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This Book Is My Hope
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops is a candid memoir detailing the various obstacles in your life and how you faced them. Why was this an important book for you to write?
A: Thank you so much for the thoughtful question. This book is my hope, as an immigrant, to share my cultural background with my children, who were born and raised here in the U.S. and have little connection with their Chinese roots. In part, it’s a family history project. And family means everything to me. It’s important that I tell my kids my truth about my upbringing and cultural conditioning, so they understand why their Chinese mother thinks and acts the way she does. Understanding is associated with love and acceptance. What great gift would it be if my children understand, love, and accept me, even though I’m so different from their American friends’ moms?
What was one of the hardest moments for you to write about?
A: Oh, there are several, actually. But the hardest of them all has to be the scene where I went to my mother’s house to say good-bye. I didn’t know then that it would be the last time I saw her in this life. There was much that needed to be said but wasn’t, and the regrets haunt me in dreams. My first-born child is now the same age I was when I saw my mother the last time. I can only imagine how it would kill me if my child did the same thing to me. I’m not proud of the twentysomething me and the things I did. Life experiences are the best teacher. I’ve definitely learned from my bad choices and mistakes.
What were some ideas that were important for you to explore in this memoir?
A: Thanks for asking such a wonderful question! The first idea that was important for me to explore in this memoir is choice, also known as agency. Most people know that we all have the power to choose. But the less-frequently-discussed fact is that with every choice comes the consequence. When we make a choice, we choose the consequence too. A simple example that illustrates my point is this: If I choose to be kind and to serve others, I choose to feel peace and joy. Ultimately, our lives are a summary of our choices.
Another idea I explored in this memoir is equality. The worth of every soul is equally great in the eyes of God. Understanding this is important, because if we see all human beings the way God sees us, we will love and respect everyone as a child of God and the world will be a much better place. Again, how we treat others is a choice. Building a better world is a choice. Making necessary changes is a choice. You have that choice.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were fifteen?
A: I wish someone had told me to be patient, humble, and forgiving. I wish I hadn’t been a self-centered fifteen-year-old girl, only caring about MY needs. Why did my parents leave ME to raise MYSELF? Why didn’t they take up their parental responsibility to provide for ME? Why didn’t they love ME?
Because of the childhood neglect and the emotional/physical distance my parents and I created to keep one another away, there is so much I don’t know about this couple who gave me life. It only took me 35 years to arrive at the understanding, but now, I know to be patient, humble, and forgiving. I choose to believe that my parents did their best. I hang on to this belief so I can let go of all the hurt and pain, so I can create an emotional space for love, love, and love––for my children.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
After serving her mission in Taiwan, twenty-two-year-old Allison marries her Chinese-speaking American boyfriend, Cameron Chastain. But sixteen months later, Allison returns home to their Texas apartment and is shocked to discover that, in her two-hour absence, Cameron has taken all the money, moved out, and filed for divorce. Desperate for love and acceptance, Allison moves to Utah and enlists in an imaginary, unforgiving dating war against the bachelorettes at Brigham Young University, where the rules don’t make sense—and winning isn’t what she thought it would be.
The Unexpected Journey: Fire and Gold
![The Unexpected Journey: Fire and Gold by [Dedrick Moone, Haelee Moone, Sterling Harrell, Shanique Davis]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51aKi4m1GCL.jpg)
For many people, being able to work doing something you love is a dream. It certainly began that way for Dedrick Moone. But the dream only lasted a few years before it turned ugly, eventually taking a path toward discrimination, harassment, and illness which only served to create an environment where Dedrick feared losing what he truly loved most- his daughter, Haelee. Even as she faced her own struggles, with the both of them locked in conflicts that literally took years to resolve, they never failed to have faith that they would come out on the other side, stronger from their experiences.
