Writing, Decorating Scotch & Christmas Volunteering
Okay, it’s busy around my house in the weeks approaching Christmas, so little time for writing. However, I have completed the first chapters of my next novel, Garden of Lies, and am very happy with it. I had written the first draft, then read it and realized it needed to be written in third person as opposed to the first person I had written in. SO, the big undertaking of rewriting in third is nearly complete. Then I can move on to the the rest of the story. It’s a lot of work so I’m thrilled I realized this when not yet 100 pages in. WHEW!
Aside from that there’s the decorating, the shopping, the baking, the cleaning, the shopping, the wrapping, the 
shopping and the stuffing of stockings. Oh, and then more shopping. What! You don’t decorate your scotch?
And then I volunteer, as I have for nearly 20 years, as an artist for the Salvation Army Toy-n-Joy event. It’s a LONG day of drawing, painting and decorating the stadium before our ‘guests’ arrive to select toys for their children — children who otherwise would likely not have a gift for Christmas. Every year this work makes me feel part of something bigger than myself. Many years ago before my life was so blessed, I was a mom who could barely afford Christmas for my child, it’s a painful, shame-filled and soul sucking experience. That’s why I so love being a little part of making a child smile at Christmas and helping out another mother who otherwise may feel helpless.
Lend a hand this year, lift a neighbor up, give to the food bank or toy event in your community, visit an elder care home and give the gift of your time, pack food gift baskets for your church or give a teacher some special school supplies to surprise her kids with – whatever kind of opportunity aligns with your beliefs, the point is that there are so many ways to give. Tis the season. Blessings, Mindy
Writing as a Restorative Tool–No Co-Pay Needed
There are so many reasons why we write: to tell our true life stories, to create fiction, to enlighten, to educate, to entertain. But to me one of the main reasons I write is to heal from things I struggle to mentally or emotionally comprehend, or to embrace my body’s complex journey with dis-ease.
As a writer and cancer survivor I believe writing helps us understand our life experiences. When we translate life’s events from the unspoken into written language we alter our perceptions and fundamentally make the experience graspable. As an author and instructor I strive to engage and inspire others to do exactly that, translate the unspoken into the written word.
Share this healing message on Twitter or other Social Media avenues.
Digital Autographs ~ Readers Connecting with Authors
Are you an author who likes to autograph their books, or an avid reader who loves to collect autographs? Do you feel a disconnect when you purchase digital versions of your favorite author’s books, or as an author do you feel that same disconnect when you can’t offer autographs? Well, here’s the solution to your problem, AUTHORGRAPH.
I woke up this morning to another request for my autograph from a Kindle reader of my novel, Return To Sender. I love that! Thanks, Heather for reading and then taking time to connect with me.
Anyway, if you are a reader who wants to connect with your author via autographs, visit Authorgraph and sign up for this free service. Authors, this FREE program allows you to offer your autograph to adoring fans.
What’s better than affordable marketing tools. Have fun. Oh, and here’s what a digital autograph looks like … 
Cover Design ~ Return To Sender
Often I get asked how I came up with the cover for my novel, Return To Sender. I can’t take the credit. In my many
conversations with my brother Clark Kohanek, a gifted story-teller, award winning screenwriter and Director, and a graphic artist, he got the idea of what I wanted, and voila! It was done. I wanted it to be thematic, but not jumbled and tacky looking with too many images. People tell me it pulls them in; that’s all that matters.
The cover is largely in black because the protagonist, Theo Riley (a Korean War hero turned priest) is going through a dark time in his life and has a secret past full of shadows and demons.
What Theo (priest–see the white collar) is walking through (doorway) is the shape of a cartridge; a Parabellum from a Nazi Lugar no less. This wound, among others was a gift from a North Korean general who held Theo as a POW, and who was a fan of the Nazis’ of WWII. The shell-shaped passage represents the cartridge he carries in his hip from that war injury–overcoming his past and his injuries, body, heart and soul is Theo’s quest.
Behind him is fire. The story starts with flames and ends in flames; both times they are fires started by Theo to end a battle, destroy evil, and start new. In one scene, Theo’s mentor says, “Fire is a cleansing thing.” And in Return To Sender we learn it certainly is.
The brocade along the sides is Irish (Celtic) knots for Theo’s Irish heritage which is often a gift, but sometimes more like a rope around his neck choking the life out of him.
He carries a rosary in his hand because even though he resorts to vigilante warrior-priest deeds and doings, and is a reluctant vicar and hero, he’s also a true believer, in his own way.
A lot of people have asked why I didn’t hint at the love story in Return To Sender; maybe I should have, but I felt it was Theo’s story, and that until he dealt with the violence brought into his safe-harbor by Genghis Hansel, and until he could cleanse his own soul of what haunted him and kept him from truly living, there could be no love story. So while the ‘forbidden romance’ is a big part of his storyline, I did not include an image on the cover for fear readers may think it was a romance novel, which it is not.
Return To Sender is a literary thriller, or some are calling it a psychological thriller; it’s a complex tale wrapped around a love story. It would be too much to include imagery for all the POVs and all the through-lines. For me, when authors try to do that they end up with a muddled cover. This is Theo’s story. The cover belongs to Theo.
If you’ve read Return To Sender, what do you think of the cover? How would you have done it differently? Would you have hinted at the love story?
If you haven’t read RTS you can get a copy here; Kindle is $4.99 Hardcover is roughly $17.00.
How Writing Can Help You Heal
HOW WRITING YOUR TRUTH CAN HELP YOU HEAL
As an author and cancer survivor I believe writing aids us in understanding life’s challenges, and that through understanding we become better writers. When we translate painful or confusing events from the unspoken into written language we alter our perceptions and fundamentally make the experience graspable. You can heal the body by … Continue reading How Writing Your Truth Can Help You Heal
Mindy Meyers-Halleck 