tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post4224444117105614987..comments2024-03-25T12:21:56.752-05:00Comments on Sweethearts Of The West: FAMILY HISTORY--DO YOU USE IT IN YOUR WRITING? by CHERYL PIERSONCaroline Clemmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14914658854159456335noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-16650102828288980122017-08-09T01:55:56.758-05:002017-08-09T01:55:56.758-05:00As I was writing A RANCHER'S WOMAN, I realized...As I was writing A RANCHER'S WOMAN, I realized the teens in that story were the ages of my grandmothers. While writing LOVING MATILDA I wrote about the general area where my grandmother, great-grandmother,father, and I grew up. I was even in the original old house where my great-grandmother grew up. My dad took me to the house and up on the widow's walk where I could see the ships on the Delaware River. They tore the house down shortly after that and built a shopping center. Yes, small town where everyone knew if you sneezed. Everyone knew my dad and knew I belonged to him. You couldn't get away with anything!<br /><br />Loved your post and all the memories of my family surfaced as I read it.E.Ayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03338305018025847649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-29523864078933595162017-07-29T17:12:09.082-05:002017-07-29T17:12:09.082-05:00Doris, I think you and I are the only two people i...Doris, I think you and I are the only two people in the world left who DON'T like coffee! LOL I've tried--it's just not going to happen.<br /><br />You know what I've discovered? It's hard to remember things in detail the older we get. It's like it all 'blends together'--and I think of that Barbra Streisand song THE WAY WE WERE--"What's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget..." Though, it's not always "pain" that makes us forget--sometimes it's just a lack of thinking about these things, or talking about them with others, or sharing with someone else who might have been there. <br /><br />Also, so many things "back in the day" became tragedies because of the lack of the things we take for granted--paved roads, ambulances, nearby hospitals and advanced medical care, etc. <br /><br />And there were lots of good memories, too, that Mom shared with me--little things that meant so much to her as a kid who really had nothing, and gave up what little she did have to a younger sibling, usually. <br /><br />You're right--that overall "lesson" colors everything and really aids in our writing to get the "feeling" across in many cases. Thanks so much for your kind words, Doris!Cheryl Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-1626260353154511152017-07-29T16:57:16.491-05:002017-07-29T16:57:16.491-05:00The stories I heard growing up color my stories, e...The stories I heard growing up color my stories, even if not the events. Of course a lot of the research I do ends up there also. <br /><br />If push came to shove, I would say all my reading and listening end up in some form in the stories I write, even the Medieval ones. <br /><br />I will say, reading your family stories took me back to the small community I grew up in. Different names, similar stories. I could hear the old couple talking about the father who was suicidal and asked his child to go get the shotgun then killed himself. I again recalled the childhood friend who feel in the grain elevator and suffocated. <br /><br />I also remember trying coffee, which I hated and still do, at the auctions that were part and parcel of life in that community. I hadn't really thought of these things in detail for some time, just the overall lesson I took from them that colors my work. Of course your stories are so wonderful. It gives me something to strive for. DorisRenaissance Womenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-15424623567003113342017-07-28T22:00:34.177-05:002017-07-28T22:00:34.177-05:00Linda, it was my pleasure. There are so many thing...Linda, it was my pleasure. There are so many things I remember Mom telling me--of course, there wasn't room for nearly all of it in this post, and as I was writing it I was thinking, "I really need to make note of these in a notebook--just write down everything I can remember Mom telling me." Dad never talked much about his growing up years. But Mom was able to fill me in on a lot of what happened, since the town was so small and they knew each other from 1st grade on--with a graduating class in their highschool of TWELVE. <br /><br />Thanks so much for stopping by today, Linda! Cheryl Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-35344028085325334172017-07-28T21:57:52.269-05:002017-07-28T21:57:52.269-05:00Sarah, you did a beautiful job with The Violin--I ...Sarah, you did a beautiful job with The Violin--I really loved that story and I could tell there was "something" that really touched you in that story, even before I knew about your uncle. It's always so sad when someone with such promise dies so young--you did him proud with your story.<br /><br />Mom really did have a tough life--and her friend, Mary, was in the same boat--though not quite as many siblings as Mom, Mary had I think 5 younger than she was. But Mom and Mary remained friends all through their lives--sharing a past like they did was the foundation of a lifelong friendship for them, in some ways, closer than sisters.<br /><br />I love the cover for One Magic Night too. Livia really did a good job--she always does. Thanks for stopping by to comment!Cheryl Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-2608218512506397042017-07-28T21:16:45.409-05:002017-07-28T21:16:45.409-05:00What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday......What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday...with a tribute to your family's past. I hope you are putting these vividly painted word pictures in your writing. Some of these scenes gave me chills. And yes, I do use family history in my own writing, and some of my characters resemble in looks and/or actions family members I remember from childhood. Thanks for sharing your memories today.Linda Swifthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065946221828780728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-61391539086285824842017-07-28T17:47:15.648-05:002017-07-28T17:47:15.648-05:00This was such a wonderful story. I think it helps ...This was such a wonderful story. I think it helps our stories when they come from our own histories. We have a real connection with the story and its characters and it shows. <br />Maybe we're not just writers, maybe we're good listeners, too. We have that great empathy so we are drawn to these stories. I understand how it feels with a family story inside you and somehow you want to make things right--fix that thing that didn't end the way it should have. I remember Pop telling me the story of his brother, with so much talent and promise, who drown when he was 21. I felt my dad's despair over losing his brother. I decided, like you, I would write that story and I would give my Uncle John the happy life he never got the chance to live. So I wrote The Violin and, if ever I cared about a character, I cared deeply about John.<br />I loved reading all these memories told to you by your mom. Life must have been hard for her.<br />I love this cover. It's so beautiful.Sarah J. McNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17749991094677728042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-82615867196528958032017-07-28T17:00:46.149-05:002017-07-28T17:00:46.149-05:00Hi Celia! Yes, I agree with you--real life events ...Hi Celia! Yes, I agree with you--real life events can be more memorable than anything people can make up. I am going to write all this down...just in case anyone who comes after me wants to remember it or know about it. There's more than this, but I didn't want to write a book here--things that are memories my mom held close to her heart and I think the reason she told me these stories so often was that she hoped SOMEONE would remember her and the family that came before her long after she was gone. She felt like she was responsible for keeping their memories alive, somehow. <br /><br />I'm so glad you enjoyed it--I always love to hear about the past, especially when I know it's a true story!Cheryl Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1822452633282744192.post-32834600819030701172017-07-28T16:14:09.453-05:002017-07-28T16:14:09.453-05:00I read this once this morning, and now...I've ...I read this once this morning, and now...I've read it again. This shows me that often real-life happenings are often more chilling or memorable than fiction. And for you to remember all this is wonderful...you are a "people person" like I am...and remember these events with clarity. <br />But no, I don't think I've remembered to use real life events in any story...or if I did, it might have been unconsciously. <br />I do use "things", such as a wood stove with a water reservoir on the side to heat water; a smoke house with meat hanging from the low ceiling which, with a little imagination, looked like body parts; or a coal mine in Texas...yes, a coal mine.<br />I enjoyed this so much. Thanks for sharing all this from your heart. PS..my Davis grandmother married at age 13..she's in a photo at that age with a group and she's holding a rag doll.<br />Thank you!<br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16272417114895975742noreply@blogger.com