Monthly Archive for February, 2011

In the Studio – Author, Carolyn Turgeon Talks Fairy Tale Truth

Published on February 25, 2011 in Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

Our guest in the Studio this week – the Mermaid expert author Carolyn Turgeon with her major new release hitting stands on March 1, Mermaid, A Twist on a Classic Tale. And don’t miss her amazing new underwater blog on all thing mermaid with high profile guests, stories, photos, and essays at IAMAMERMAID.COM
Tune in Live to Clearstory Radio Friday Mornings at 9:00 AM on 107.1 fm areas of Nashville or live and streaming through links at ClearstoryRadio.com Don’t miss this week with Writer talk, Book Reviews, and Music Interludes.

Carolyn Turgeon is the author of three novels: Rain Village (2006, Unbridled Books), Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story (2009, Three Rivers/Crown), and Mermaid, a retelling of the original little mermaid story that will come out March 1, 2011. Her first children’s book, The Next Full Moon — a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who discovers that her mother was a swan maiden — will be out in June 2011. Carolyn lives between Pennsylvania and New York.

And check out her fabulous short video on the Mermaid novel on Utube!

Can Garbo be an Open Book?

Published on February 23, 2011 in Praying for Strangers Blog. 0 Comments

Praying for Strangers has opened a few new doors in my life. It looks like one of them is my life itself. Little by little then with a whammy I began discovering that the writer in fiction mode is very, different than something that can be classified as memoir.

Then I tried to record the Introduction to the new book and put it on the Podcast section. Well, it’s up there but trust me it took a few times to stop, gain my composure (see – stop crying) and start over again. Okay, so maybe I shed a few tears in the writing of the manuscript. This plugging into raw emotion while writing isn’t new to me. When a character in a novel hurts – I hurt. When they laugh – I laugh. But then I take their beautiful stories out on the road and share them. This time, I’m taking my story. Part of me doesn’t like it. Not a bit. Trust me on this one. When Praying for Strangers arrives you’ll see me referring to myself as an introvert, then people meet me and say – “You don’t seem introverted. Your very warm.” Yeah, well, I’m just a warm-hearted introvert. What can I say?

So I mustered through those audio readings that you can find on the Praying for Strangers Podcast page. Then I accepted a few early interviews and kept thinking, “Wow, that question is really personal. Hmm, so’s that one and that one and that one . . . ” You get the idea. I have to prepare myself for a book tour of a different color. A different flavor. Here’s why.

There are parts of this book so emotional to me, so personal, I’ve realized I can’t even begin to try to read them in public. Because as author friend, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson says – “I cry ugly.” Me too. If I start crying you will not be able to hear a word I’m reading so forget about that one little, gentle, capturing the moment tear rolling down my cheek. It will get messy out there. So I’m picking and choosing.

Then: Yesterday at an author Dutch Lunch event a few authors of various genres, blogger’s and reviewers had received early galley copies of the book. And one such beauty turned to me and said, “I feel like I just know you so much better. I always thought you were mysterious but you’re just so sweet and I want to give you a hug.” That courtesy of the ultimately precious Jolina Petersheim who everyone adores including me.

My response: “I hate that. I really hate that. I don’t want people to know me and I don’t want to be sweet. I don’t however, mind a hug.”

Yes, I would prefer the big shades, the whole Gretta Garbo attitude of ‘I just want to be left alone.” But the entire book is about me fighting that feeling to connect with strangers for just a moment in passing and forever in prayer. And every word of that is true.

So, here I go only days and weeks away from swimming deep in the waters of vulnerability, being the open book, the personal page, that was never my style. Ask my mother. She knows. I was a quiet little kid that kept to myself. But here goes this quiet kid stepping out, risking everything, and telling the truth.

Just know, if you catch me in one of those introverted Garbo moments, of which I assure you I have many, forgive me. My heart is as warm and wide as that Gulf of Mexico I come from. And has plenty of room for one more stranger.

The Rumblings of April

Published on February 23, 2011 in Authors, Book Groups, Books, Dogs and Life. 0 Comments

The forthcoming events are starting to stir. Praying for Strangers: Adventure of the Human Spirit debuts on April 5 in stores with the kick-off signing April 6 at 6pm at Bookman/Bookwoman in the Nashville Village. I catch my breath, trace the days, counting down. It’s always an amazing journey for a writer, wrapped up in one manuscript, promoting another, juggling a speaking calendar and a family calendar, dirty laundry and dirty dog. The cat doesn’t smell too good either. He blames it on the dog, thank you very much. But I am looking forward with great anticipation to the experience of taking the memoir on the road. Please sign up for my newsletter on home page site for more news from the inside of that story looking out.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting downtown at Past Perfect for a Nashville Authors Dutch Lunch attended by Eric Wilson, JT Ellison(on the day of her latest novel release – yay!), MM Buckner, Kim Green, Kaye Dascus, Paige Crutcher, Jolina Petersheim. We lamented just a tad, told stories and then reminded ourselves that in the middle of any complaints related to the writing life, (those being deadlines, constant pr work, and weary travels) that we needed to breathe deeply and remember that we were literally living our dreams or working to fulfill them. All a joy.

