The Business of Books

If I had a nickel for every person who has said to me: “People tell me I should write a book,” or, “I want to write my life story.” To be sure, our stories matter. The challenge is to figure out if you are able to tell your story in a way that gets across a lesson - a cohesive message. In other words, just because “this or that” happened to you does not make it a teachable lesson for others.

Most readers believe that book-writing is a For-Profit endeavor. With five books under my belt, I can safely state that it’s not about money. Too few authors come out ahead financially; especially, once you… (click the title to continue reading this post)

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Braille copy of Mount St. Helens/Johnston book being made!

One summer day in late 2020, I was sitting outside of Evergreen Park Library (IL) and witnessed a small boy (about 3 & 1/2 years) with a “white cane” (a cane used by the blind). He was navigating the entry to the library with the help of his mom. She said, “Do you hear the water fountain? That’s your clue that you are close to the front door.” That little boy touched my heart that day. Fast forward to Jan. 2025, I sat next to a man on a plane to Miami. He was about 40, blind, and on his way to Cuba - alone. For a brief moment, I imagined the little boy from 5 years earlier, flying solo to a cool vacay someday. For sure, I imagine that little boy reading and learning about science or math or history! And maybe, just maybe, he’ll want to learn about volcanoes. Thanks to the Washington State Talking Books & Braille Library (TBBL), someday he’ll be able to read a braille version of “A Hero on Mount St. Helens,” which is in the works. This book comes recommended by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT), and it’s exciting to realize that it will reach audiences in braille. When I started noodling around the internet to see how to get the book made into braille, I had no idea where to look. But writers are part bloodhound, and I found my way to Washington’s TBBL. Big thanks to them, and also to Angela B. at UIP (my publisher).

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Exciting news! AUDIOBOOK of "A Hero on Mount St. Helens"

Having this book in Audiobook is a true service to those with different needs. Some are constantly on the go and love to listen as they drive, walk, roam. Others are unable to enjoy reading except through audiobooks. The latter includes people with vision impairments, as well as those with dyslexia. And let’s be honest, there are some whose concentration levels do better with the audio version of written material.

Narrated by the formidable Seattle Meteorologist (King-TV; retired) and scientist Jeff Renner, who was a journalist covering Mount St. Helens in 1980, and captured David’s famous line in his microphone, “It’s like a dynamite keg; its fuse is lit, but … (click title of this Blog Post to continue reading)

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Where We Roam Reflects Our Values

Even homebodies roam. Perhaps to a local theater, store, or restaurant. Wherever your meanderings take you, the places speak volumes about what you value. To be clear, we may love our home region and still yearn to explore areas farther flung. During the Covid-19 shutdowns, the message was, Shop local!” That mantra holds true today. Your local stores, eateries, museums (and so on) need your patronage. Your local parks need your volunteerism. And the history of this state waits to be revealed to passersby who stop and read storyboards about the National Women’s Professional Baseball League, the Sauk warrior Black Hawk, the I&M Heritage Corridor, or the Viking ship that sits in a small Illinois town (cared for by volunteers). Every state offers a great deal, and Illinois is no exception. In fact, it is exceptional.

If your time is finite, and we know that it is, how will you…(click the title to continue reading)

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WHAT I LEARNED DOING TEN STATEWIDE BOOK LAUNCH EVENTS

10, 9, 8, 7, 6....the new book has been launched into readers’ orbits and it is sparking ideas all around Illinois to visit statewide gems. We know time is precious…does the way you spend spare time reflect this adage? As the Land of Lincoln, we are…. (click title to continue reading)

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And Then There were Five

Someone recently said to me that I make writing books look easy. I'll take that as a compliment even though it's far from true. Behind the scenes of any nonfiction book you'll find thousands of hours of research, interviews/polls, travel, plus the writing, editing (and more editing!). That last part -- the editing -- is both crucial and can drive a writer to tears. As in, "You must kill your darlings!" — a phrase for writers that means you must delete phrases (often whole pages) or turns of words that you love but really don't work!

