Blog Archives
Heal From My Life’s Baggage
How To Eat A Shit Sandwich: and Keep Smiling tells readers your story about dealing with the bad things that happen and how you managed to get through them and get on with your life. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I have been a writer since I could hold a pen. I have always been intrigued and fascinated by people’s stories; especially the stories of people the world considers ‘ordinary’. I find these are the most compelling stories – the ones where true grit and determination are displayed; not to get attention, but from necessity and survival. I want those who have lived extraordinary lives quietly and humbly to know that their stories matter, and no matter what has happened to them, there is an opportunity to help others heal. Writing my book was a cathartic experience – I shed a lifetime of pain by letting it pour from my head to the screen/paper. I wanted to finally heal from my life’s baggage. I also wanted to share that our stories do not define us. Yes, they shape up but you can have a life that has been so hard, but still dig deep to heal and go on to bigger and better things.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
Writing about my childhood was hard; realising how many times I have been abandoned and abused by people who were meant to love and protect me. It was also hard to write about the sexual abuse I experienced. There was one chapter that just flowed out of me…I had forgotten it happened until I put my fingers to the keyboard. I was only 13 when it happened and it changed how I looked at my body and my sexuality … and I think it left me vulnerable to future abuse. I got to the end of that chapter and sobbed. How can people be so cruel and horrible to each other?
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?
Whether people love me or hate me, it has nothing to do with me. It took me a while to get this because my whole life I have worked hard to get people to like me. I’ve yearned for approval from all and sundry. Yet, it didn’t make my life any better. When I realised how people see me, whether they like me or not, is not something I can control, because people make judgements about others based on THEIR life experiences. Our beliefs, life experiences and inner thoughts shape how we look at the world… and it is not always based on reality. So if someone doesn’t like me, it could be because I remind them of someone who was horrible to them – how do you control that? You can’t. So I stopped bothering. I just be the best I can, and as long as I show up without the intention to hurt others, those who want to be in my space will and those who don’t won’t.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
I want people to see that everyday ordinary people can make an impact on the world. There is nothing special about me beyond I survived my childhood. I found a way to dig deep and heal through my pain. It is possible. Bad things happen to good people, and while we cannot control how those bad people impact our lives, we can control how we deal with it. I chose to live my life, despite the terrible things that have happened to me, with joy, expectancy and determination. You can eat a shit sandwich, you can eat a buffet of them, but you control how you let that impact you. I want readers to see that there is a silver lining, that good can come from bad, and that there is always a way forward to a happier life. It starts with what goes on between your ears. You control your thoughts, feelings, and how you show up in the world. Take control. Don’t let those who hurt you win, but being a victim.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
The only difference between you and Annette Densham, is she decided to share her shit in a memoir. Is she famous? Ah ah! Is she an intellectual giant? She is smart but nothing extraordinary. Is she popular? Only in her own lunch time. But she does have a lot to say. You dear reader, get to follow the bouncing ball of her life as she shares the gut wrenching lows and moments of hilarity.
How To Eat A Shit Sandwich & Keep Smiling may sound messy and yucky, and in some parts it is. Annette takes a trip down memory lane – exploring key events in her childhood and adolescence. Written in the voice of the age she was at the time, some parts will make you cringe and blood boil as she shares stories of abandonment, bullying, sexual abuse, and domestic violence, will others will remind you life is what we make of it. You can eat a shit sandwich and still find joy and happiness. Some people call it resilience and grit, Annette calls it getting on with life.
Sleeping With Lions
Lee Anne McIlroy’s Sleeping With Lions: A Year in Tanzania documents her time spent as an English Language Fellow for a university in Bukoba, Tanzania. The author’s memoir is a poignant portrayal of the landscapes and people who shaped her journey as a woman following a difficult divorce.
Lee Anne describes the scenery in Bukoba with eyes of wonderment. Unlike some of her peers, who only see the economic poverty of Tanzania and greater Africa, she indulges in the cultural richness of local life. She sees her time in Tanzania as a way to rediscover herself in a land that has always felt dear to her heart. From the food to the sounds and sights she experiences, she uses vivid descriptors that give the landscape a magical feeling.
The people she meets are a formative part of her journey. She makes an active effort to do more than coexist with her colleagues and the locals around her; she strives to learn from them, even in the most minute ways. She gets to know the family of Ocham, the professor she partners with at the university, and even visits their family home. She has a particular affinity for the priests with whom she stays for the duration of the trip. The priests help her rediscover her womanhood; unlike her ex-husband, who never fully understood her, they respect her career and offer her a set of fresh perspectives.
