By Debra VanDeventer
original works by Debra VanDeventer
Imagine a Disneyworld for authors and book lovers! Every spring, thousands descend on the campus of the University of Arizona for a weekend of workshops, author meet and greets, books sales, food , music, and fun. The Tucson Festival of Books has been virtual for the past few years, but took place in person this year, though plexiglass dividers and facemasks (for the most part.) Here are my take-aways from this year’s event:
When I travel to the Midwest in the winter, I’m always inspired by the winter trees. Here are two poems from my recent trip.
Winter Trees
by Debra Van Deventer
ink-penned artist strokes
etched on watercolor skies
strong, still, beautiful
Bare Branches
by Debra VanDeventer
Ebony branches pirouette against ashen sky. Trees recently adorned in autumn’s glorious red, bronze and gold, now have nothing to hide. In winter’s wrath, they reveal their bones, their foundation. Stoic columns rooted deep, stand tall. Limbs, strong and limber, dance in bitter winds. This is the true beauty of trees–not delicate buds of spring, nor luxurious summer foliage and fruits, not astonishing autumn coats −but bare branches unveiling the tree’s secrets.
I used to dread winter, even moved to a warmer climate to avoid it, but on this trip I found beautiful images and words.
Look for somenting beautiful in this season where you live!
Hello Friends,
Seams Like a Story is celebrating its one-year anniversary! My very first post, Creating a Space to Sew and Write, debuted January 4, 2021. http://seamslikeastory.com/creating-a-space-to-sew-and-write/ . Since then, I’ve published 46 posts and have had 4,793 views.
My most popular posts were from the RV trip we took with our granddaughter. http://seamslikeastory.com/the-rv-adventure-begins/
For a blogging newbie, I’m happy with the numbers. More importantly, Seams Like a Story has given me a chance to see the world through the eyes of a storyteller/writer. I love finding little snippets to share with you through my words and photographs each week.
I’m happy to announce that I have just published Out of the Crayon Box: Thoughts on Teaching, Retirement, and Life. It was an interesting process, and I’ll admit, it amazed me to see three years of writing and editing, and rewriting.. and editing… and rewriting… finally come together in tangible form.http://amazon.com/author/debravandeventer
When I first retired from 37 years of teaching, I had a difficult time adjusting to “life on the outside.” I looked for resources, books, or articles written by someone who had experienced the same feelings. My search came up short. Surely, I wasn’t the only retired teacher who was going through this. I journaled. I wrote about feelings and happenings during my three-year transition from teaching to… well, non-teaching. Before I knew it, I discovered I had written a book!
I’ve always had a passion for writing, but my teaching profession left very little time or energy to pursue it. Once retired, I wrote in earnest. I found a local writers forum and worked with a critique group. It was a learning curve, to put it mildly, but bit by bit, with a lot of help from my friends, my manuscript took shape.
Out of the Crayon Box is a memoir of the first three years of my retired life. It’s an often humorous, sometimes poignant journey to discover a life after teaching. Through these pages I explore:
Out of the Crayon Box is available in paperback and e-book on my author’s page at:http://amazon.com/author/debravandeventer
Check it out, and if you enjoy the book, be sure to leave a review on Amazon and help me spread the word! For updates on my retired-life journey subscribe to my blog http://seamslikeastory.com
This summer I made a trip back to my hometown in the Midwest. It’s also the home of a major university. The historic limestone courthouse centers the town and at first glance, it still has a small town vibe. But walking around the square, it’s evident that the sprawling university is changing the cityscape. Mom and pop shops of the past have morphed into wine bars and coffee shops. A tattoo parlor now inhabits the ladies’ shop, where local moms once took their daughters to be fitted for their first bra. Woolworth’s Five and Dime is now a Mexican restaurant.
Yet some things remain. Catching an article in the local newspaper, I discovered The Caveat Emptor Bookstore recently celebrated its 50th year. Though struggling through the pandemic, it is still in business. I made a visit.
The space is small and cozy. Rows of bookshelves line the walls, floor to ceiling, the sliding ladders invite the daring to peruse the topmost shelves. A lone employee sits behind an ancient wooden desk as soft music plays. He glances up from his textbook and bids me to take my time. A sign on the desk quotes John Maynard Keynes:
“A bookshop is not like a railway booking office, which one approaches knowing what one wants. One should enter it vaguely, almost in a dream, and allow what is there to attract and influence the eye. To walk the rounds of the bookshop, dipping in as curiosity dictates, should be an afternoon’s entertainment.”
In a different sort of “merchandising,” my talented, wood-worker brother-in-law has built a “free lending library” in his front yard. Committed to recycling and an avid reader, he hates to see anything go to waste. Neighbors who stroll by his library are free to take a book and/or leave a book.https://littlefreelibrary.org
How different this is from our current-day book shopping experience. It’s hard to find a brick-and-mortar bookshop these days. Most folks, myself included, shop on-line and have books delivered to their door. Or, faster yet, download convenient e-books to electronic devices.
As a new author, I’m delving into this arena myself. It’s an interesting process to see your stack of words converted to a book. I’m in the final stages of publishing now and am anxiously awaiting my advanced author’s proof copy to arrive. Miraculously, with a click of a button, words can travel much faster and farther than the local bookshop or my brother-in-law’s neighborhood spot. It’s a sign of our fast-paced times.
Yet there was something magical about strolling through that old bookstore. Who knows? Maybe 50 years from now someone will find my book on one of the shelves….hopefully sooner than that on Amazon….
Three years in the making and I’m almost “Booked!”
Stay tuned!!
