Saturday 28 September 2024

The Story Behind the Story with Sally Cronin of Southern Ireland.

 


Another treat for you this week on the Scribbler. 

Sally is back to tell us about her memoir.

 


Sally has been an ardent supporter of her fellow authors and writers. On her popular website, she shares music, reviews, nutritional tips, humour, excerpts, books, author interviews and more!

She has been a welcome guest previously.

Take a peek HERE.


Read on my friends.



 

Sally Cronin is the author of eighteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001 which followed her weight loss of 150lbs and the program she designed to achieve a healthy weight and regain her health. A programme she shared with her clients over her 26 year career as a nutritional therapist and on her blog. This has been followed by another seventeen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry.

As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities in the Café and Bookstore on her blog and across her social media.

After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.

 

 

 

Title: Size Always Matters: Don’t be part of a statistic, start losing weight today.




Synopsis:

At age 41 in 1994 and weighing 330 lbs, Sally Cronin had two choices when she was told that she was unlikely to live to 45. Carry on eating or get her act together. She chose to study nutrition and change the way she approached the food she ate and her other lifestyle choices.

Her first book, Size Matters, told the story of her weight loss of 154 lbs and shared the programme she designed to both lose the weight and regain her health. Now, thirty years on from the start of that journey, having worked as a nutritional therapist with hundreds of clients as well as acting as a health consultant on radio for several years and on her blog, she shares an updated version of the programme. This also includes the nutrients we require to be healthy and recipes to provide our bodies with them effectively.



 

The Story Behind the Story:

Having followed many diets over my teens and 20s and 30s I reached 330lbs and was in very poor health. I decided I needed to discover more about both my body and my relation to food which led me to design a program which led to me losing 150lbs in 18 months healthily. I studied both medicine and nutrition and then qualified as a nutritional therapist, working with hundreds of clients over the last 26 years and working as a consultant in the media.

Size Always Matters brings both my own experience, my research and work with others together in a program that anyone can follow. It is not a get slim quick approach but one that lasts a lifetime.



Website: Please go
HERE.




A question before you go, Sally:

Scribbler: What is the ideal spot for you when you write your stories? Music in the background or quiet. Coffee or tequila? Messy or neat?


Sally: I usually create stories, posts and books in my head first when walking and then sit down at my desktop to put it down in writing. I prefer quiet when working, I prefer tea and I would say I am semi-messy but know where everything is.



An Excerpt from Size Always Matters

Stop thinking like a fat person and start thinking like a slim one.

Start thinking and voicing the ‘when’, not ‘if’, you lose weight. Also there is a six letter word which is your nemesis…‘Should’. We use it blatantly when we want to avoid doing anything. I should lose weight, I should stop smoking, I should save money! Very wishy-washy and not going to get you over the finish line. Start using the word ‘MUST’ instead. Put some muscle behind it and get it done.

Also, stop eating for the size you are. I cannot count the number of times I was told ‘take two you’re a big girl’ or ‘have a second helping you need all the energy you can get’…. No. Actually you need to eat for the person you are going to become, not the one you have become!

 

Thanks very much Allan for having me as a guest today, it is much appreciated.




It’s our pleasure to have you back again, Sally. Thank you for being the featured guest this week. We wish you continued success with your writing.



And a Gigantic Thank You to all our visitors and readers.


Feel free to leave a comment.
We’d love to hear from you.

Saturday 21 September 2024

The Story Behind the Story with Chuck Bowie of NB, Canada.

 

Chuck has a new book arriving soon… and you will be one of the first to see the cover. Yahoo! 



 Chuck has been a frequent guest here at the Scribbler and if you missed the previous visit, please go HERE.

Read on my friends.

 

 

Chuck is both a writer and an author, with twelve books/novels published and one on the way. While he enjoys writing mysteries: Suspense-Thrillers and Cozy Mysteries, he also writes short stories. All his books are well-reviewed, and he has sat on the boards of the Writers’ Federation of NB, The Writers’ Union of Canada, is a Fellow of the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts, as well as being acknowledged as a member of the Miramichi Literary Trail.