Then everyone shared what they were reading and recent movie discoveries. After-all, we are all about story.

Please visit my new regular contribution to the Psychology Today Spirituality Blog. My first post as a newly invited part of that large family just posted yesterday.

And please check the events page that is updating daily/weekly for travels related to the Praying for Strangers road tour. I do so hope that you can meet me, join me, visit out there somewhere on the road.

ON my bedside table: The Year of the Hare, by Arto Paasilinna

In the Studio – Journalist/Author Karen Spears Zacharias & How Story Connects Us

Published on February 17, 2011 in Authors, Books and Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

KSZ – Main Character Of Your Life (A short audio outtake from the interview)
Tune in live on Friday Mornings at 9:00am on WRFN 107.1fm Nashville area or live and streaming at Clearstory Radio She laughingly admits that she can sometimes be considered ‘controversial’ but over and over again Karen Spears Zacharias has ripped the roof off of some of the silent places where society refuses to look, explore and discuss. She brings discussion to the forefront, something she favors over empty words and rhetoric and focuses instead on making a place available where people can have real discussions about passionate topics. She is the author of After the Flag is Folded (a memoir about losing her father in Vietnam and trying to find him again through story), Where’s Your Jesus Now (Actually a very positive book on faith and living without fear), and Will Jesus Buy Me A Doublewide? (

A title that started out as a joke and sold before the book was written.)

Her work has been embraced and highlighted by everyone from CNN, to The Washington Post, to the Allman Brothers. Her words as novelist Silas House confesses, will stay with you forever. Offering a unique voice in a landscape full of marketers and the last, great thing – tune in to hear Karen’s raw stories of honest courage in times of heartbreak. You will greatly appreciate her eye for truth, keen sense of humor, and a soul that still longs to discover a world full of wonder. And finds it.

What Other Folks Say:

“If this writer Karen Spears Zacharias should turn evangelist, the stadium will be full every night.” – Sonny Brewer, author of The Poet of Tolstoy Park.

“If Fanny Flagg got religion she’d be Karen Spears Zacharias. Karen is trailer trash wonderful, a guilty pleasure: like eating chicken fried steak with mac & cheese during Bible study.” Susan E. Isaacs, author, Angry Conversations with God.

“Karen Spears Zacharias is the evangelical Anne Lamott. Reading her gives you instant commonsense as well as an infallible eye for tommyrot, and she wraps her gifts in humor, sass, spunk, and biblical wisdom. She’s golden.” - Scot McKnight, author of The Jesus Creed, and Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University.

“Karen Spears Zacharias is not only entertaining and informative but has a message the church needs to hear. She has that unique ability to get us all to laugh and while our mouths are open, she give us soemthing to chew on!” Pastor Kevin Lobello. First United Methodist Church/Griffin, Georgia.

“If the prosperity gospel had a heart, Karen has stomped that sucker flat . . . Whether you live in a mansion on a cliff, a shack by still waters, or in a single-wide on cinder blocks, this is a worthy read.” — Wm. Paul Young, author of The Shack

“I have been a ‘have’ and a ‘have not’ in my life. I have found in my walk with the Lord, as Karen illustrates so well in these beautiful stories, that the riches he desires for us have nothing to do with money. I love a writer that’s not afraid to walk with real people and speak the truth of their lives. Keep shining your light Karen!” — Jeff Foxworthy

“You have a huge fan in the Allman Brothers Band of heathens. Thank you for being brave enough to stand up and be one of our prophets. We desperately need you.”— Oteil Burbridge, bassist and vocalist, Allman Brothers

“Karen Zacharias is the rarest, most valuable kind of speaker and writer. Not only does she transport her audience to the real-life scenes she describes through vivid storytelling, but she also explains the technical details of creating nonfiction work in a clear way, so that fellow writers can follow those blueprints and begin to achieve better results as essayists, memoirists, journalists, and other chroniclers of events and lives. Thanks to Karen’s guidance, her audience is able to convey what happened and what it all means”. – George Weinstein, Program Chairman of the Atlanta Writers Club

In the Studio – Denise Hildreth Jones, Flying Solo, & It Will Get Better

Published on February 11, 2011 in Authors and Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

Tune in Friday Mornings on 107.1fm Nashville area or live and streaming here. A special Clearstory show that illuminates what the break-up can look like, and thankfully what’s good on the other side. Denise Hildreth Jones takes a break to visit wtih her latest, a very special story of her new memoir Flying Solo. We’ll ‘Walk a Blog’, give a little inspiration from “The Writer’s Room’ courtesy of Mr. Pat Conroy’s latest and share some incredible musical interludes. Don’t miss a Clearstory dedicated to the story – and sometime surviving the one playing out in your life.

