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only search I Just Finished

 

Dr. Ron Breazeale is a clinical psychologist with over thirty years experience in the fields of mental health and drug and alcohol treatment.

Reaching Home is about the world he grew up in as a child with a birth defect in the “Atomic City,” Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where his parents lived and worked. He has worn worn a prosthetic hook most of his life.

He was one of the founders of Maine Resilience and has designed, administered and edited numerous programs and publications that focus on the psychological skills and attitudes that can prevent emotional problems and increase life satisfaction.

He is married, has one child, a daughter, and now lives and works in southern Maine.

Review of the Week

by 24girl

 

No Image Available. Spider's Bite
Jennifer Estep

To most people, Gin Blanco is an ordinary waitress at the neighborhood barbecue joint. To the people she's hired

Name: kidztales

Profile: I'm a children's author & have been published twice on the internet. Sadly, neither story is up anymore. I love reviewing books as much as I enjoy writing! About a year ago, an author friend of mine asked me to review her Christmas book. I agreed and in doing so I fell in love with the whole reviewing process! I've taken two courses from the Institute of Children's Literature and have taken several courses in writing. I've attended the Muse Online Writer's Conference last year for the first time.

Question and Answer

 

IJF asks: What have you just finished?

I just finishing writing an article entitled, "For the Love of Poetry," for a local magazine called, "Forsyth Woman," that will be published in the February issue. It is rather an impassioned "defense" of poetry as a living, breathing art form that can have a deep and lasting impact on readers. Poetry is not just for intellectuals, academics and other writers, but can be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone. Since I write a lot of very accessible "narrative" or story-telling poetry, I find that when people come to my poetry readings, they buy books. It is getting them there that is the hurdle for most poets. You are trying to first of all, overcome a prejudice against poetry that may have originated in someone's high school English class--no offense to teachers! But when you have to analyze poetry until you don't even care what it means anymore, you tend to shy away later, from reading poetry for pleasure. This is an impression I'm determined to change! Second of all, it's up to poets to convince people to buy their particular books, which takes a lot of work, for sure. But we wouldn't be writing poetry if we didn't love doing it, and effective marketing is not only part of the package--but it is absolutely crucial if we want anyone to read our work. I think of writing or any sort of creativity as a circular experience of communication. First, we create something--a poem, a painting, a photograph. Then we put it "out there," where it reaches readers or viewers, who have their own individual experiences with these works--and who give us very valuable feedback about that work, if only by buying or not buying it. If I write a poem but no one ever sees it, I haven't really completed the creative "circle." I have, in essence, been "talking" to myself, which in my view, is only half the equation and therefore, an "incomplete" experience.

IJF asks: What book(s) have been life changing for you?

When I was in college, I'd say the most life changing book I read was Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. I loaned my copy to a friend years ago and she never returned it. This question reminds me that I need to go out and get another copy! I fell in love with the character of Clarissa, who if I'm not mistaken, was portrayed as being close to the age I am now. I was much younger, of course, when I read the book, and I'd be interested to know how it would impact me today. Woolf's "stream of consciousness" writing in this novel was entirely new to me, and therefore, very exciting to a fledgling English major. I felt, by the end of the novel, that Clarissa was an intimate friend. After all, I'd been allowed inside her mind! My favorte quote in the book was, "She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day." I have never forgotten this particular sentence, and one thing (among others) that we all strive for in our writing, is to "say" something that resonates so deeply with readers that they never forget it. I think this quote underscored the discovery that I was very much alone in my own body and therefore responsible for my own life--it wasn't up to my parents, you see, to "give" me a good life. It was up to me to create one for myself. And if it was dangerous to live even one day, well so be it--it felt like a challenge that I was up for... As for poetry, probably Ted Kooser's Delights & Shadows. Reading his work is like taking a deep, cleansing breath. Each word of every poem I've ever read of his is absolutely the perfect word...no other would have done at all. His poem, "Mother," is stunning because it is so deceptively simple, though it isn't simple at all. And the imagery is exquisite. I'd have to say he is my poetic "hero" because he writes accessible and reader "friendly" poetry that is still literary in the sense that it is very fine, enduring work. There are so many others, but I'll stop here. I'm such an avid reader and in some sense, if you're paying attention, reading any good book can provide a "life changing" experience.

IJF asks: Can you tell us your best fan encounter story?

Well, I've had a number of memorable encounters, but perhaps my favorite was a letter from a woman who told me that the title poem of my book, Thread Count, (which paints a scene from my childhood of swinging on the swings in our backyard as my mother hung sheets on a clothes line on a particularly lovely summer day), was responsible for her decision to reconcile with her own mother, from whom she had been somewhat estranged. She wrote the letter to me after her mother died, to tell me that my poem had changed the course of their relationship just in time... This is the kind of experience with literature that I'm talking about when I say that poetry is a living, breathing art form. People take the words into themselves like bread. And in this case, these words and images changed two people's lives. I felt very humbled by this letter, and very blessed and grateful to be engaged in such important and worthwhile work.