Two-Thirds of the Way Through 1st Draft of "A Picture on the Wall" - Halifax Explosion Memoir

Photo Halifax Harbour - Cal Shook

This month marks the completion of about two-thirds of the first draft for “A Picture on the Wall,” a Landry family memoir about the Halifax Explosion.   My paternal grandfather Joseph's family.

Earlier this week, I emailed my editor, a section about three family members who witnessed the aftermath of the collision between the Imo and the Mont Blanc.  The three witnesses would bring this family narrative right up to the explosion.  For two of the witnesses, split second decisions would forever change each of their family's lives. 

When I entered my editor Sylvia Clark’s home, a couple days later,  she greeted me with, “This is your best piece yet.  It left me wanting more.” 

With the revisions that need to be made and the continual striving to write something worth reading, I realize that I have a way to go before I come close to the captivating words of a J.K. Rowling or a Stephen King.  My hope and prayer is to leave a lasting legacy. 

Moving and Writing Update

Photo by Cal Shook

Our official moving day is in four days.  There are boxes everywhere and I long to have my daily writing routine back and have no idea how long it will take to get settled into our new location.

My husband Jim & I have been in York, Maine for ten years and it is hard to leave family and friends. We mourn the life we've had, yet see new possibilities that lie ahead. As we prepare to relocate to Gilford, New Hampshire I envision the chance of a "Walden" like experience.  To make this so, I plan on taking a sabbatical for a year to complete the memoir I'm writing about my grandfather's family.

Please forgive the shortness of this post as it's been a long week of packing and purging.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Creativity, Legacy, Empowerment - "The Gift of the Memoir"

This month's blog features a captivating poem called "The Gift of the Memoir" by Bill Farr about creativity, legacy, and empowerment..   As you read Bill's poem, may the writer/artist within you be empowered by his words

York Beach, Maine - Cal Shook

"The Gift of the Memoir" 

by Bill Farr

My mind is a kaleidoscope of paintings,

Colors swirling in all directions and

Caught in the ebb and flow of time.

I peer into the tube of the ages and

Gasp at all that is hidden inside...

There are so many people and places,

I cannot resist the urge to stop and 

Capture each one in words.

Yet, this legacy is bound by a boxed 

Frame of white and letters, caught on

Weightless pages.

There is no room for each story that

Would crowd into the space.

There is not enough 

Time to hold the past.

I write, driven by the belief

That all is not in vain.

Life has been and continues to be

A tale filled with wonder and magic.

The memoir is the gate to 

Resurrection.

My fingers slow as the words pour forth.

My mind races back to the moments

So long ago,

Yet so fresh and renewed today,

I cannot let these souvenirs from

The past escape.  I must

Capture them now,

Empowered by this day.

Writing a memoir is a sea surging 

Tide that cannot be caught in the 

Small bucket that is my mind.

I view the receding years from this 

Mountain peak of age. I must

Bring it forward and make it real.

Who will see the paintings in my head

If I do not preserve them?

Who will meet the characters in the

Pages of my life if I do not 

Bring them to the stage of now?

The memoir stores all and reveals

Time past and long lost life.

The years that have fled become

Presents for those about 

To embrace the future.

Such is the gift of

The Memoir.

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Thank you Bill Farr for giving me permission to use your poem in this month's blog.  Your words express and touch the heart of my experience. It is a reminder that, 

" I must Capture them now,

Empowered by this day."

if I am to leave a family legacy in the form of "The Memoir".