The Unexpected Journey: Fire and Gold by Dedrick Moone, with contributions by his daughter Haelee, is at its heart a story about perseverance and faith. As Dedrick recounts all his trials and tribulations, he associates each one with a scripture or passage that he feels corresponds to his situation. The writing is impassioned gets to be a little technical at points. Each incident is described with analytical details and includes copies of letters, memos, and legal notices at the end. As far as the message goes, however, the optimism and faith that both authors exhibit, even at their lowest points, is remarkable to witness over the course of the tale. In a way, the book can be considered a testament of sorts about not abandoning your faith when all seems lost.
The huge setbacks that Both Dedrick and Haelee suffer in both their personal and private lives would leave many others despondent, but they continued on. Dedrick is also consistently motivated by his love for Haelee, and often talks to his readers, reminding them that how things are now, is not how things will always be; which is something we all need to be reminded of every now and then.
The message was wonderful and the resilience of the Moones was incredible to read. I’m fairly invested and will be looking up more of their story, but I would have loved to explore their personal journeys more and have less technical details because I found them to be so compelling on their own.
The Unexpected Journey: Fire and Gold is an emotionally charged memoir that will bring hope and inspiration to many readers.
Pages: 192 | ASIN: B08W8SNH8Z
I Needed to Write the Truth
Tales of a Butterfly details your emotional journey being a first-time mother and learning that your child has deafness. Why was this an important memoir for you to write?
This book is a personal reflection of my raw experiences, I originally started to write this story for my daughter. But then once I finished the Memoir, I realised I may not be alone in these feelings and experiences. That other first-time mums may have had these feelings and gone through the same or similar diagnosis for their baby or child. I also believed other people in our society needed to see the impacts and challenges we face every day, there choices plus reactions reflect on our children’s learning and development.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest experience for you to share with readers?
My hardest experience to share with my readers would have to be the public view on disability and hard of hearing children, how I have encountered it myself with my butterfly girl. It was raw to write, and I felt I needed to write the truth for people to really feel how we felt at those particular moments. I share my frustration loudly and the truth behind the effects of it in the pages of my story. I wanted my writing style to come through as though I was sitting there next to you telling you a story. As though I was talking to you.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I really wanted to share the process from birth to getting the final diagnosis of hard of hearing, I wanted to share the emotional strain from the beginning to the end; and the fact it is still happening today with many challenges though living in the country. I wanted people to view my story and relate to it in their own way but also reflect how it must feel and be in my or my butterfly girls’ shoes. I emphasised how she grew older in my memoir and how she learned from the environments around her which then helped shape me as the mother and teacher I am today.
I wanted the readers to really feel…
I wanted the readers to feel the emotions I felt, I wanted to express the experiences we went through in details so you could feel and imagine it yourself. Wanting the readers to laugh out loud but also feel sadness and reflection upon themselves. I want the readers to feel what it’s like to be in my shoes and highlight deaf perspectives, from a mothers view and the child.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your memoir?
I hope readers reflect on the small things around them, to be grateful and respect everyone’s differences. Above all I want people to realise disability and deafness does not restrict a person from growing and learning it just changes the growing styles and learning perspectives, a new outlook on life learning. I really hope people enjoy my memoir ‘Tales of a Butterfly’, it is heartfelt and raw, full of my true experiences with my butterfly girl.
Author Links: GoodReads | B&N | Instagram | Facebook
Tales of a Butterfly
Tales of a Butterfly details the emotional journey of Kate Armistead, as she and her husband find out that their baby girl is deaf. She describes their heartbreaking, and uplifting, experiences as they discover their child’s hearing loss and their odyssey in learning about and coping with the disability, one in which they have never been around.
This is an impassioned memoir that I found to be very enlightening as well as moving. The author shares her thoughts and experiences in a free flowing and candid nature that captures the emotional turmoil that she went through. Readers can really appreciate Kate’s thoughts as a mother and the love she has for her daughter. I loved that her daughter’s nickname became “butterfly” as butterflies are silent yet beautiful. I also really appreciated how honest and raw she was about her experiences, never shying from letting the reader know she was scared and uncertain about what was to come and how others would react. In her recollections, she states how sometimes people jump to conclusions and assume that a child’s disability is a result of drug abuse by the parent. The stares she would get and interactions she would have with people in public, like raising their voices when talking to her, when they would see her daughter with her hearing aids. It really says a lot about people and their lack of respect for others. Her story not only gave me insight into her own daughter’s deafness but also shed light on the spectrum of obstacles that deaf people, and their families, are presented with. While speaking about her own experience in accommodating her daughter, it really made me think about the impact that my own actions have on other people that have disabilities.
