Life in the Slow Lane

Contemplating life, faith, words, and memories

Exciting News to Share! — January 9, 2016

Exciting News to Share!

CONTESTS AND WAITING

Before I share my exciting news, a little background.

Like all writers, we write our stories and send them off. Often we hear from someone right away; sometimes not. We tuck our story in a dusty filing cabinet of the mind and wait. One day months and months later, an email arrives…your story is accepted! And so it went for me.

In Spring 2014, I entered a writing contest sponsored by Women’s Memoirs. The story I chose to write didn’t fit into any of the contest categories, so I submitted under a “wild card” category. My submission told the story of how my parents met, a favorite of mine.

Months went by. I heard nothing. More months went by and in Spring 2015 I received an email from Matilda Butler, one of the forces behind Women’s Memoirs. My story had been accepted! It would be part of an anthology.


HERE’S THE EXCITING NEWS

Now my story and the wonderful stories by my sister co-winners have been published in a two-volume anthology series entitled TALES OF OUR LIVES (Fork in the Road and Reflection Pond). My story is One Pack of Cigarettes and is in Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road.

Beginning today, January 8 at 8 am (PST), each volume will be just $.99 for the first 53 hours. (That’s a 76% discount.) Prices will go up by $1 each 53 hours until they reach the retail price of $3.99. (Amazon only allows these discounts in the US and the UK unfortunately. But even if you can’t get the special pricing, the full list price is quite low–$3.99 in the US.)

I’d love for you to read the 81 stories in the two volumes–mine and those of other authors as well. I also wanted you to know about the great initial pricing. Below are links to the books. I’ve listed the US links first (amazon.com), the UK links second (amazon.co.uk), and the Canadian links third (amazon.ca).

US:
Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road
http://amzn.to/20VYNJq

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond
http://amzn.to/1MQGKdk

UK:
Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (UK)
http://amzn.to/1Jt3gh5

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (UK)
http://amzn.to/1Pezv07

CA:
Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1SyPM5q

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1mEVE0s


UNIQUE FEATURES

There are two unique aspects of these anthologies. In addition to the narratives of these women’s life stories, the editor has included the introduction to her new writing methodology (Writing Alchemy.) If you’re thinking of writing about your life or the lives of others in your family, then you’ll want to read that chapter.

Second, the editor begins each section with a series of prompts that will help you to think about your own life stories–stories you may want to share with your family. These two writing tools help make these volumes even more than a good read. You get 81 powerful stories and 98 prompts.


ADVANCE REVIEWS

TALES OF OUR LIVES IS A RICH COLLECTION OF INSPIRING STORIES THAT ACT AS WINDOWS INTO REAL WOMEN’S LIVES AND SHARED EXPERIENCES. LIKE BEADS ON A STRING, THESE SHORT BUT POWERFUL MEMOIRS LEAD US THROUGH LIFE’S STAGES AND TURNING POINTS, FROM COMING OF AGE THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS, FROM MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN THROUGH ILLNESS, LOSS, AND DIFFICULT DECISIONS. IF YOU EVER HAD ANY DOUBTS ABOUT THE INNATE ABILITY OF ORDINARY TO OVERCOME LIFE’S CHALLENGES AND THRIVE, THIS COLLECTION OF STORIES WILL LAY THOSE DOUBTS TO REST AND INSPIRE YOU TO SHARE YOUR OWN STORIES WITH OTHERS. ~AMBER LEA STARFIRE, AUTHOR OF NOT THE MOTHER I REMEMBER: A MEMOIR

TALES OF OUR LIVES OFFERS AN IMPORTANT LOOK AT LIFE THROUGH ITS KALEIDOSCOPE OF PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES. GIRLS WRITE ABOUT STANDOUT EXPERIENCES OF CHILDHOOD AND WOMEN WRITE ABOUT TURNING POINTS THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES, ENGAGING AND TEACHING US ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AND WHAT’S POSSIBLE. ~SUZANNE SHERMAN, AUTHOR 100 YEARS IN THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN GIRL: TRUE STORIES 1910-2010 (WWW.100YEARSINTHELIFE.COM)


A SMALL REQUEST AND MY THANKS

After you’ve read the stories, all the women would appreciate your leaving a short review on Amazon.

Thanks for taking the time to read and for your ongoing support and encouragement in my writing life,

Sherrey

~~ Contributor | One Pack of Cigarettes appearing in
Tales of Our Lives anthology series (January 8, 2016)

PS We’re trying to get our Amazon ranking as high as possible. It would be great if you’d consider letting your friends and contacts know about these ebooks. The stories will inspire, intrigue, and captivate. These “peeks” into the lives of others are a great to reflect on our own lives.

PPS I just received word that Tales of Our Lives is already an award-winning anthology at the New England Book Festival, Honorable Mention.

PPPS The FTC requires me to disclose that I am an Amazon Affiliate.

Sharing Big News from Women’s Memoirs | Book Launch — January 30, 2014

Sharing Big News from Women’s Memoirs | Book Launch

Today’s post is part of a book launch which is near and dear to my heart. Women’s Memoirs hosted seasonal writing contests–Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter–and the winners of these contests are celebrated in the launch of four volumes featuring each Season. It is an honor to be included as a winner in both the Autumn and Winter volumes. I hope you will share this news with writers and readers alike. We believe we have something very special to offer.
masthead from Women's Memoirs website

Please join me as I celebrate with Women’s Memoirs and the other winners of the various writing contests the launch of four ebooks filled with the best, the most inspiring of hundreds of entries. Knowledge Access Books is the publisher.

Read a review that has already come in:

It is true that each woman is a story waiting to be told–and in this outstanding collection of memoirs you’ll find many wonderful women’s stories. It is also true that each woman’s story is every woman’s story, for we share so many of the same experiences. As I read these stories [in Seasons of Our Lives], I am reading bits and pieces from my own life, and I am inspired to write my own with a more passionate and compassionate heart. I hope you are, too” ~ Susan Wittig Albert, NYT bestselling author of China Bayles mysteries, Writing from Life, Together, Alone: Memoir, and other books

Will you help congratulate these talented women by getting the word out about their stories and the special Amazon savings available for a limited time (see below)? We think the readers of your website or blog will find these 100 stories inspiring and we hope you will consider mentioning their publication on February 1st. Why that date?

For 53 hours, beginning February 1 at 8 am PST, all four volumes will be available for just $.99 each through Amazon’s Kindle Store–that’s 76% off. The price will increase by $1 each 53 hours until it reaches the regular price of $3.99 each.

Memories, Memoirs. Stories of our lives. Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett, award-winning authors themselves and co-founders of Women’s Memoirs, invited women to submit personal vignettes about the seasons of their lives. Sweet stories. Sad stories. Joyful stories. Poignant stories. The small stories that make up our days, our lives. Hundreds of stories were read and evaluated. The best of these, the award-winning stories, are included in the four volumes of Seasons of Our Lives: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring (see links below to these four volumes).

Seasons of Our Lives: Summer

Seasons of Our Lives: Autumn

Seasons of Our Lives: Winter

Seasons of Our Lives: Spring

BONUS: Each real life story concludes with a takeaway from the editors–takeaways that will help readers reflect on the seasons of their own lives. And if your readers are interested in creating a legacy of their family or personal stories, these takeaways are designed to help write more dynamically and powerfully so that they can proudly share their own life seasons with family, friends and even more widely.

Thanks for reading and spreading
the word any way you can,

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