I am never comfortable with self-promotion, but sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and hope people understand.

I want to share with you this recent critic’s review of An Extraordinary Year. Maybe my efforts weren’t entirely wasted. 🙂

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers’ Favorite

In times like ours, when the spirit of consumerism is rank and rife, and when people tend to seek personal profit without caring about what happens to others or to the environment, An Extraordinary Year by Theresa Konwinski comes across as a powerful reminder of the salient values of humanity that we have forgotten, values that can save our world, and the traditions that define our being “human.” This is a book that everyone should read, a story that is filled with insightful lessons about life, suffering, and the importance of selfless love. Meet John Reed, a teenage boy who wakes up with an extraordinary realization — that life is beautiful, no matter how it unfolds. At just ten years old, he makes the decision to let life speak to him, to accept the tribulations it brings, to learn its lessons, and follow its inspirations, each month at a time.

John is a character that readers will love to follow as he explores the joys of life, deepens his connections, and learns to accept the newcomer in his family, and to experience the thrill and the pain of crushing on someone. The story is beautifully told from the perspective of the young boy. Theresa Konwinski’s writing is sweet, filled with emotionally insightful passages. She’s done an amazing job in creating John Reed, a character who will remind readers of the kid they once were and of the child they are called to become. An Extraordinary Year has a simple plot, but it is gripping because it features delightful and trying moments for the protagonist and a prose that is irresistible. I couldn’t stop reading this book and I believe it will change the way most readers look at life, the world, and reality. It’s a thoughtful and inspiring story about love and family, pain and personal growth, and the importance of human connections.

I’m so glad someone got it….

Peace and love.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ragged Road is now available on Amazon. That’s the only place you can get it at this time, but it will also be available through Barnes & Noble, as well as on Kindle soon.

I hope you like the story…it’s very different from An Extraordinary Year, as I have mentioned to you all, but I think it’s a good story, and it comes, in part, from experiences of friends from my youth, God bless them all.

Many thanks to Angi Sweeney for her consultation on some obstetrical issues, and thanks to Sue Anderson and Tina Feak for reading/editing efforts.

The following is the dedication from my new book, Ragged Road. It will be ready for you within the week, available through the usual vendors – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle. Happy reading, friends.

DEDICATION

Before the 1970s, many young, unwed, pregnant women were whisked away to remote locations, waiting out their pregnancy under the scrutiny of distant family or frequently, alone in a “maternity home.” Sometimes the fathers of these babies were glad for the chance to be divested of responsibility. However, there was also a population of fathers who were never given an opportunity to know the child they had helped produce, and in terms of the law, there was little that could be done about it. Finding your child in those days was no easy task, desperate and frantic as some were to find their offspring. There was no DNA testing as we know it now. There were no computer records.

This book is dedicated to all the young mothers who gave up their children and the fathers who were not given a chance to know them.

This story offers no political commentary or answer. It’s just a story.

I’m really excited to be doing a public reading from An Extraordinary Year coming up on June 17, 2017.  Two other local authors will be appearing with me to read from their works as well. We’ll be at the Arts and Performance Center of West Toledo, which is located at 2702 W. Sylvania Avenue. Let me tell you a bit about my compatriots….

First, there’s Peris DeVohn Edwards, author of 365 Days of Happiness. Peris was raised in the inner-city of Toledo and is a former college football Division I Athlete. He attended Miami University, graduating with a Bachelor’s in Family Studies. After his dream of playing in the NFL didn’t go as planned he was at the lowest point of his life. However, through this temporary defeat he discovered his greatest strength and a true passion for inspiring others with his testimony. While continuing employment with Toledo Fire and Rescue, he also serves Toledo Public Schools as a substitute teacher. In between all those activities, he is a motivational speaker, mentor, and author, where he has found numerous ways to spread his gift. His first published writing was in the 2015 Chicken Soup For the Soul “Think Possible” edition. Peris plans to change the world one day at time using his blessings to bless others. He believes that serving others is the greatest blessing there is, and by doing so, you attract what you give. He has dedicated his life to live by his own motto “become more to give more.” For more info, visit Peris’ website: www.365daysofhappiness.org.