His thriller series chronicles the adventures of Donovan, an international thief for hire, while his cozy series (written as Alexa Bowie) follows the adventures of the owner of an arts centre as Emma solves the crimes that swirl around her centre: The Old Manse.

http://www.chuckbowie.ca

Chuck lives in Fredericton and beside Miramichi Bay. Thriller number Six, Lost in London drops in November, 2024.

 

Title: Lost in London

Book 6 in the Donovan: Thief for Hire Suspense-Thriller series

 


Synopsis:

A small group of young, naïve Irish people is persuaded that England has stolen Irish artefacts and that these should be stolen back and returned to Ireland. It is not until the thefts start that they begin to suspect that things might not be as they appear. One of the young adults in particular, Áine Wedden, suspects the worst and transforms from thief to kidnap victim with a punch to the face. Later, we discover that, in effect, all of the young thieves, in one way or another are lost in London.

Sean Donovan, a contract thief is approached by Áine’s father, Loic, to go to London and recover his daughter. He agrees, but while investigating this theft ring, he discovers a much larger series of crimes is underway. Extricating Áine becomes more complicated, and with the crimes straddling both Ireland and England, Donovan must deal with three completely different layers of crime, all while trying to rescue, and then keep a willful young woman safe.

 


The Story Behind the Story:

I had occasion to visit Ireland and England (and Wales) for a month a few years ago, and returned with a fully-formed tale that became my fifth thriller: Her Irish Boyfriend. Toward the end of the story, Donovan had to contact a rich Irish industrialist in order to stay in the good graces of the Irish police, the Gardai. The appearance of the industrialist, Loic Wedden, was brief—he was merely mentioned off-scene—but the thought of such a character remained in my head. I promised myself that if occasion presented itself, I would re-introduce him in a later book. It turned out he has a willful daughter…

What if you were a young adult in search of a purpose in life, you look around your mates, and they haven’t really made the transition to adulthood either. And what if you and your mates happen upon a charming man who has an ambitious idea you can get behind? You might be tempted to explore this ambition, in the hopes of finding yourself.

My Main Character, Sean Donovan, is a thief for hire: a contract thief. He is seeking redemption, and has decided not to steal just for profit. But he has these skills, and innocent people could benefit from somebody with this skillset. My desire to explore this change in Donovan, together with my desire to explore a bit more of Ireland led me to consider writing a story about a young Irish woman who gets in deep enough trouble that even her rich father can’t bail her out without really good help.



Website: please go HERE.








A question before you go, Chuck:

Scribbler: What is the ideal spot for you when you write your stories? Music in the background or quiet. Coffee or tequila? Messy or neat?



Chuck: Hemingway (with reference to getting a book done) tossed the off-hand comment ‘Write drunk, edit sober.’ Riffing off that comment and speaking for myself, in general, I like to write in quiet and edit with music. I am able to write with instrumental music on, preferably jazz or 50s pop music. The fifties music era was just before my time as a music fan, but I’ve developed a taste for it. Same for editing and revising.

It used to be that I liked to write with a mug of coffee at hand, but now I prefer water or chocolate milk. I tend not to snack while working.

Am I a messy writer? This expression can have a number of meanings. My desk is a little untidy, with gas, restaurant, and book purchase receipts on a corner of my desk. So yes, messy that way. My writing is also a bit untidy, because I am an intuitive writer and do not follow an outline, or writing formula. My editor as a consequence has to work harder to whip my WiP (Work in Progress) into shape.

It was a lot of fun writing this novel. I hope readers enjoy it as well.




We are definitely looking forward to reading the story. 
Thanks for sharing the news and for being our guest this week, Chuck. 
We wish you continued success with your stories.


An a BIG thank you to all our visitors and readers.



Feel free to leave a comment.


Saturday 14 September 2024

The Story Behind the Story with Author/Poet Michelle McLean of New Brunswick Canada.

 

Michelle is back and we couldn’t be happier.

 


She is sharing the SBTS of her new poetry collection, a touching personal journey.

She has been a welcome guest before and if you missed it, please go HERE.

Read on my friends.

