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I Bristle At The Word “Inspiration”
Some Good Writ: Christmas, Cancer, Dad, Wine, Sex and Jeff is a collection of thought-provoking poetry covering everything from family to work to personal self-discovery. What was the inspiration for creating this collection of poetry?
You know. I bristle at the word “inspiration” in this case – for reasons. One is, I really can, and it not something for which I want a pat on the back, write poems daily. Sometimes I am a conduit to channel a message for myself to derive fulfillment where a piece of the puzzle may be missing, or to reaffirm a feeling. It was not at all hard to put most of these on paper – they wrote themselves, especially the ones about cancer which were written concurrently to his very short window of time I had left with him. He was starting to take leave mentally late Fall ’21/’22 but no one really knew it was stage 4 until only a week remained and given my propensity to write about everything, poems about working, my sexuality, and other vignettes tied to this time period just came viscerally.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Nothing or no one theme is ever more important than another and you always think your current compendium of work is your best so to me a mixed-bag of material allows each poem to complement in the others given I am trying to create a space in time reflective of what I feel now. The moment’s impact must be heightened by the suspension of time in that yes, we can feel one way from one hour to the next but ultimately the way something re-writes itself or the way the poet allows the muse to come forever defines the gravity of that which inspired the work.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Some Good Writ?
That if people who explored my previous work thought those might have been ambiguous or too general know that I can approach the personal or the universal or both in a work where precision for a writer is allowed to take many forms.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
It is hard to say. I want to be in a different place where I can say to people that to capture more moments of joy is the endgame but that would be disingenuous to the reader and to myself so when it comes, it comes and whatever it is, I hope it finds an audience of one because, in the end, what the reader takes away from it is just as important as when they read it or that reading the requisite or the newest book is key. That said, I am curious to see where life’s journey takes me and what eye-openers await. Plus, my feelings about the imposition of time as a man-made construct aside and that we are all part of one mosaic already in-place, I feel the reader is meant to read it when they are, but I cannot wait, as I said, to see what lies ahead
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook
In this book, you’ll find many intriguing statements and thoughts that cover a plethora of topics that include relationships, family, career, personal growth, and more. From funny and poignant observations about daily life to deep and introspective musings on the human experience, “Some Good Writ.” has something for everyone.
Whether you’re looking for a good laugh, a shoulder to cry on, or simply a fresh perspective on the world, “Some Good Writ.” is sure to deliver. With its relatable and authentic voice, this book is a must-read for anyone who has ever struggled to find their place in the world or grappled with the complexities of the human experience.
This book is a beautifully crafted book of poetry that explores the many facets of love and care. Through a series of powerful and poignant poems, this collection delves into the depths of the human heart, illuminating the joys and struggles of loving and caring for others.
In the pages of this book, you’ll find a range of poems that touch on the many different aspects of life, love and care. From the tenderness of romantic love to the fierce and unbreakable bond of familial love, “Some Good Writ” covers it all. But this book is more than just a celebration of love; it’s also a call to action.
With its evocative and emotive language, “Some Good Writ” is sure to resonate with readers of all ages. Whether you’re seeking comfort and inspiration or simply looking for a beautiful and meaningful read, this poetry collection will surely deliver.
Surviving Cancer, Healing People
Living at the Old Mission, San Juan Bautista is an intelligent creature who is a cat, Sula. Not just any cat, but a cancer survivor cat on a mission to provide comfort and solace to anyone in need. She takes instructions from her boss, God, about providing comfort to His people. She leads a busy life that involves attending daily mass, visiting gift shops to meet her friends, receiving children who come to visit the church, and walking the stations of the cross. This routine was disturbed when she was diagnosed with cancer. With the support of her friends and God’s mercy, she defeated cancer. Unfortunately, her ears had to be removed, but she is thankful for her life and health.
This sweet life story written by Sula is a loving read. It was a unique story of love, friendship, kindness, support, and God’s unconditional love for us. In addition to being Sula’s memoir, Surviving Cancer, Healing People by Sula also describes life at Old Mission San Juan Bautista and all churches in general. It provides a concise knowledge of Catholic practices from daily Mass to Christmas or Easter routines. It also teaches a beautiful lesson that lies at the core of every religion: kindness and support. I enjoyed the 200-year history of the church and the special arrangements for animals. If you go to church, remember that Sula does not like it when people ask about her ears.
There is practically nothing about this book that I do not like. It is beautifully written in a simple and entertaining style. I enjoyed Sula’s cute pictures with her friends and in various places. The letters from Sula’s friends and how she changed their lives were enjoyable to read.
Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat’s Story is a heartwarming memoir of one special cat. Readers will learn about the Catholic faith and get a unique perspective on their practices and beliefs. Cat lovers, children, Christians, and everyone who likes a feel-good story will enjoy this short book.
Pages: 111 | ASIN : B06XFSJ3TX
I Decided To Be That Voice
Living in the Gray is your personal story about surviving cancer and what life now looks like for you day to day. Why was this an important book for you to write?