Tales of a Butterfly is a great read for anyone who knows someone who is hard of hearing, but I think that this book will serve to educate everyone. It really provides insight to what a parent experiences and their own fears about the challenges their child will face. Tales of a Butterfly is honest and hopeful and I really enjoyed the glimpse into the author’s life with her daughter. This beautifully written memoir eloquently details an extraordinary journey that will stay with me for a long time.
Pages: 78 | ISBN: 0228847133
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir
![Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir by [Allison Hong Merrill]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41UneJfY3JL.jpg)
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir by Allison Hong Merrill is a brutally honest, self-deprecating, and intimate account of the events in the narrator’s life. Allison is a young bride who is deceitfully abandoned by her husband of 16 months, Cameron Chastain. Without family members or friends to depend on for help, she is alone without much knowledge of the local language. Allison is a lonely mess, betrayed and cold. Will she be able to find peace or solace? Will she make it in the ruthless world?
Merrill writes with intensity and simplicity; you cannot remain untouched. She expresses her deepest pain in candid words. Her memoir is raw and ruthlessly sincere. As a little girl, she is unbroken even after multiple torments; she fights with an invincible spirit and has incredible internal strength. You cannot help but admire the lost, fragile but hopeful girl who is desperate to find love and acceptance.
This memoir is not a fairy tale or feel-good type, but I found it to still be empowering and ultimately uplifting. Due to her Toxic childhood and self-sabotaging behavior, Allison is not entirely flawless, as she points out, and she is not only abused by others but also by herself. While this is a memoir, I felt that Allison goes through a character arc, of the sort one would find in a contemporary coming of age story, but this one is much more emotional and vivid.
Another charming aspect of the book is the beautiful representation of Taiwanese culture and Chinese history. Extensive details of rituals and traditions feel exotic, and the patriotism feels relatable despite the lousy childhood. Facts are well placed and give historical and cultural depth to an otherwise character driven memoir. This book is a prime example of the quote by mark twain, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t.”
Spirituality overshadows most of the writing, with preachy discourse and moralism filling most of the space, and in these parts the author attempts to justify her beliefs in sections that feel like sermons. This was an awe-inspiring story that falls just shy of being a tell all type memoir, but is still riveting nonetheless.
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir is an enthralling and thought-provoking memoir that showcases the trials and triumphs of a fiercely strong and charismatic women in the face of adversity. This book is a strong example that speaks to women’s empowerment. Following an extraordinary life journey, this memoir will provide a glimpse at one Asian-American’s life and will appeal to anyone looking for an emotionally charged and meaningful true story.
Pages: 256 | ASIN: B08QZGQQMG
To Heal Inner Wounds
Sara Gelbard Author Interview
The Sound of Her Voice is an emotional and inspirational story of your life and all the obstacles you’ve overcome. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I was inspired to write The Sound of Her Voice by an inner longing to heal and find that inner voice that was never allowed to be heard when I was a child growing up on the Kibbutz. The book helped me confront and heal the pain of my childhood. I was also motivated to tell my story to help others confront their pain and learn how to heal.
The Sound of Her Voice is a story for anyone who has ever felt the need to heal inner wounds so they will be able to open their hearts and live life more fully.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were younger?
I grew up feeling very isolated and lonely. I would always wonder what was wrong with me that I felt that way. Later in my life a therapist told me “That’s what’s right with you – it is your sensitivity. You need to learn to believe in your own voice.” I wish someone had said that to me earlier in life.
What were some themes that were important for you to convey in this memoir?