 


Michelle McLean is a poet, clinical social worker and addictions counsellor, animal and nature lover, and collector of treasure in all forms. Her poetry has found homes in Quills, elm & ampersand, Ascent Aspirations, Other Voices, Peacock Journal, Understorey, and others. Her collection of children’s poetry, When Pigs Fly and Other Poems, was published in 2020 by Chapel Street Editions. Her eldest daughter, Sophie Arseneau, is the illustrator and her youngest daughter, Lily Arseneau, is a contributing illustrator. Michelle and her family live in the small village of Bath, New Brunswick.

Title:  Tesserae



Synopsis:

Tesserae is a poetry collection that traces the journey of trauma, grief, addiction and recovery.  It explores both what is shattered, and the various ways we seek to rebuild.  The term “tesserae” refers to small pieces of stone, glass, tile or any other material used in the creation of a mosaic.  The mosaic is our lives, which can be so messy, painful and sharp, but somehow still beautiful.  That’s what I’ve learned and continue to learn.  We can sometimes find ourselves utterly broken by the things that happen to us.  We also have the power, artistry and resilience to rebuild and make something new. 


 


The Story Behind the Story: 

Ernest Hemingway once said, “write hard and clear about what hurts”.  I believe that’s what I did in this book.  I wrote these poems for myself, for my own healing.  From the time I was a young child, I felt compelled to write about my experiences in order to better understand them and poetry has always provided a safe space for me to maneuver large, loud and often complicated, messy feelings in a way that simultaneously provided a sense of freedom and containment.  While intensely personal material, I opted to pursue publication because…well, there’s just something special about seeing my words in print and holding a published volume in my hands, something I created. 

This collection is heavy content.  I’ve described it as “equal parts scream and lullaby”.  I was twelve years old when my sister Tracey was killed in a horrific accident.  She was fifteen.  This utterly shattered our family.  The loss of a child is the worst loss imaginable.  It’s unfathomable (thankfully) to many of us.  Where is there space for the grief of sibling loss within this magnitude of tragedy?  I certainly didn’t know as a child and didn’t even know where to begin to look or even how to ask.  I didn’t even know the question.  I was adrift in a sea of suffering that I couldn’t identify, describe, or even begin to navigate.  I was drowning.  To borrow a line from the band Larkin Poe, “the river runs deep and the deep stays down”.  My deep stayed down.  Until it didn’t.  It was decades later when my first therapist named “trauma” as a significant factor in my recovery.  I remember being strangely defensive and hostile with her about that.  My parents had trauma.  Not me.  I couldn’t (at that point) acknowledge the magnitude of impact that my sister’s death had in my own life and development.   In my mind, my parents’ suffering was the only pain that mattered.  I couldn’t seem to make space for my own. I didn’t know how.  For many years, poetry was the only space where I let some of these feelings roam and find healthy expression.

My sister was a truly exceptional person and the impact of her loss is now woven into the very fabric of who we are.  I don’t believe you “get over” grief, but it is possible to move forward with it and learn how to carry it differently over time.  These poems were written over the course of many years.  I’m very happy to say I’m no longer in that dark place.  The collection itself is organized into three sections but certainly not meant to imply any kind of neat and tidy “completion” – I’m a work in progress, just like everyone else. 



So those are my personal reasons for writing and publishing this book.  That said, it is also my sincere hope that sharing these poems will play some small part in breaking down the stigma that folks with addictions and mental health issues continue to face.  I think we’ve come a long way when it comes to stigma, but we have a long way to go – particularly for those suffering from substance use disorder.  Stigma kills.  There’s simply no other way to say it.  Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to treatment and recovery for substance use disorders according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (and my own anecdotal experience, both personally and professionally).   We need to fight stigma.  It’s a matter of life and death for too many people.

Early intervention is key.  I believe it’s critically important to model this for our youth.  For everyone.   I’ve often wondered how much suffering could have been mitigated for me had I received mental health care as a youth who felt so lost and alone in what I was going through.  Unfortunately, that was not the culture of the time – in my family, community, or in society more generally.  The layers of unhelpful coping and defenses I developed over the years as a result of muddling through on my own made it that much more difficult than it needed to be to fully engage in healing.  That said, I can’t emphasize enough that it’s never too late.

