Taking a girl’s voice is the same as taking her power. Petals of Rain: A Mother’s Memoir by Rica Keenum is a memoir about love and loss, secrets and lies. When a young girl from a broken family meets a charming man, she attempts to build a new life. But after a whirlwind marriage and the birth of two sons, their love story rips apart at the seams. Exploring the impact of parents’ sins on the lives of children and the fates we endure for the chance to be loved, the story follows a mother navigating motherhood and womanhood – an abuse survivor emerging and learning to speak, to scream, to sing to her own wounded heart and to finally understand what it takes to be whole after breaking to pieces. Weaving the present and past together, Rica Keenum reveals her truth in hauntingly evocative scenes. Rica Keenum’s journey toward publication began in June of 2018 when Jill Swenson provided an assessment of the first draft of her memoir, and starting in September of 2018, coached her through the revision process. Rica completed a variety of meta-writing exercises, including character sketches, timelines, and the emotional weighting of scenes over the course of one year to strengthen the narrative arc and provide a satisfying story for readers. Because memoir is a fiercely competitive market in the top commercial publishing houses, Rica Keenum decided to shop around for an indie publisher. She received three offers and chose to work with Book Reality, which…

A new book festival brings Sherman Alexie and Margaret Atwood to the Packer’s Title Town the end of this month. Untitled Town Book and Author Festival is the first event of its kind for the greater Green Bay area and plans to unite readers, writers, podcasters, storytellers, publishers, books, and Packer fans. Alexie and Atwood are not the only big name authors who are featured during this three day extravaganza of book love. Nickolas Butler (Hearts of Men), Dan Chaon (author of Ill Will), Kate Harding (Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture—and What We Can Do About It), A. S. King (Still Life with Tornado), Lorna Landvik (Once in a Blue Moon Lodge), Benjamin Percy (Thrill Me), Michael Perry (Roughneck Grace), Larry Watson (As Good As Gone), and Wisconsin Poet Laureate Karla Huston will be there. And for diehard Packer fans, Jeff Pearlman, author of Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre, will also be there.  That’s only the tip of the iceberg. A complete list of more than 100 presenters and a schedule can be found at the Untitled Town website. On Friday night at 7:30 pm end the first day of the festival at the Backstage of the Meyer Theatre with Storycatchers Live! Members of the community will share (mostly) true stories on the theme of “Road Trips.” Saturday morning local authors will read at an Open Mic session in the Titletown Tap Room Building. If you’re interested in sharing your work-in-progress, click on…

Cayuga Nature Center sits on 100 acres overlooking the  largest of the Finger Lakes with a lodge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s as a “preventorium,” a temporary home for families members of tuberculosis patients at the nearby “sanatorium” (near the present Cayuga Medical Center). The lodge, recently renovated, is quiet and comfortable in the winter months. Writing workshops are being offered for the first time in winter 2013 to take advantage of this new coziness in what had formerly been a ‘down time’ for the nature center. During the month of February three workshops are offered on Saturdays, with lunch included, at Cayuga Nature Center. Descriptions of each are offered below. Pre-registration is required at www.cayugawriting.com Memoir Writing Workshop  Saturday, February 2, 2013; 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. With Jill Swenson Swenson Book Development Jill Swenson This one-day workshop is intended for those who want to write their own first person account of some of life’s experiences. Whether capturing your memories for future generations of your family, writing short essays for magazines or blog posts, pursuing publication of a book length manuscript or simply interested in going beyond your journal, the workshop offers inspiration, techniques, and best practices in the genre of memoir. The first morning session will focus on the conventions of the memoir genre, the differences and similarities to fiction writing, and a discussion of narrative arc. The second session will involve writing exercises involving setting the parameters of time, identifying primary characters, and the…