Healing is so important. Without it you cannot open your heart to the vulnerabilities in life that are so intertwined with true feelings and living a full life. The impact of having to repress individuality and the self-expression of childhood left a lifelong impact on my ability to truly give voice to my inner feelings. When I reached the age of 70 and lived in peaceful Punta del Este in Uruguay with my husband, I was finally able to tell the story of the little girl who could not express her innermost fears and resentments. The beauty of Punta with its beaches, and the embracing and healing sea surrounding both sides of the town, somehow made her bubble up.
The healing also helped me to finally my home – both spiritually and physically. Growing up on the Kibbutz in the Children’s House left me with a yearning for a permanent home that provided the comfort of family and the solace of togetherness.
Is there anything that you see differently in your life now that you’ve had time to reflect and write this memoir?
Yes. My relationship with grief has changed. I now possess an inner peace that I didn’t have before the little girl in me was allowed to tell her story. Once I was able to get in touch with my grief and get past the denial that I carried throughout my life, I was able to forgive and truly understand my mother and what she must have gone through leaving her old life behind and raising a family in a new country with new rules.
I now have a more direct connection to grief and can accept it and work through its various stages. I recently lost my dog – the love of my life — which I would never have been able to accept and speak about before writing The Sound of Her Voice. And now, I have made room in my heart for a new dog.
I hope others who read my book will be able to confront their own inner grief and work through it the way I gradually let the little girl inside me express herself.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
Sara Gelbard is a woman of three homes – Israel, New York, and Punta del Este in Uruguay. This may be because she never had a home. She was born in one of the first Israeli kibbutzim in Western Galil near the Lebanon border, of Polish parents who escaped the tremendous horror of Europe. They escaped, but their families did not, and consequently, their commitment to the kibbutz was ideological, necessary, and fueled by a broken heart.
The first kibbutzim were the most stringent in their rules – mothers only allowed in at feeding times – and 24 children in each Children’s House, with only one circulating guardian at night. The children were taught to be little soldiers, and performed their duties, and needs and emotions were discouraged. For a sensitive individualistic person, like Sara, this became a burden that would later haunt her. She excelled in the kibbutz, in the Israeli army (in her case, becoming a Navy officer), at a Tel Aviv Movement and Dance School, and teaching at the College of Sde Boker (where Ben Gurion lived.) She excelled but carried a tremendous loneliness and sadness of having lived without real connection or having been given the gift of self-expression. The army offered more self-expression than the kibbutz. Even with her excelling at the kibbutz, she was denied by them her second year of college, because they deemed her too independent. With that, she left.
After the Six Day War, when all Israel was celebrating, Sara decided to enroll in the Martha Graham Dance School and moved to New York. There she went through the struggles of an immigrant with language, finding work, although she was helped by a dear friend also from Israel, and by a philosophical psychoanalyst who ran seminars on the interior life. This saved her and opened the inner life to her. She got her BA in Economics from Fordham, became a successful real estate broker, selling homes to others, which was a form of reparation. She married her Uruguayan husband (then in New York) who became her first “home.”
At seventy, she was walking in the beautiful Punta del Este, with its ocean on two sides, and that little girl’s voice, who never could be heard, or speak of what she felt, bubbled up. THE SOUND OF HER VOICE is Sara’s exploration of what it was like to live in this unfeeling world as a child, the healing in writing, what her three homes are to her, how marriage healed her, and, ultimately, how she came to understand and forgive how her mother could, in her way, give her away. Sara sprinkles her book with haikus that go to the heart of such a journey. The entire book speaks to all of us who have a voice inside us that must be listened to if we want to open our hearts.
Break the Cycle of Despair
Despite My Odds is a candid and heartfelt retelling of your tumultuous upbringing and the difficult path that led to love and success. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I have always been a helper and wanted to show others the power to move forward lies within. My life has always had purpose, but it took me a long time to really embrace that idea. In telling my story, I gained ownership of everything that happened to me. The transparency freed me in a way I had never felt before. Many have had similar challenges, yet struggle with the courage to tell their story-to define their worth and walk in power. These are the people I held in my heart as I wrote my story.