Next is Kevin D. Hofmann, an accomplished writer and public speaker. Kevin has appeared across the United States speaking to parents, students, and professionals,  quickly becoming a trusted voice on the topics of race and adoption. His light-hearted, yet contemplative perspective is sought by  media including Nightline (ABC) and NPR. Kevin’s memoir, Growing Up Black In White brings his journey as a biracial, transracial adoptee to life and has been used in numerous colleges and universities as part of curricula in the schools of social work, psychology, education and multiculturalism.  Because his story also addresses the impact of race and culture in society, it serves as a catalyst for open discussions on diversity and inclusion, as well as race and culture.  Kevin has worked with several K-12 school districts and adoption agencies as a diversity consultant. He is also a committed CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer, secretary for the board of Adopt America Network, and co-facilitates an adoption support group for Adoption Network Cleveland. You can learn more about Kevin by visiting his website: https://mymindonpaper.wordpress.com.

Finally, there’s me…I’ll be reading from An Extraordinary Year, as I mentioned, and I have a contest for you…Leave a comment to this blog and tell me from which chapter I should read. Many of you have told me how An Extraordinary Year took you back to your own childhood, so I bet I’ll hear some interesting perspectives!  I really hope you’ll all participate. The person who gives me the best justification will receive a free, signed copy of my new book, Ragged Road, which will be available in July, and I will read from the chapter recommended by the winner.

You don’t have to write like Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates to enter. C’mon…join in…this will be fun!

I’ve been away from the blog for a while because of multiple unexpected issues. Isn’t that just life? Not all the issues were bad, but they were definite eye-openers – issues that caused us to pause and reflect. We all have to do that sometimes, don’t we? Take a breath in and out – spend some time being quiet with ourselves – ponder what’s next.

Ragged Road is still out to literary agents, but the time is drawing nigh that I will simply self-publish again. I’ll let you know when the book is available. In the meantime, I’ve started research and work on a book about my father’s most remarkable family. I’ve also started research and work on a book to be entitled Seven Secrets. Both of these will take a while to write.

Finally, a short story is in development – The Burial of John Doe. I began the research this morning but need to do a little more investigation before I start to write. I like the research part of writing…after a lifetime in healthcare with all my focus being there, it’s fun to learn about non-healthcare things.

Speaking of my lifetime in healthcare, this is a great time to say congratulations to all the 2017 grads, especially those great nurses graduating from Lourdes University today. These guys had me for Evidence-Based Practice, and I know – I just know – they will all use those concepts to improve care for their future patients. Right, kids? It was a privilege to have those intense weeks with you…go make the world better.

Peace.

It was a cold and stormy night…wait, that’s Snoopy’s opening line.

It was a cold and windy day. It rained off and on, nearly ruining several copies of “An Extraordinary Year.” Here’s the good news…I picked up some books from very good local authors and am already half way through one of them because HARDLY ANYONE CAME OUT TO SEE US. It was just too nasty, and I don’t blame a soul for not walking around on this blustery old day.

Let me make one book recommendation to you. “Growing Up Black In White” is a true story written by Kevin D. Hofmann. He’s from the Toledo area and in this book, he writes of his experiences being the product of a trans-racial couple, born in Detroit at a time of great racial tension, and adopted by a white family. He has to learn about racism through a different lens, and how he shares his experience is straight-forward, without self-pity, humorous at times, and evoking memories of my own childhood in terms of the games we played, the trouble we got into, and the life lessons we learned, sometimes the hard way. Kevin does a great job of telling his story and has spoken to many groups about dealing with trans-racial family issues. I’m enjoying this book very much. In coming days, I’ll share with you some other “finds” I made.

I’m glad I have a nice husband who helped me put this tent up in the wind and who gave me his sweatshirt to supplement my own. True love, right?

Stay warm everyone…spring really IS on the way……

Very pleased to share this recent interview with you all. Hope you check it out.

http://uparoundthecorner.blogspot.com/2017/04/interview-with-author-theresa-konwinski.html

Thank you for those words, T.S. Eliot. And all the rest of the words, too, in your most excellent poetry. These words are from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” my favorite Eliot poem, and if you have never read it, you owe it to yourself to do so.

The rest of this particular section goes as follows:

“In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”

But sometimes, we don’t have time for indecision (decision and revision), and it’s important to remember that every minute we have is precious.