Gabor Mate talks about trauma as the gateway to addiction.  I think that is the case for many.  He encourages bringing an attitude of “compassionate curiosity” to our experiences.  I love that.   I think that if we, as a society, bring more of this “compassionate curiosity” to complex struggles and problems that people face, we would have more helpful outcomes.  Addiction is a problem – we all clearly know this.  What many don’t appreciate or understand is that substance use issues and behavioral addictions were also attempts at “solutions” for many of us when healthy solutions were scarce or absent altogether.  

We need to change the narrative to reflect the truth – that it is smart, strong and brave to seek help when needed.  Not weakness. Attending to our mental health should be as routine and accepted as seeing our doctors, our dentists, our hairdressers.  There should be no shame attached.  No stigma.  Stigma has devastating impacts for individuals, families and communities. It keeps people isolated and alone when they need support and community the most.  We are all on a continuum of wellness and illness, many finding ourselves at different points on that spectrum throughout our lives.  To borrow the words of Greg Boyle, there is no “us” and “them”.  There is only “us”.  







Website: Go HERE.



A question before you go, Michelle:



Scribbler: What is the ideal spot for you when you write? Music in the background or quiet. Coffee or tequila? Messy or neat?


Michelle: My ideal spot for writing still lives in fantasyland at this point – my “someday” waterfront home, perhaps sitting on my covered porch (with intermittent breaks spent rocking in my porch swing), overlooking the gardens and lake/river/ocean, a generous cup of very strong coffee within easy reach.

For now, I generally squirrel myself away in my bedroom to write. While I typically need quiet and privacy to focus when I hunker down for writing, I’m often inspired when listening to music and compiling my multitudes of playlists and tend to generate a lot of thoughts, connections and ideas that way. Sometimes inspiration comes in the stillness, other times in the chaos. The writing itself is generally a very quiet and solitary thing for me. While I prefer a well-organized writing (and living) space, this is not always my reality. More often there are papers strewn all over my bed as I hunch over my laptop in postures that would likely make most physiotherapists and chiropractors collectively cringe.


3 poems from Tesserae



Thursday’s Child                                            

 

I still remember the costumes                           

you were eight, I was five 


A wee Lucifer, shoulder-hunched                               

and anvil heavy, watching you twirl

resplendent in a gown of golden satin

recycled from a wedding

  

Glittered, star-topped wand

like Glinda, the good witch 

My crimson cape (perfect for

dramatic entrances)

was custom-made  

I tried to feel grateful

resisting the urge to poke you

with my plywood pitchfork

hot tears behind my beastly

plastic mask

 

No more pictures now                       

and it’s taken me years to find

some sympathy

for this little devil 

to recognize that sometimes

it’s the monster

needing rescue


 not the princess





In Medias Res

 

You dropped my name and it broke

on the floor

 

trying to make sense

of this ragged, shattered scene

 

all the spaces in between with your

fingerprints wiped clean 

                 

 Sharp edges of my pain                              

warn, handle with care

thin skin

beware 


 I will not throw away

this tesserae 

I’ve never been one for waste

(though I like things

properly spaced)

                   

I’ve been long collecting

for this mosaic

pulling in, sifting out

 

 Still arranging


 no plans, as yet

to grout  

 

 

 Watermarks

 

There was a time I snail-carried sorrow

on my back

took all my travels

with that burden masquerading

as home

  

There were seasons I chased sorrow

down with drink

dissolving the throat lump of loss

with a hundred and one flavors

of oblivion

 

Sorrow once held me hostage

in the trunk of an old beater 

hogtied and ball-gagged

breathing through bullet holes

and trembling

with my heathen prayers

 

I made my scathed escape

shaking

off the Stockholm syndrome

 

easing my way back                                           

to the things I know

by heart

 




Thank you for sharing your poems and for being our guest this week, Michelle.

We wish you continued success with your writing.


And a HUGE thank you to our visitors and readers.

 Don’t be shy, leave a comment if you like.



Friday 6 September 2024

The Story Behind the Story with Author Nancy Cusack of N.B., Canada.

 

The Scribbler is most fortunate to have Nancy as our guest this week.



