Meri's Musings

So much is happening in my life right now that sometimes I'm left feeling a little bewildered. I've been invited to write some articles for a new website that will be debuting in the next couple of weeks -- more on that when the site is launched. But today, I'm being featured as an interviewee at Bonnie's Original Art Studio . She's introduced her readers to some fascinating bloggers and if you haven't been following this series, you've missed: George of Transit Notes , who Bonnie describes as a man of extraordinary talent,  gentle wisdom, a strong intellect and a generous spirit.  Every one of his posts is a tour-de-force, she says.    Friko of Friko's Musings . Bonnie notes that Friko must be the voice who exposed the clothes-less Emperor. Kent, the Expat from Hell . She says visiting his blog is a fun and unpredictable ride. and last but not least, Ruth of Synch-ro-ni -zing.  Ruth is a poet and creator of beautiful landscape and nature images...

My bloglandia friend Kathleen "Kat" Mortensen of Kat's Invisible Keepsakes has published a new book of poems called I am honored to be able to help introduce Kat and her poetry to those of you who haven't made her acquaintance thus far. So you can get to know her, I posed some questions to her. Here's the resulting dialogue. M: What places sing loudest to your heart? KAT: That's actually a very easy question. Close to home, my backyard which is filled with daily visitors on foot and wing is a constant source of fulfillment and joy to me.  It has been the wellspring of creativity in many instances. Away from home, I am connected by an invisible thread to a few places in the world.  I am palpably moved by any image or film of the countries in the United Kingdom, most strongly by Ireland and Northern Ireland, the home of my father and his ancestors, with its vast green landscape, rolling hills and proximity to the sea. I have been...

Since you couldn't come to my book club, I thought I would share some of my interview with Kat Magendie about her writing process.  (from Kat's website -- her fancy "author" photo) So here are her answers to questions I posed. Meri:  How did Virginia Kate and the other characters come to you? Kat:  I knew I wanted to write about a girl or woman whose mother had given up her children, in which the girl and her siblings would have to leave their home and live elsewhere, but I wasn't sure of the details. As with all my characters, I just had a wavery image of a girl or woman who was entreating me with her dark sad eyes. As for the name Virginia Kate, it is a combination of both of my mothers' names (Ruth Virginia and Katherine Sue), not because they are like the characters Rebekha and Katie Ivene, but because I wanted to honor the sacrifices of both of my mothers. As to the rest, one day I was staring at a print of Chambered Nautilus by Andrew Wyeth. Th...