The importance of this book for me was twofold: 1) I wanted to provide something for others, so they know they’re not alone; and 2) It gave me somewhere to express, in an authentic voice, everything I’m dealing with. I love to read so when everything went down, I was just looking for something by a younger-ish person that I could relate to. Everything I could find was written by someone older who had already lived most of their life, or who was really optimistic about “pulling through” and “never giving up”. Those are important messages, but I wanted something more real. When I didn’t find that, I decided to be that voice.
Speaking of voice, one thing I love about writing is that it allows me to say whatever I want to say and in whatever way I want to say it. As I discuss in this book, I have facial paralysis, which greatly affects my speech, and I think surgery did something to my vocal chords, so my speech is very slow and hard to understand. Part of my persona before was adding (often snide) comments to a conversation, and talking a lot (too much?). Since I can’t do that anymore, writing creates an outlet for me to exercise that part of myself. Writing this book gave me the chance to say some of the things I’m already thinking about.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
Mainly that I think it’s okay to be sad or angry, but that there CAN be some good things in all that sadness. Some days, it’s enough. Some days, it’s not. I also think so many people look at cancer survival as inspiring or as making you a better person, so it can make you feel bad when you’re not the 1% that comes out unscathed or when you just want to be sad and upset about all of the things cancer takes away. I spend so much time beating myself up, like “You should be grateful, there are people without access to clean water!” and it’s like, yes, sure, but suffering is suffering is suffering.
Another important idea for me is this idea of choice. Choice is a very big deal in the cancer community, because cancer takes away so much of your agency. There are so many choices I can’t make, but I CAN choose what to think or how to say something to another person. I don’t always make the BEST choice (just ask my husband), but it’s nice to know that I do have control over that. So much of life is out of our control, it’s important to recognize what we DO own and what we CAN change.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about living with cancer?
I think a lot of people think of it as this sort of “one and done” thing. Like, you get cancer. You go through surgery/treatment. You die, they get rid of it, or you go into remission. You’re done. But it doesn’t always work like that. It’s not always cut and dry, and what’s acute for some people can be chronic for others.
The other thing I think people think and talk about the most is the physical stuff: the hair loss, the nausea, the exhaustion. I never quite know how to answer the question “So, how do you feel?” Well, what do you mean? Cause physically, I feel fine. But mentally, not so much. I don’t think enough is said about the mental effects of cancer.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
Life can be messy, but it can also be beautiful. You’ve just got to know where to look and be willing to pivot.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Website
This is a cancer memoir, because it’s about and written by a young woman who gets cancer, but it’s so much more than that. In many ways, cancer causes us to ask all of the same questions about life any of us ask, but at a much faster rate. Questions about meaning and existence that just don’t seem to have clear answers. Katie especially lives in the gray right now, but really, we all do.
In Living in the Gray by Katie Weber, we learn that the gray is something we all need to be comfortable with, because uncertainty is the only thing we can ever be certain of.
Living in the Gray
Living in the Grey by Katie Weber is an emotionally-resonant memoir that follows Katie Weber. She has everything going for her, a great upbringing and an excellent education, she is young and healthy, but all of that is shattered when she is diagnosed with cancer at 23. After a heroic battle and being cancer-free for five years, she starts putting the pieces of her life back together. But then she relapses. With her identity and dreams shattered, Katie allows readers to follow her emotional journey, struggles, and fight for life.
Katie Weber shares her experiences in a candid and unfiltered way that feels raw, emotional, approachable, and uplifting. We learn about her challenges, but we also see how she manages to move forward.
Reading about Katie’s life after battling cancer and now in remission is an eye-opening read. There are many things that the author tells readers that I would never have thought about. Things people with cancer face, ask themselves, and fear. I was especially moved by seeing how much it affects your emotions and will to live. I wasn’t aware that the author suffered from double vision, inability to stand on her own, having bad hearing, and terrible memory. Her home has been modified to help her get around with little assistance from her husband. These are the day-to-day things that people with cancer face. They seem prosaic, but all these small things add up to something that feels daunting, and I appreciated how those challenges are shared and explored in this memoir.
Throughout the author’s book, she mentions that it is hard not to sound upset with everything she is dealing with and she should be grateful to be alive, but if I were in her shoes, I would feel the exact same way. I give praise to Katie for finding an outlet through writing. I also enjoyed the pieces of her blog she shares with readers. Katie also brings to light how the pandemic affected her because she was out of contact with the world and felt even more lonely.
Living in the Grey is an insightful, touching, and encouraging memoir that I highly recommend to readers who might be battling cancer or anyone who wants to learn more about the fight and see firsthand what those with cancer face. Katie Weber shares her personal experience, and readers get an up close look into her life and thoughts.
Pages: 68 | ISBN: 1639883851
Live Each Moment Meaningfully
The Long Tale Of Tears And Smile is more than just a memoir, it is the story of all those that came into your life.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
The hardest thing for me to write about in the book was my brother’s death.