She has kindly agreed to share the SBTS of her new book with our readers. 

The story has received rave reviews and five star ratings.

Read on my friends.


 

Nancy Cusack is a licensed counselling therapist working in private practice in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University, a Bachelor of Education degree, and a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology degree from the University of New Brunswick. Nancy is a Certified Canadian Counsellor with the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association and licensed through the College of Counselling Therapist New Brunswick. Nancy is a certified EMDR therapist, and has been helping clients overcome PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health issues for almost 20 years. She resides in Rothesay, New Brunswick, with her husband Patrick. She has two grown children, Jack and Annie, and when not working or writing she can be found at her camp exploring the immense ATV trail system New Brunswick has to offer or working on a quilting project with her many cats offering their assistance.

 

 

Title: Yesteryear Meets Today

 


Synopsis:   Growing up on a farm in New Brunswick at the end of World War II, Ruby Cusack had a childhood filled with animals, chores, visits to the fishing hole and rebelling against hair bows and box socials. It was a different time, before social media, cell phones, and television. A time of community and small town life, where everyone knew each other. A time when people were born, raised, married and went on to have their own family all in the same small place.

It was also a time of storytelling, and Ruby Cusack was good at that, sharing stories of her childhood with her own children. Stories of what she called yesteryear, the magical time of her own childhood, growing up on the family homestead in Titusville.


Original photo taken by school teacher Florence Folkins. 1950.

Her daughter, Nancy Cusack has gathered together some of Ruby's stories, using them as examples as she shares her own expertise in mental health. Taking her cues from her mother, Cusack, a licensed counselling therapist with twenty years of experience, shares her knowledge with compassion and a touch of nostalgia.

Spend some time with Ruby and learn of shivarees and how they could help lay the foundation for a strong marriage. Learn about quilting bees and how they brought women together, what the once extinct eastern panther can teach you about how your brain works to keep you alive, and why it's human nature to seek revenge, even though it doesn't usually work out too well for anyone. Be reminded that darkness happens everywhere, that love takes many forms, and the comfort that can be found in community.

Read Ruby's story, learn from Nancy's wisdom, and be treated to a touch extra with Ruby's famous line, 'Oh, by the way...


Spend some time with Ruby in Yesteryear, and with Nancy today. You'll be glad you did.

 


 

The Story Behind the Story:   My mom, Ruby was a teacher, genealogist, writer and story teller.  She wrote a genealogy column for the telegraph journal for over 20 years.   At the beginning of each genealogy column would be a little story about her growing up in rural NB.  When she died in Feb 2022,  her stories of growing up in rural NB kept swirling around in my head.  One night while I’m about to fall asleep I hear my mother’s voice telling me to pair her stories with mental health issues that I am familiar with..  Get writing basically.  “ That story about Ralph Floyds house goes nicely with phobias”.  “ That story about the substitute teacher goes nicely with learning styles”,  “ Nancy, that story about the hard butter goes well with seasonal depression”.  In the coming days I reached out to the telegraph to pitch a continuation of moms column with a different twist. They said “No”,  so I had no other choice than to write a book!  MY goal was to finish it before my dad died.  Dad was very sick with dementia in a nursing home.  My dad and mom lived in the same small community and went to the same one room school house in Titusville. So Mom’s stories were really his stories too.  I dedicated the book to my Dad, and when I received my very first book on June 20th, 2024, it went to my Dad.  I would read to him every visit, and he would remember the stories!  Dad died Aug 8, 2024.

 



Website: Please go HERE.



A question before you go, Nancy:




Scribbler: What is the ideal spot for you when you write your stories? Music in the background or quiet. Coffee or tequila? Messy or neat?



Nancy: My ideal spot to write is at work, in my office with light music playing, and my colleagues chit chatting in their offices, and common areas. When Im at the office I do not worry about the laundry, the dishes, the dust, or letting the dog in, and then the cat out, then in again, and then out, then in. 


***Nancy was recently interviewed by the Saint John Telegraph Journal. Visit her website to learn more.



Congratulations on the great write-up. 

Thank you for being our guest this week, Nancy. We wish you continued success with your stories.



And thank you to our terrific Readers and Visitors.