Mary Alice Monroe believes in the power of stories. The best-selling author writes about our connection to animals from her home on the Isle of Palms. Her latest book, “A Lowcountry Christmas,” will be released Tuesday. It tells the story of a wounded warrior and his younger brother who discover the true meaning of Christmas.
Read more of my interview with the author on the Post and Courier.
Mary Alice Monroe always dreamed of writing a novel, but it was difficult to find the time as a busy working mom. Years before she became The New York Times best-selling author of books including “The Beach House” (which is being made into a movie starring Andie MacDowell) and “The Butterfly’s Daughter,” she was living in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two daughters, and pregnant with their third child.
She was teaching English and Japanese and making extra money with various nonfiction writing assignments, but felt the pull of a novel.
During the last trimester of her pregnancy she was put on bed rest. Her husband took the TV out of the bedroom and said, “You’ve always wanted to be a writer, so use this time to write.” Monroe laughs. “That fall I gave birth to a baby and a book!”
To read more of this article go to The Post and Courier.
On the eve of my half marathon I return to the inspiring essay by Joyce Carol Oates, “Running and Writing.” I will re-read it tonight and think of it during the 2.5 hours that I will be running along the streets of Kiawah Island tomorrow, hopefully free from pain.
She writes, “Both running and writing are highly addictive activities; both are, for me, inextricably bound up with consciousness. I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t running, and I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t writing.”
Oates grew up in Upstate New York and writes of exploring the woods and how that time developed her storytelling. I grew up in the deep woods of Vermont and spent my afternoons after the school bus dropped me off walking up the dirt road toward home. To entertain myself I told stories in my head. Oates writes “of running or hiking in our pear and apple orchards, through fields of wind-rustling corn towering over my head, along farmers’ lanes and on bluffs above the Tonawanda Creek. Through childhood I hiked, roamed, tirelessly explored the countryside: neighboring farms, a treasure trove of old barns, abandoned houses and forbidden properties of all kinds, some of them presumably dangerous, like cisterns and wells covered with loose boards.” and says that these activities are intimately bound up with storytelling and I wholeheartedly agree.
I will not be alone on those 13.1 miles tomorrow, I will be filled with the stories in my head because like Oates says, “Running is a meditation.”
I can’t help but jump on the Best Books bandwagon (every time I use a cliche I can feel my former MFA writing teacher cringing, but sometimes I just can’t help myself!) and this list is for my favorite picture books of the year. I started the tradition of reading to my boys when they were little because that’s what my mom did with me. I have such great memories of lying in bed curled up against my mom as she read stories like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Little House on the Prairie; books that opened my eyes to an expansive world. How could I not want to continue that tradition with my boys? Plus, according to recent (and obvious) research, having a house filled with books makes your kids smarter 😉
That said, at the end of every hectic day, there is nothing that calms me and gives me more pleasure than reading a good book with my children. My older boys read on their own now (and they love to read I’m proud to say!) but I still get to read with my six year old, named Reid because I tell him, your mom loves to read! So here is my list of favorites from 2015:
Lenny and Lucy by Phillip and Erin Stead
When this married couple writes a book I don’t even look at it before I buy it because I know it will be great (see A Sick Day for Amos McGee). My boys and I like to play the game of ‘what superpower would you choose’ and if I could choose a superpower it would be to be a supergirl-fly-on-the-wall. That way I could travel unseen to places like the Stead’s house. I imagine that they work in some sort of fabulous creative space with a big table that is covered in colored pencils and pieces of paper that are filled with charming characters. I know that their space must be warm and energetic and brilliantly creative. Reading their wonderful children’s books makes me feel like I am spending time with a great friend.
Gorillas in our Midst by Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones
Reid and I have a thing for gorilla books (If I had a Gorilla by Mercer Mayer, Little Beauty and Gorilla by Anthony Browne, and Little Gorilla by Ruth Bernstein) and the illustrations and subtle humor in Gorillas in our Midst makes me pull it from our crowded bookshelf time and again!
Beyond the Pond by Joseph Kuefler
In Beyond the Pond a young boy is bored and dives into a neighboring pond, deeper and deeper, to emerge at last in a magical, parallel world. When he returns home, after his big adventure, he finds it wasn’t quite as he left it. This beautifully illustrated book carries out the simple theme of finding escape in your own back yard. Who doesn’t love to think there are mysteries within reach?
It’s Only Stanley by Jon Agee
Jon Agee is one of the best children’s authors in my opinion. His humor is so understated and he comes up with such fantastical ideas like for example, his latest book, It’s Only Stanley, in which a family is awakened throughout the night by their dog who is busy fixing the tv, the bathtub drain, and building a rocket ship. Agee says the book is about grown-ups who are not clued into what’s going on, and that the story sat on his shelf for several years because of the rhyming style which is wonderful to read aloud, but challenging to create.
Tonight, after an argument with my 11 year old over his Latin homework, writing this blog post has calmed me. I’d like to thank these authors for their continued brilliance and creativity that brings my family great joy on a nightly basis!