So, here I am, at the end of a year that began with me in a serious burnout from writing 3 books in 3 years (2019 - 2021), and I'm announcing a fifth book to come out in spring 2023. I’m not crazy! Bear with me as I explain.

I had planned to……. (please click blog title to continue reading)

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Peaceful Musings

Managing a blog comes with responsibility, and sometimes, I’m not up to the task. As a writer, the words don’t necessarily flow from my fingertips. It’s not like Facebook. This forum comes with its own “push” mechanism that pushes it out to subscribers’ mailboxes. And so, when I post a blog that I end up later kind of hating, it’s a wake-up call to stop trying to write for writing’s sake. That’s called a journal (or diary). Here, I endeavor to give people something to think about, and hopefully the topic is related to one of my passions — women’s rights, mental wellness, and a whole host of history topics.

But sometimes... (please click Post Title to continue reading)

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When Burnout Sizzles...ttsssss

I was convinced that no one was reading my words. It was December 2021, and something had crept into my psyche. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, or how much I wrote, or how many people I invited to discover something I’d written, that no one cared. They call it hitting a “wall.” And I hit it hard. I was cranky. Despondent. Deflated. And I felt like quitting. Completely. (CLICK BLOG TITLE TO CONTINUE READING….)

Here’s the link. Writer’s Shed—Writer’s Burnout with Melanie Holmes

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Here's Why Writing & Speaking go Hand-in-Hand

Unless your name is J.D. Salinger, in order to successfully market a book, you will need to speak in front of an audience. When I watched the great Delia Ephron (bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright) speak in front of a group of 400 people at the Chicago Humanities Festival (2013), it reinforced what I already suspected….(Please click on the Post Title to continue reading)

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On Betty White, and other 2021 Musings

2021 has been a tough year for America and the world. A pandemic. A siege of the Capitol in Washington. A vaccine that is being ignored by many as Covid-19 mutates and continues. A man (and others) who wanted to overturn election results at the eleventh hour, despite state after state having re-certified results. And now, Betty White has died at age 99, just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

Like oodles of young girls of the 1970s, I grew up watching the Mary Tyler Moore Show, with Betty as a….(Please click the Post Title to continue reading)

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In The Company of Our Better Selves

The title of this piece brings to mind virtues that are often hard to adhere to; namely, compassion, gratitude, and forgiveness. Having compassion for those with whom we disagree can bring a certain inner peace; it allows us let go of the idea that others will see things as we do. Focusing on gratitude for what we have means letting go of expectations of perfection. Yes, we all have visions of sugarplums in our heads; we want peaceful families, friends who call us just to say hello, and we want to be able to forgive or be forgiven when the mess-ups happen. And they absolutely happen.

When we are in the company of our better selves, we try…. (CLICK ON TITLE TO KEEP READING)

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My fourth book--yes folks, that's 3 in 3 years

Beginning a second career later in life means playing catch-up. And that’s what I’ve been doing since The Female Assumption came out in 2014. Followed by A Hero on Mount St. Helens in May 2019, then Manteno: Images of America in Feb. 2020, and The Secret Life of Postcards in April 2021. Each book has brought varying degrees of fulfillment, and is important in its own way.

This new book examines my grandmother’s vintage postcard collection (1906-1930s). At the height of their popularity, postcards cost half of what a regular letter cost. That was 1 cent for a postcard; 2 cents for a letter. Why would a penny matter? Let me spell it out….(PLEASE CLICK ON TITLE OF BLOG POST TO READ THE REST)

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Change versus “Cancellation” of Old Ways

The new buzz phrase is “cancel culture,” which brings with it the gnashing of teeth and the feeling that the old ways just weren’t good enough. I call what happens from year to year, and decade to decade “change.” Or “evolution” of thought. But that’s me. I feel that words matter. The old, “sticks & stones” rhyme is something we learned in kindergarten, but we were given that argument by parents or teachers who wanted to make us feel better. In truth, words really do matter.

