turned and turned in his bed, twisting the sheets.
He got up and looked out at the crescent moon and the stars high over Tanieux, so white, so far, always the same; they would still be there when the Germans were here; they would still be there all his life. They were still there over Rotterdam, too. It didn’t make any difference.
When he finally slept, he dreamed: Paris on the fourteenth of July, the fireworks, bursts of blue, of gold, of red above the city. A whirling rocket going up with a hiss and a bang. Then a louder bang. Then a bang that threw up a great shower of dirt and stones, and people screaming, people running as the shells began to fall—
He woke, and lay shivering. He got up to close the window. The stars shone down like cold eyes.
He heard a faint scratching. Mice maybe. A floorboard creaked. He listened.
And he heard it. Very slow, stealthy footsteps going down the stairs.
He sat up slowly. Magali or Benjamin. Tiptoeing down the stairs to the kitchen, wishing there was something to eat. . . . He got out of bed and leaned out the window, watching for the faint light that would come through from the kitchen. No light came.
But on the ground floor, the heavy front door opened, and a dark shape slipped out into the street. A shadow with a suitcase in its hand.
He ran across the hall and threw open Benjamin’s door. A neatly made bed, a letter on the pillow. He grabbed it, ran back to his room, jerked his pants on over his pajamas, and ran downstairs in his socks. He’d catch him. Benjamin was on foot. He had to catch him. He scrawled on the flip side of the note, I’ve gone after him, pulled on his shoes and jacket, and flew down the stairs and into the dark.
He raced down the shadowed street and stopped at the corner, heart pounding, looking both ways. North, over the hill: the road to St. Etienne. A train to Paris, like he’d said? There were no trains now. Or south—south to where? Oh Lord if I choose wrong I’ll never find him.
Think. What would he do if it were him? He’d go south—north was suicide, but—he didn’t know, he didn’t know Benjamin. Who did? Nothing is good for my parents, he’d said—he didn’t seem to even care that Paris wouldn’t be bombed—
Because his parents weren’t in Paris.
Julien turned, suddenly sure, and ran.
The Kellers had left Germany because of Hitler and his people. Would they stay in Paris and wait for them? “Let’s walk south,” Benjamin had said—and that stupid map—he should have guessed.
He ran, breathing hard, his eyes on the dark road ahead. Oh God. Oh Jesus. Don’t let me miss him please—please—
He broke free of the houses; the Tanne gleamed in front of him under the splintered moon, cut by the dark curve of the bridge. He froze. He ducked into the shadows and breathed.
There on the bridge was a slender figure leaning on the parapet, looking down at the dark water.
Oh God. Oh Jesus. Now what?
Benjamin turned and took a long, last look at Tanieux. Then he adjusted his backpack, picked up his suitcase, and walked away.
Julien slipped out of the shadows and up to the bridge, his heart beating help me Jesus help me, his mind searching for words. Come home. And if he said no? Drag him? Help me Jesus. He was across the bridge, ten paces behind Benjamin; he broke into a silent run on the grassy verge of the road. He caught up to him. Laid a hand on his arm.
“Benjamin.”
Benjamin whirled, eyes wild in the moonlight. They stared at each other. “Why.” said Julien. “Tell me why.” His voice was harder than he meant it to be.
“Let me go.”
“No.” He tightened his grip on Benjamin’s arm.
Benjamin tried to pull away. “Julien, let me go. You have no idea. You have no idea what they’re like.”
“The boches?” This time his voice came out small.
“The Nazis, Julien. Ever heard of them? Yeah, you heard they don’t like Jews—I don’t think any of you people understand.” The sweep of his arm took in the school and the sleeping town. “Your parents are great, Julien—offering shelter and all—they really are. But they don’t know. Yet.”
But they do. They know. “Know what? What’ll they—do?”
“I’m not waiting around to find out.” His face was white and deadly serious. “Trust me on this, Julien. They are coming here and when they do, it’s better for you if I’m long gone.” I believe it is very dangerous to be a Jew in Germany. And soon—
Julien stood silent. The night wind touched his face; the hills were shadows on the horizon where they blotted out the stars. Suddenly he felt how large the world was, how huge the night, how small they stood on the road in the light of the waning moon. Ahead, the road bent into the pine woods, and in his mind, Julien saw Benjamin walking away, a small form carrying a suitcase into the darkness under the trees. His fingers bit into Benjamin’s arm.