Every…single…minute.

We’ve had a death in the family this week, and our last visit with our loved one was very precious, indeed. We found out today that my own beloved has to have a cardiac catheterization. Has that got me thinking about our time on earth? You bet it does. Now, before I sound too melodramatic, cardiac caths are done every single minute of every single day somewhere on earth, and most of the patients do exceedingly well. In fact, most of them find out there’s nothing at all wrong with their coronary arteries or their valves. I pray that’s what we find out, too. But it just makes you stop for a minute, you know?

Just so you are aware, the cath is taking place next Wednesday, April 26 – the day I was supposed to do a book signing at St. Luke’s Hospital Gift Shop. I have notified the Director that we’ll need to reschedule, and when we do, we’ll make sure that information is available to you. It’s secondary info for this post, but I wanted to make you aware.

We carry on, don’t we? No matter what, we carry on.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately – just how many creative minds we have in our community. I’m talking about Toledo and vicinity…this area provides an embarrassment of riches from local artists who are largely unsung. I want to mention the paintings I saw at Gathering Volumes (www.gatheringvolumes.com) last Sunday…beautiful works, all completed by your neighbors. I met another  group of local authors; almost everyone at the meeting was new to me. Everyone is working on some interesting project, and we’re all so very different in our genres, our approaches, our world views.

We have great dance schools in our area: the Ballet Theater of Toledo, as well as the Toledo Ballet; Daryl Jervis Dance; Manhattan Dance…the dance school list is particularly long. The list of local musicians is long, too…Johnny Rodriguez; Ashley Kelley; Addison Schmidt; Kristi Marie Fuller; Kyle White; Cindy Slee and the Rhythm Method; my own son, Aaron Konwinski (no prejudice, but he’s pretty awesome); Don Coats; Brad Long. Don’t forget about our terrific Toledo Symphony Orchestra – if you haven’t heard them, you owe it to yourself to go because they are truly fantastic. Jazz, blues and bluegrass have deep roots here, too. SO, FOLKS…I can’t go on. I’ll leave out too many people.

Here’s the end game. We have so much local talent that I hope you’ll remember to support them. When you’re looking for something fun and entertaining to do, you don’t have to look too far because what we have right in our own backyard is worth exploring.

Today’s picture is Oklahoma City again – an Oklahoma redbud in bloom. I loved them so much when I was out there that I bought one for our yard. It’s getting ready to bloom right now, and when it does, I’ll photograph it and post it. An Ohio Oklahoma redbud. 🙂

Peace to all.

While today’s blog picture is from a couple of Aprils ago in Oklahoma City, happily our 2017 spring is getting a little bit more ‘real’ in Ohio every day. It’s great to see the perennials sprouting up out of the softening ground; meanwhile, new ideas are sprouting from my brain, too. By the way, to the best of my knowledge my brain is not softening. My husband may dispute that. 🙂

One book is published; another is ready; three more books have titles, and the story lines are taking shape. This is exciting stuff to me!

So that you know, another book signing is scheduled at St. Luke’s Hospital for April 26 from 1130-1330 in the Gift Shop. Additionally, I’ll be participating in “Independent Bookstore Day” on April 29 at Gathering Volumes Bookstore (https://www.gatheringvolumes.com). This is located in the same shopping center as Planet Fitness on East South Boundary in Perrysburg. Multiple local authors will be available to not only sell their books, but sign them and discuss them with attendees. Music, children’s activities, food and more will be provided. Additionally, the Glass City Mashers will be there with samples of locally-developed micro brews.

Finally, I’m excited to share with you that on July 20 from 6 p.m. till 8 p.m., I’ll be at the Findlay/Hancock County Library with my first book, An Extraordinary Year, which is largely about my life and my brothers’ and friends’ lives growing up in Benton Ridge, which is located in Hancock County for those of you who don’t know. The Findlay/Hancock County Library was gifted with two copies of An Extraordinary Year by a friend and co-worker, Carol Evans, also a former Hancock County resident. I really hope to see some of my old friends from the block, as they say. Liberty-Benton High School Class of ’71 – come on out! 🙂 Once again, other local authors will be present with their works. It is possible that my second book, Ragged Road, will be available at that time.

As always, I am grateful for your support.