ready

I’m sitting in a small café in Winnetka, Illinois, with an hour to spare before my Motherhood & Words workshop at StoryStudio. It’s chilly outside, on this first day of fall, and I’m grateful for the hot coffee and steaming eggs in front of me. It’s been a quick, but full trip. Yesterday I was…

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minnpost & mn reads

My friend Jess sent me an email this morning saying, “Yay for MinnPost.” I’d done an interview yesterday with Amy Goetzman, their book reviewer, but I had no idea she’d turn it around so fast. Amazing! Check out the feature/interview here. I also failed to post a link to my MN Reads 6 Questions interview…

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Women Writing on Family

It’s not always easy to write about the people in your life, but as a memoirist, it’s part of my job. When I first began to write, I struggled to get accurate portrayals of my family members onto the page. I worried what my mom and dad will say when they read certain essays or…

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Milwaukee

I left work at 2 p.m. on Thursday and picked up my friend, Jess, and then we hit the road for Milwaukee. Jess and I have been friends since college and we see each other regularly, but we rarely get to spend extended periods of time together. Nothing like a road trip to fix that!…

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a double life: discovering motherhood

I’m so pleased to have another author interview to post this week. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing Lisa Catherine Harper, whose debut memoir, A Double Life: Discovering Motherhood, won the 2010 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize. This is a lovely, meditative memoir that takes the reader through Harper’s first pregnancy and early motherhood.…

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mothers and daughters

If you’ve been reading my posts in the last few weeks, you know that as I sat next to my grandpa the week he was dying, I was reading Rae Meadows’ new novel Mothers and Daughters. It was the perfect novel to read as I said goodbye to Spencer because so much of the story for…

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profile

Thank you to Julie Pfitzinger for the lovely profile and interview in the Star Tribune this morning. Thanks, Julie!

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cover me

A couple of weeks ago I finished Sonya Huber’s compelling new memoir, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, which was released in October from University of Nebraska Press, and I can’t think of a more timely book. If you’ve ever had stress over healthcare and coverage, you will relate to this story. But perhaps it’s…

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parents with pens

Thanks to all of you for your kind birthday wishes for my grandpa. He’s had two lovely parties so far and one more tomorrow. (It makes me tired to think about three parties. Imagine doing it when you’re 102.) I’m pleased to announce that I have Kris Woll here at Mother Words today. Kris is…

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profile of bonnie rough

Thanks for your kind words and your lists last week. I hope you had a lovely long weekend. D and I spent lots of time playing with the girls and reading in bed as they played. It was heavenly. I read two wonderful books: Toni Morrison’s A Mercy and my friend Alex Lemon’s raw and…

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