Motherhood & Words

I first met Alison Lee on Twitter. I know, it’s crazy to even type that. I have to admit that I never wanted to be on Twitter. I was shamed into a few years ago at a Minnesota Blogger Conference. (Me: What the heck’s a handle? What’s the @ on everyone’s name tag? Everyone else: What a Neanderthal.) I’m so glad I WAS shamed into joining Twitter because it’s connected me to people like Alison. Last spring she tweeted a link to writing she’d done in response to an exercise from Use Your Words. I thought, how cool is that! So I headed over to her blog, and read these lovely snapshots of morning with her son. And then I read another post and another.

I love what she writes about writing/blogging: “I stopped writing stories for over 10 years when I worked in marketing and public relations, and only rediscovered it when my first son was 15 months old. By that I mean I started this blog on a whim, and to my surprise, found my voice.” Amen!

I’m honored to have Alison feature Ready for Air on her blog Writing, Wishing today as part of my book tour. Alison writes:

I have never been a mother of a preemie, although I’ve had two cousins give birth to very tiny babies (one at 30 weeks, he was as small as a kitten). I was frightened for them, but never felt connected to how truly scary it can be. I had no idea what it was like for a mother to look on their child in an isolette in the hospital, worried about touching them in case they jolt an IV. I could not fathom what it must have been for my cousins as they worried about every alarm that went off. Kate brought me right into each step of her journey from giving birth, navigating the NICU, to the early and exhausting days of motherhood, and her relationships with her husband and family.

Thank you so much, Alison, for your words, for reading with your heart open. Please go check out Alison’s wonderful blog. (And if you need help with your blog or social media, she does that, too!)

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Kate

I have been teaching creative writing for almost twenty years. Reading about other women’s lives and experiences has expanded my world. To be able to walk in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s for a moment or an hour or a few days, is an incredible gift, providing me with insight into the human experience. It takes courage to write your truths, especially if it doesn’t seem as though anyone cares, as though anyone is listening. Let me tell you: your stories matter, I’m listening, and I’m here to help you find the heart of those truths, to get them down on the page, to craft them, and to send them out into the world. Together, we will change the world, one story at a time.

5 Comments

  1. Alison on October 10, 2013 at 8:22 am

    Kate, thank you so much for the opportunity for an early read of Ready for Air. I truly loved and enjoyed it, and am so excited for its launch!

    And wow, thank you for your very kind words about me and the blog. You have truly inspired me to think about how I write, and inspired me to get better at it. That is a an invaluable gift, so thank you. xo

    (I felt the same way about Twitter when I first started blogging!)



  2. Kate on October 10, 2013 at 8:27 am

    Oh my dear, thank you!



  3. Sue on October 10, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    “And who doesn’t love a book about love?” That is such a great way to put it. Still checking my mail box daily. Perhaps once it crossed the border they switched to horseback here in the wild west.



    • Kate on October 10, 2013 at 6:11 pm

      Oh Sue, I should just send you a copy. Horseback. Or ants? That would take a long time.



  4. Ready For Air: A Review on February 5, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    […] a blog book tour. All opinions and love for the book and the author, are my own. And Kate wrote a lovely post about my reviewing her book. Seriously, I love this […]