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?
What changed my life is my interpretation of Robert Frost’s lines:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
I hope that the reader will gain a new perspective on their health and lives and the value of living each moment meaningfully and to its fullest.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
This narrative-driven case study interweaves the stories of the patients Bitar has cared for with her own life stories; it reflects on how her patients’ lives and the stories of their survival or death inspired and changed her life starting and raising a family. Each patient’s approach to illness and end-of-life is as unique as they are, and each person’s journey contains unexpected lessons.
In the space between life and death, Bitar’s profession thrives; and in that space, she can search for the meaning of her existence.
I Believe in Giving Hard Truths
Nature’s Gift of the Soursop Leaves is a short reference guide explaining what the soursop plant is, and what its uses are. Was writing this book therapeutic for you?
Writing this book is a challenge to me as
a. it is the first book to be written in the world
b. have to consider how reader will feel
It gives me more motivation and prompted me to write my second book two months later
Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself?
Yes, it makes me more committed to talk to people and help them.
Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
My wife and my late sister as she was a firm believer of the leaves. Sad that her caregiver failed to prepare.
Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know?
I am still doing financial but because of COVID I guess I was called to write the book.
I am very passionate in my writing as I believe in giving hard truths and experience.
Author Links: Website
The Long Tale of Tears and Smiles
Ranar Bitar’s The Long Tale of Tears and Smiles is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking. It follows the author’s life from childhood to the present. As an oncologist and writer, she manages to do what many people struggle with – interweaving the scientific with artistic.
She talks of her early childhood vividly and beautifully, almost as a child would, effectively transporting us to that time of her life. Having grown up in Syria and moving to the US to practice medicine in her early twenties, her story is a unique one – one that explores both the “American dream” and the true meaning of home. In the book, we see her embrace multiple facets of her identity – the Syrian, the American, the physician, and the writer. Ultimately, it is hard not to empathize with her.
The true focus of this book isn’t Rana – it’s her patients. These are the people that pull us in like a magnet. They carry heavy burdens, many struggling with gut-wrenching cancer diagnoses, some even terminal. It is hard to read how they live and sometimes die. It forces readers to confront their own mortality and that of loved ones and their complex feelings about that.
Throughout the book, we see how Rana’s different patients have coped with illness over the years and what she has learned and given to them. We read of those who used talking or humor to fill awkward silences, those who sat still in the thick of silence, those who buried themselves in work and distractions, those who broke down in tears, and those who tried to bargain with death. To say it was unsettling is an understatement – it is like staring into an abyss that you have been trying to ignore your whole life.
However, the author does an excellent job of not making this story all about sadness and suffering. Instead, she challenges readers to defy death – to look it in the eye and refuse to give it our today. She challenges readers to live each day fully and to embrace the fact that the temporary nature of our lives is what makes them precious. By interweaving her personal story of love and loss with that of her patients, she brings us in and makes us feel like we are not alone, even in death.
The Long Tale of Tears and Smiles is a beautifully-written memoir book that will tug at the heartstrings like no other. So much so that it can make you cry of both anguish and joy.
Pages: 353 | ASIN : B09BG58KCY
Nature Gifts of the Soursop Leaves
Nature’s Gift of the Soursop Leaves (Graviola Leaves) is a short testimony and a tribute. The author, David Soh Poh Huat, lost his sister Susan Soh Sung Choo to cancer in 2020. The informative book is meant to support all those suffering from cancer. The author lists out the benefits of consuming Soursop Leaves that are said to cure cancer and many other life-threatening chronic diseases. This flower and fruit-bearing plant is native to the tropics of America and the Caribbean and is consumed worldwide for its healing properties.
David Soh Poh Huat has written this enlightening book to spread awareness about the soursop leaves. It talks about preparing the soursop leaves, then moves on to the quality of soursop leaves that one should consume and where to buy them from. It further covers a list of benefits and finally moves on to various opinions, reviews and facts both supporting and opposing the use of soursop leaves. The author writes in a straightforward and concise manner, accompanied by visuals wherever necessary, which makes following the recipe a breeze. It is meant as an expert source to help readers understand how to source and consume soursop leaves and the potential side effects.
This informative book serves as an introduction to soursop leaves and their possible uses. Throughout the book, the author cautions the reader to talk with their doctors before they consume anything with this plant. Readers who want to know more about this interesting plant and its healing properties against cancer, side effects of chemotherapy, and several other chronic diseases should definitely pick this one up. The author cautions the readers to read up on the benefits, and side effects of soursop leave further as this isn’t a medically proven text, rather the author’s individual and learned experience.
Nature’s Gift of the Soursop Leaves is a nice introduction to the soursop plant and its potential uses. It is not a detailed reference book but does provide research information to get readers started on knowing more about this amazing plant. This would be a great resource for those that enjoy learning about different plants.
Pages: 37 | ASIN : B09BHKWX6F
LITERARY TITAN 