Hello ,Best wishes for the New Year!
I'm incredibly grateful for your support this past year, as I navigated the extremes of grief and joy, and practiced living with contradiction. Thank you.
If you're beginning 2015 with a bang and a flurry like me, I wish for both of
us inner peace amidst the activity. To that end, I plan to pause and celebrate this coming Monday when I turn in the final manuscript for my upcoming book. I started working on FANNIE NEVER FLINCHES about eight years ago.
Don't miss next week's newsletter. I'll give you a sneak preview. Fannie was an American heroine with amazing courage, standing up for what she believed,
even at the risk of her own life. Saturday, January 9th 9:30 am at St. John's Cathedral in Spokane, I'll be speaking to the Daughters of the American Revolution about WWII nurses and how they survived combat and Japanese prison camp. I'm excited to be able to show some of the
historical photographs that didn't make my book PURE GRIT.
Tuesday, January 13th Seattle Children's Hospital I'll be meeting with Emergency Room Nurses on retreat
to reflect on their vocation and bond with one another. Every day these nurses care for children who come into the ER, often in critical condition. My part is to share the courage, resilience and commitment of the POW nurses I researched for PURE GRIT. I'm honored to be a small part of this effort by the Seattle nurses to process some of the demands of their job and return to their important work with renewed purpose.
Thanks to Karrie Zylstra for featuring me on her blog this week talking about what I've learned through the ups and downs of my writing and research process.
Here are a few of the stories I'm reflecting on as 2015 begins. |
I'm an introvert... and doggone it, that's okay!
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As the Christmas festivities ended and we geared up for New Year’s Eve, I just couldn’t do it. I had no enthusiasm. I had no energy. I wanted to curl up with a good book for three days straight. I felt badly
because my husband was in full party mode. Why was I so tired? Why was I such a stick-in-the-mud?After impersonating an extrovert for the first 40-years of my life, I’ve been slowly coming to accept that I am actually more of an introvert. It explains weird things like why I hate talking on the phone, why I can’t crack the secret of small talk, and why I don’t want to go out and party on New Year’s Eve! Extroverted behavior is prized in our
culture, so I've often felt out-of-step.I still find myself asking “What’s wrong with me?” and it takes courage to answer back: “Nothing is wrong with me. I’d just rather be alone.” The more I learn about how introverts behave and why, the easier it is for me to make hard choices. Knowledge is power. Here's a great article about how introverts interact with the world... I'd love to hear your experience as an introvert, or living with an introvert. Email me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com.
The Story Behind Unbroken |
Before the movie, came the book. I read Unbroken while I was writing my own book about prisoners of war in the Pacific. I'd heard vaguely that Laura Hillenbrand, had written Seabiscuit while suffering an illness
that kept her practically bedridden.
Now, she's done it again, written possibly the most commercially successful book of all time-- Unbroken--while suffering near constant vertigo and rarely leaving her house. Here's more from the New York Times...
Thinking about Laura overcoming her obstacles and achieving such great success, I could get down on myself. Or, I could remember that success comes through small steps each day, and do one thing to move myself forward. It's a choice. Thank you for reading!
If you no longer want to receive this, please go ahead and click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. I will never spam anyone or sell your address. Currently, new subscribers will be entered in a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate to their favorite independent books store. If you'd
like to get your hands on a copy of PURE GRIT, here's the place! If you'd like a signed copy and I'm not coming to your neighborhood soon, let me know. I can send you a personally autographed book or a signed
bookplate. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teachers and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
Questions? Comments? Contact me at
MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
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