Finally, as an educator and mom of daughters raised in California, she often considers the conditions in which her students learn and operate. Despite lacking the socioeconomic privilege that her daughters had throughout their childhoods, she describes her students as some of the brightest and hardest-working she has encountered. In contrast to her students in California, students frequented her office hours in droves to reinforce their commitment to their education. In the end, she discovers that it is not wealth that makes a person’s life rich; the richness of spirit and passion makes it so.
Sleeping With Lions: A Year in Tanzania is an emotional memoir that shares one woman’s journey discovering parts of herself while learning about a new culture. Her strength shines through her stories and is inspirational to those that read them.
Pages 291 | ASIN : B0BKYFTPC9
How To Eat A Shit Sandwich : and Keep Smiling
This bluntly honest memoir is both funny in its wit and terrifying in its candor. Annette demonstrates that while horrible things can happen to wonderful people, they don’t have to define us. You don’t have to have gone through things as Annette did to be able to identify with the themes of tenacity, fortitude, and moving forward in life, even when things don’t go exactly as you had intended.
It’s a tale of tragedy, happiness, heartbreak, lessons about life, love, relationships, and some things that will make you shake your head. This will be a trip down memory lane for some of us while a history lesson on what life was like at its darkest moments for others. Because of Annette’s skill with language, it was like she was narrating the scenes personally to me. I felt as though I had been miraculously transported to be present for each and every scene as I read about Annette’s life. This book could provide a way out of the dark for anyone who has ever had to encounter the misfortune to eat a shit sandwich.
This book was a page-turner that I couldn’t put down. You will be able to relate to sections of Annette’s book as you read it, and it will bring you back to a time in your life when you felt like an outsider or that you were being bullied, exploited, insulted, or neglected in any way. Her work contains some upsetting tragic events, but she still manages to mask the agony with humor.
I couldn’t put this fantastic book down. I had to keep reading to see what else Annette had to say. I heartily endorse this it. I believe that we can work together to bring about the necessary reforms if more of these tales are told. We can make a difference by speaking out about issues like these.
How To Eat A Shit Sandwich: and Keep Smiling is a passionately told true story. Annette Densham’s memoir will leave readers with much to think about and better understand the importance of getting on with life despite bad things happening. Simply said, this book is a fantastic read! There will unavoidably be tears as well as loud laughter, shock, feelings of rage, and frustration.
Pages: 426 | ASIN : B09K3FCFS4
Love Never Dies
Karl’s Diary: It’s a Dog’s Life is the memoir of a dog who was found alone in the desert and was adopted by a loving family. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I have a gift—the ability to experience what a dog is feeling and to express those feelings into thoughts a human being can understand. With this connection to our fur-children we become more than an individual being. We have a new understanding of all life as we step behind a mysterious veil that is no longer hidden from us. Love never dies.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I wanted to answer the question: What does it feel like to love and be loved.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about pet adoption?
A common misconception is that a rescued dog isn’t as good as a dog from a breeder.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from Karl’s story?
Dogs as well as other animals are sentient beings: They have feelings and emotions. The feelings of love they have are beyond our imagination.
And for those who are curious about what has happened the Charley (an eighty pound mixed boxer from a shelter) I have just published a children’s book about him: A Quilt for Charley. Hint—He is now my service dog. We couldn’t love him more.
Author Links: Facebook | Website
Karl’s Diary: It’s a Dog’s Life
Any animal lover will tell you without hesitation- pets are indeed a part of the family. They bring love, joy, entertainment, and sometimes even lifesaving companionship to people’s lives each and every day. And if they can do that for us, imagine what we do for them, especially rescue animals. To go from uncertainty on the streets or in a shelter, to a loving, safe home with regular food and warmth, rescues must certainly appreciate us even if they can’t exactly express it in words. But what if they could? What if our fur babies could keep a record of their thoughts for us to read?
In Karl’s Diary: It’s a Dog’s Life author Sharon Winters imagines just a scenario, detailing the life of Karl, an adopted boykin Spaniel, as he navigates life in his new home. His life is not exotic, but full of everything a dog could want, most importantly an abundant amount of love and an abundant amount of food. Anyone who’s ever had a dog won’t be shocked by Karl’s focus on food as he details his days, recalling his own meals as well as those of his humans. It’s clearly a large part of his happiness! However, Karl knows without a doubt that the love he’s given on a daily basis is the most important part of his life and is appreciated consistently throughout the book. Winters gives Karl his own voice and personality that is easy to recognize in the pets in our own lives. One of the most masterful tools she uses to truly make him come to life is simplicity. We know a dog’s needs are simple- it stands to reason that their thoughts, if we could hear them, would be as well, and Winters never tries to make Karl or his life more complicated than it needs to be. It gives the story a level of authenticity that adds to its enjoyment.
