On Monday, October 8 I had the honor of giving two presentation during the Fox Cities Book Festival. For one week each year, the festival hosts readings, presentations, and panel discussions on poetry, memoir, horror and more at libraries across the Fox Valley. This year more than 60 authors participated in 70 events across 13 venues!READ MORE
I had the honor of meeting Kay N. Sanders a couple of days ago at the Fox Cities Book Festival. She mentioned this poem, and I’m delighted she has allowed me to post it here. I hope you are touched by Kay’s reflection on her mother’s handwriting.
Not long ago I was searching through old digital photos looking for something entirely unrelated to the book when I came across photos from the January 2012 trip Aaron, Hoover and I took to Gunflint Lodge in far northern Northern Minnesota. The trip is recounted on pages 63–68 of Marcel’s Letters; this specific moment is described on page 64. I thought it would be fun to share the image Aaron snapped of the doe finally eating corn out of my hand. Victory at last!
Not long ago, a fellow author contacted me with questions about attending a book club. It was the first time she was going to attend a book club as a guest author, and was looking for information on what to expect and suggestions on what to bring. During the previous year, I’ve had the honor of joining twenty or so book clubs to discuss “Marcel’s Letters,” and have given another twenty or so presentations. After the first few events, when I attempted to remember what I needed to bring (and inevitably forgot something), I committed those packing lists to paper. READ MORE
I was happy to learn “Marcels’ Letters” was a category finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award.
About the Eric Hoffer Award
“The Eric Hoffer Award honors freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit. The commercial environment for today’s writers has all but crushed the circulation of ideas. It seems strange that in the Information Age, many books are blocked from wider circulation, and powerful writing is barred from publication or buried alive on the Internet. Furthermore, many of the top literary prizes will not consider independent books, choosing instead to become the marketing arms of large presses.READ MORE
A.Grillot
Stöckenerstrasse 351, Stube 43 [351 Stöckener Street, Room 43]
Stöcken-Hannover
Hannover, July 18, 1944
To all of my very dear ones,
I’m sending these few lines to you this evening, Tuesday, to give you my news, which is still as good as possible. READ MORE
My parents are engaged in the slow process of cleaning out the home they’ve lived in the last 35 years. Recently, for example, they cleared papers out of an old secretary my grandmother used (my dad’s mother). Inside the desk were unused sheets of stationery and other things that had no real value. But they also stumbled upon something precious: my grandmother’s notebook from painting and drawing classes in 1921/1922. At the time, Charlotte was a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.READ MORE
Thorn, the 4th of June, 1944 Carte
My little adored Marie,
I see, my love, that you have received good news from Jeannot (Johnny). I’m happy about that, darling. Yes, I also wish for him to return soon, close to his little wife and his Nicole. Yes, Loulou, let’s hope that everything will be finished soon so that we can all stroll together.
Last weekend I received an extraordinary message from a woman named Delphine.
“My mother-in-law, Suzanne Lamy,” Delphine wrote, “knew Marcel from Berchères-la-Maingot, where she lived when she was young. Marcel used to go hunting with her family… She was touched that you wrote this book that reminded her a lot from her childhood.”READ MORE
Perhaps it was because he was the only other living person in the graveyard. But the old white-haired man, sitting with a straight back on a stack of wooden stools caught my attention. Or, perhaps it was the sound of his work that piqued my curiosity; the graveyard was silent other than the tapping of his mallet.
I am always delighted to sign copies of Marcel’s Letters — especially when I know the book is being given as a gift. If you are looking for a gift for a design school graduate, or a family member who has an interest in typography, genealogy, World War II or French history, I invite you to contact me via email at carolyn (at) porterfolioinc (dot) com. Signed/gift wrapped/mailed copies are $26 (US only). READ MORE
Marcel’s Letters has garnered two more honors!READ MORE
