Jill Swenson: Congratulations on the forthcoming publication of your book, Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief, by Larson Publications in fall 2014. What is meant by the title of your book? Elaine Mansfield: After Vic’s death, I leaned into his love. I leaned into the love of the land, the life I created with him, our sons, close friends, and found support. Spiritual help came from meditation, various healing practices, and teachers, alive and dead. I lean my body and spirit into these teachings as I lean into the biggest trees in my forest. They protect me, hold me up, and heal me. After Vic died, we buried his ashes where he had requested in the woods. My sons and I built a cairn there. This had always been an important place for both of us—a massive healthy red oak at the top of a knoll in the woods and big trees all around. A group of basswood trees there was always my praying place. But a few months after Vic’s death, I began to visit daily, bring flowers and prayers and leave my grief there. The trees didn’t mind and I was soothed. Vic and I always loved nature, but since his death I find the forest is my healing sanctuary, more than ever before. I meditate, walk in the woods, and love combining spiritual practice with protecting the environment. Jill Swenson: Grief has its own calendar and seasons. How does your spiritual journey allow for those expansions and contractions…
On YouTube you can view hundreds of clandestine copies of the unofficial people’s anthem of Iran, “Ey Irani.” The identities of these underground musical artists remain unknown but the viral impact is political dissidence. On the streets of Tehran in 2008-2009, the song lyrics of Malek O’Shoara Bahar offered resistance to tyranny. The Green Movement and the Arab Spring now interest Americans as social media… [Read More]
For the Love of Books is a series of blogs we have run this fall of 2011 to celebrate all things BOOK. This week we feature a memoir writer living in Brooklyn, Ashley Grill. Ashley brings a different perspective with her observations of living in Brooklyn and seeing books everywhere….. “Walking along the rows of brownstone buildings in Park Slope is one of my favorite things about living in Brooklyn,… [Read More]
Baby Step 3: Build your author online presence by making executive decisions in answer to the following three questions. Who will provide you with internet service? Who will provide webhosting service for your website/blog? What content management system is right for you as an author? Internet service providers are those who bring the internet into your home or office. This may be your phone company,… [Read More]
Kenk: A Graphic Portrait is a curious combination of forms. Investigative journalism with a splash of memoir and mystery, Kenk tells the true story of Igor Kenk, the world’s most prolific bicycle thief. His story made headlines first in Toronto, his local city, before spreading to national and international news media. His arrest and the news media tell one story but Kenk: A Graphic Portrait… [Read More]
In my quest for notable small bookstores in New York and the world over, I must mention the near and dear WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This neighborhood hot spot – referenced frequently in Shelf Awareness – is a little bookstore with a big heart for its north Brooklyn community. With a vast array of literary events like book groups and readings, plus current Staff Picks… [Read More]