It’s so easy to forget sometimes the impact we have on the animals in our lives, but Karl’s Diary tells his story in a way that helps drive the point home without resorting to saccharine soaked oversentimentality. Karl is every pet that has ever held a place in our hearts, reminding us of how easy it can be to change the life of an animal when given the chance. “To the world you are one person, but for one person, you are the world” is a quote that aptly sums up this story.
Pages: 81 | ASIN: B0B99NJXZL
Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
Violence. That’s all C.J ever knew as a child. From the brutal bullying by boys at school to his father’s fiery fists of rage, his life was nothing short of a nightmare. When his abusive father and traumatized mother divorced, C.J shed his childhood nickname and began searching for the real Chris. It is at this time he meets Danielle, the girl next door. With an instant attraction, their worlds collided and erupted into a magnificent world of love and trust from the start. Danielle became a beacon of hope that guided Chris through the most challenging years of his life, a time when he was discovering who he was and who he wanted to be. However, Chris ended up moving to Michigan, ripping him away from Danielle just as their young love blossomed. Can Chris move past the trauma and distance to win Danielle?
Author C.J. Hudson thrusts the reader into his world of pain and belittlement by his father and bullies at school. The scenes of abuse were hard to get through, and I absolutely hated C.J.’s father for how he treated him, but that also shows the author’s writing is descriptive and moving. This impassioned story reads like a journal written by the author to his sons about his childhood life and how he met their mother. I was able to connect with the author, and I enjoyed being able to read about his thoughts. I understood his reasoning for not liking certain things like his real name or something as minute as oatmeal.
C.J.’s and Danielle’s relationship made me smile because she loved him for who he was. Reading about how Bob, C.J.’s uncle, treated him was heartwarming and, I must say, the best part of the author’s memoir. It brought a smile to my face when C.J. began to feel the real love and get the right parental guidance. I don’t know why I was surprised by the ending of the author’s memoir, maybe because a part of me was rooting for him to win Danielle back.
Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street is an inspirational memoir of trials and triumphs. Readers will follow as the author finds the strength to survive the things that life throws at him and watch as he tries to build a better life and legacy for his own sons.
Pages: 258 | ASIN B0BHTP7FH9
The Apparition
A reckoning with madness in the true sense of the word. This book gives a very personal account of Stafford and her daughter’s experience of mental health issues as the duo traverse across uncharted territories together, trying to understand their trauma and proactively working towards healing, continuously seeking alternative treatment methods and support systems while constantly battling some of the most debilitating physical conditions. It recounts the numerous ordeals that they faced and exposes us to the tumultuous world of voice hearers. To that effect, it is both inspiring and informative, encouraging readers to visualize the amount of emotional stress Annie or any person who hears voices has to endure on a daily basis.
To say the narrative follows a chronological order or has a linear timeline would be limiting, because this book is anything but a series of events highlighted one after the other. In fact, it is sometimes akin to a research paper in how it makes references to literature on and around the subject of mental illness, hearing voices or suicidal ideation, etc. Other times it flows with the melancholic drift and confessional tone of an autobiography or memoir as it closely retells the lived experiences of the mother and daughter, almost reminiscent of a survivor’s tale.
What is particularly interesting to note is the conviction with which the mother supports her daughter and never fails to believe in her overall potential to overcome these challenges. Her honesty and candor makes the book humane and more accessible instead of painting their struggles as an isolating experience. She single-handedly becomes the stability Annie craves, the solid ground for her to stay anchored to when everything else convinces her she is crazy. Stafford tells her daughter’s story with immense empathy and a subtle pride, evoking in us in turn a sense of compassion, understanding and awe.
Although painfully fragmented, Annie’s voice still rings clear through the extracts her mother deftly curated and dispersed throughout the length of the work. Albeit some parts of the book where the topic veered into religion, theology or mysterious spiritual awakenings, the narrative sometimes seemed disordered yet there is much in this book that is eye-opening.
Pages: 242 | ASIN: B0BL1CSCJX
LITERARY TITAN 