“I’ve learned through the years that it is the power of a story that changes people. Whether it’s the stories I write, or the story of my life that has been written so far, stories have a powerful ability to influence, enlighten, and transform.”

Denise Hildreth’s novels have moved her readers to tears and laughter as they stay up all night just to finish the last page. “I’m just a southern girl from South Carolina who knows crazy people, the south, and rigged beauty pageants. So, I thought I’d write a book about them. I didn’t even know I could write fiction. Come to find out people have fallen in love with that crazy Savannah from Savannah and I’ve fallen in love with telling stories.”

Ironically, telling stories was never part of the plan. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Denise headed to Nashville with dreams of being a singer. “No one wanted to hear me sing,” she says laughing, “which is apparently a prerequisite for getting a record deal.” But Nancy Alcorn, the Founder and President of Mercy Ministries of America, called destiny out of Denise. Nancy asked Denise to come work with her on her first book. “I don’t write,” Denise insisted. “Oh, yes, you do,” Nancy countered. Echoes of Mercy launched Denise on a 10 year journey of writing for other people

For the past twelve years, Denise has traveled across the United States depositing her authentic style of teaching into the lives of people everywhere. Denise has found a passion for people who are hurting. “I know what it is to hurt. I’ve walked through some of life’s darkest storms, but God has been such a faithful companion. I have one desire, to walk with people as they are set free from their condition and learn to walk in their position.” Denise’s powerful teaching leaves the hearts of the listeners challenged and changed.

Her books have the same impact. Though her books have received awards and accolades, the letters Denise receives from readers mean the most to her. “I know that I am doing what I was created to do when I get that letter that says, ‘After reading your book, Flies on the Butter, I knew I had to make things right with my mother.’ Everyday I thank the Lord that I am able to do what I love. I don’t take one day for granted. Nor do I take the hearts of people for granted.”

When Denise steps up to the microphone to read from one of her books, or to speak at a church or women’s conference, you can be sure you will get transparency. “If I am known for loving people well; offering stories that touch people’s hearts; and being a good daughter, sister, aunt, sister-in-law and friend, then I believe I will have lived out the calling on my life. If at the end of the day I have pleased the heart of my Heavenly Father, then I can leave this life satisfied that I have done what I was created to do.”

If you read any of Denise’s novels, or have the opportunity to sit with her as she teaches, you will know beyond a doubt that Denise is doing exactly what she was created to do.

Russian Strangers and Dr. Watson

Published on February 5, 2011 in Life, Praying for Strangers Blog and Story. 0 Comments

I’ve posted that podcast I promised on my visit to NY. The trip was too short and the audio is just that short and quick as well. But here’s the great take away from NYC. Stories are abounding The issue here is it takes someone to break out of the norm of social behavior to introduce themselves and say – Hello and basically in one way or another – what’s your story? The one I left off the audio was one of the most precious. It was the Driver from Russia who was carrying me to the airport to catch the last plane flying out of the city before the next snowstorm. He’s accent was as beautiful as it was heavy. We began to speak a little bit about how long he’d been in the city, the fact that he had his Green card, the weather in NY was very much like the weather in Russia where he was from. He called his mother “she is very, very old,” every week without fail. And he tried over and over to get me to say his name correctly and his daughter’s name. Very unsuccessfully I might add until we were both laughing. Finally, he tells me this story. That when his daughter was a little girl, he would read to her Sir. Author Conan Doyle. She loved the mysteries so much. He began to call her Sherlock and she called my driver, her father, Watson. When he applied for work at the new agency they already had a Russian driver with his name. We can’t have two they said. “You can just call me Watson, then. That is ok.” And just like that he became Watson to the agency and in some part to the city. His daughter is now 18. She misses her friends from the old country. Maybe it’s more difficult to find your way so far from home. Harder to build a better life than it looks like on the outside looking in. At night, I think of Watson and his daughter Sherlock. I pray for their success, their health and happiness, and that their dreams they’ve linked to my ‘old country’ will exceedingly come true.