“I don’t care,” he said savagely. “Where would you go?”
Benjamin said nothing; the moonlight quivered in his eyes as they filled with tears. He turned his head away. “I don’t know.” His voice shook.
Julien caught him by the shoulders, gripped him hard. “Well I do,” he said fiercely. “You’re coming home.”
In My Mailbox
Last week I only received one book in my mailbox so I just combined it with today's posting.
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
The Russian Affair by Michael Wallner
Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Deadly Promises by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Diana Love, Cindy Gerard, and Laura Griffin
Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens
Fabulous Faces by Peter A. Adamson, M.D.
to be sung underwater by Tom McNeal
the four courners of the sky by Michael Malone
In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Shattered by Melody Carlson
A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner
I Used to Know That: Civil War by Fred DuBose
I Used to Know That: Shakespeare by Liz Evers
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
The Russian Affair by Michael Wallner
Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Deadly Promises by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Diana Love, Cindy Gerard, and Laura Griffin
Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens
Fabulous Faces by Peter A. Adamson, M.D.
to be sung underwater by Tom McNeal
the four courners of the sky by Michael Malone
In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Shattered by Melody Carlson
A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner
I Used to Know That: Civil War by Fred DuBose
I Used to Know That: Shakespeare by Liz Evers
Sunday, May 15, 2011
This Day in Literary History
Callie Porter, later known as Katherine Anne Porter, is born in Indian Creek, Texas, on this day in 1890.
Porter grew up in poverty. Before she turned two, her mother died and her father moved in with his mother. Porter's grandmother, Catherine Anne Porter, provided love and support, and Porter later changed her first name to echo her grandmother's.
Her grandmother died in 1901, and Porter was sent to convent school in New Orleans and later attended school in San Antonio. At age 16, she married the 27-year-old son of a rancher, but the marriage was a failure. In 1911, Porter left for Chicago, where she worked as a reporter. She later spent two years traveling around Texas as a ballad singer and in 1918 became a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
In 1918, Porter became deathly ill. After her recovery, she traveled to Mexico, where she spent most of her time for several years. Her first published work of fiction, the short story "MarÃa ConcepcÃon" (1922), received almost immediate appreciation from critics.
In 1925, she married again but soon divorced. Her collection Flowering Judas and Other Stories (1930) was a critical success and helped her win a Guggenheim Fellowship to support her writing. From 1931 to 1937, she lived in Europe, married and divorced a third time, then married again in 1938. That year, she returned to the U.S. with her fourth husband and settled in Baton Rouge. In the 1940s, she wrote film scripts and lectured at universities. During her lifetime, she published only 25 stories and one novel, Ship of Fools, which took her more than two decades to complete. While her work was not abundant, almost all of it was critically acclaimed. She died in 1980 in Maryland.
Originally published on History.com
Porter grew up in poverty. Before she turned two, her mother died and her father moved in with his mother. Porter's grandmother, Catherine Anne Porter, provided love and support, and Porter later changed her first name to echo her grandmother's.
Her grandmother died in 1901, and Porter was sent to convent school in New Orleans and later attended school in San Antonio. At age 16, she married the 27-year-old son of a rancher, but the marriage was a failure. In 1911, Porter left for Chicago, where she worked as a reporter. She later spent two years traveling around Texas as a ballad singer and in 1918 became a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
In 1918, Porter became deathly ill. After her recovery, she traveled to Mexico, where she spent most of her time for several years. Her first published work of fiction, the short story "MarÃa ConcepcÃon" (1922), received almost immediate appreciation from critics.
In 1925, she married again but soon divorced. Her collection Flowering Judas and Other Stories (1930) was a critical success and helped her win a Guggenheim Fellowship to support her writing. From 1931 to 1937, she lived in Europe, married and divorced a third time, then married again in 1938. That year, she returned to the U.S. with her fourth husband and settled in Baton Rouge. In the 1940s, she wrote film scripts and lectured at universities. During her lifetime, she published only 25 stories and one novel, Ship of Fools, which took her more than two decades to complete. While her work was not abundant, almost all of it was critically acclaimed. She died in 1980 in Maryland.
Originally published on History.com
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