People hear that they should no longer revere Confederate statues, and they wonder…Why not? People hear… (CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST)

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Losing My Mom Amid Covid

My mother died of Covid-19. That is the context in which I write this blog post. She was 90 years old and lived in a nursing home. Those two factors made her easy prey early in the pandemic. Before the staff were tested. Before masks were required. My mother’s roommate died first. Then my mom. A few days later, it was the woman across the hall. Her daughter and I are…

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Snow Globe

When we moved to our new home in 1994, we thought we’d stay for about five years. Twenty-two years later, we finally boxed up our belongings. Our old neighborhood was a good one for raising kids, but we were empty nesters and we needed a change. However, a house is more than walls and a roof. It represents one’s roots. One’s past. That home saw….

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2020, oh what a year

As 2020 dawned, I was planning for the 40th “eruptiversary” at Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington state, where the book I’d written a year earlier would receive the attention its subject deserved. David Johnston’s death and his last words (“This is it!”) are well-known, but the 30 years that came before it are not.

As planning for the May event was unfolding, which would have included Bill Nye and a wonderful art exhibit in Portland, Oregon, my third book hit the bookshelves. I had committed to….

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A Writer's Position Description: How I learned OJT

I am living the life many dream of. That of a freelance writer of books, blogs, and poetry. One book earned an award; another has garnered the praise of high-level scientists; and still another book has earned the respect of historians in my hometown. I don't relate all this to impress. Rather, to set the context for my next statement: Almost no one in my life understands that being a writer is a "job"—and a full-time one at that. Each invitation I receive on a weekday requires an assessment of my work schedule. Just like other demanding jobs I have held over the….

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Another book on its way!

Writers are always writing. That may seem self-evident, however, it might surprise the average person just how much writing goes on behind the scenes. Emails. Verbiage for marketing pieces. Staying relevant on social media. And of course, notes for the next project. Even as the first book I wrote is near/dear to my heart (The Female Assumption, 2014 Global Media Award), and the Johnston/St. Helens book is still getting noticed by those who have a passion for history and geology, I have authored a third book, this time a pictorial history book to be published by Arcadia (The History Press) in their “Images of America” line. That book comes out February 10, 2020, and as soon as…

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On Russia

ON RUSSIA

As a freelance writer, I’ve written hundreds of articles or poems that have never graced anyone else’s PC screen but my own. I revisited one I wrote in 2014 right after Malaysia Airlines #17 was shot out of the sky and crashed over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Sanctions ensued. And acrimony and finger-pointing. Then Time magazine printed an article that stopped my eyes on their page. After which I delved into Russian-American foreign relations. I tried to place this article with an editor; she thought it a quality piece but not right for their venue. A freelance writer often cannot find a place for all their words, especially in the early years. I’ve given up trying to place this one, sharing it here so it doesn’t disappear.

Anti-American Sentiment

Hate of America is “spoon-fed to Russians along with mother’s milk.” This assessment came from editor-in-chief of Russia’s only independent news channel in 2014 after ….

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New Book coming out May 2019!

Pre-order book & View Endorsements

To tell someone’s story is a great honor; a privilege to approach with great care. This book comes out in May 2019 from University of Illinois Press (UIP). A Hero on Mount St. Helens: The Life & Legacy of David A. Johnston is about an (Oak Lawn) Illinois boy who made his way to volcanoes where he thrived as a scientist. His death on the mountain ridge that now bears his name may appear to be the end, except that it isn’t. Legacy unfolds in ways sometimes unimaginable, and often completely unknown. This book brings David Johnston’s stories together for the first time through his own writings, through anecdotes shared by friends, family, and colleagues, and most important through a lasting legacy that is apparent today…if you look.

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