There were many points in my life that I could have ended up on the other side of the statistics. My grandma used to tell me she was so happy I wasn’t somewhere crouched in a corner after being raped. Despite My Odds proves that we can break the cycle of despair and live a better life.
What do you feel is a common misconception people have about abusive relationships?
Oftentimes, there is the misconception that there was something the victim/victor did to provoke the abuse. Some think it is easy to just leave, just pick up the pieces and go. Perhaps outsiders don’t understand the components and levels of abuse. Abusers teach you to abuse yourself. When you feel you are nothing, how do you leave? How do you get the strength to move on? A bird with a broken wing cannot fly.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What were some key ideas that you wanted to express in your book?
Thank you! I spent too many years trying to fit the mold others created for me. Just as the raw memories erupted, I wanted my readers to feel the sting of the details. It is important to truly love yourself, and no matter how bad your past seems, know that you can still shine.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your memoir?
I hope readers feel empowered after reading my book.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
This story will inspire you to look within for the strength to push forward. Life does not come with a road map and sometimes we fail miserably. But even with the vicissitudes, we can pick up our pieces and rise above it all.
Mind, Body, and Spirit
One Fine Day inspires readers to overcome adversity and embrace life by sharing candid but ultimately uplifting stories from your life. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I felt grateful and thankful that I had survived the massive and rare stroke and was fortunate to have this second lease on life. I had done so many treatments/therapies in Western and Eastern medicine to help me heal my mind, body, and spirit. I wanted to give back to society somehow by sharing my stories, experiences, lessons learned from my journey to help others going through any adversity or life changes. I also wrote it as a letter of gratitude to the hundreds of compassionate caregivers, family, friends, colleagues, and supporters in both my adopted country and my country of birth. As I wrote the memoir, I also realized that doing it was also helping my healing.
I appreciated the personal stories you shared in the book. What was the hardest part of yourself to share with readers?
I am a very private person by nature. As I was documenting very openly many personal things in my life, it definitely made me anxious and that was the hardest part. The other thing which was hard for me was to decide on whether to use real or fictitious names for family, friends, and the various health care providers and caretakers in India and the US to ensure their privacy. In the end I decided to use real names for some – first or last names only, but for others used full names when it was required. It just did not feel right using fictitious names. Also I wanted to thank the many people who aided in my recovery and saved my life.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
There were many ideas,tips and suggestions I wanted to share based on my experience. So through out the book I included them in a grayed out text box.
Some ideas/tips were:
- The importance of enrolling in Long Term Disability Insurance (LTD) during Open enrollment. Many folks don’t do it or not aware of it.
Thank goodness I had signed up for it. It has kept me afloat. - The importance of talking with a clinical psychologist to help you heal from whatever adversity or life changes you are facing.
- The importance of doing yoga and meditation to give you the best chance to heal your mind, body and spirit.
- The importance of being independent in your healing – ordering online groceries using Instacart, and using Uber to go about doing your business.
- The importance of contributing to Social Security from your paycheck and how the benefits you receive are not a handout by the government, but based on what you pay in to the system.
- The importance of periodically eating and finishing food from the fridge and pantry first and then only order new groceries.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
That we all are one fine day from a new normal and we have to be prepared to accept those life changes with positivity, grace and gratitude.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
One fine day, unimaginable tragedy happened to Sameer Bhide. His entire life came crashing down, starting with a life-changing, debilitating stroke, the loss of work, and a divorce. One Fine Day is the amazing story of his struggle to come back from the brink with the help of a diverse community of friends and caretakers, as well as an integration of Western medicine with Eastern holistic care. Sameer’s example of positivity, gratitude, and grace will help you accept a new normal— whatever it may be—as a gift. In sharing his personal story, experiences, ideas, approaches, and suggestions, he hopes One Fine Day will help readers:
> build resilience to face any life change or adversity
> find positivity, express gratitude, and build perseverance in the healing process
> look at the unexpected benefits and find possibilities in any life change
> find possibility where most people would see none (the art of the possible)
> adjust to a new life that they may not have chosen
> supplement cutting-edge Western medicine with holistic Eastern medicine and care
LITERARY TITAN 