And so it begins...the "10 Days with The Other Mother" blog tour. Starting today and continuing through December 10th this blog will host a public conversation with author Teresa Bruce that provides readers with an opportunity to gain insight and reflect on Bruce's recently published rememoir "The Other Mother."
There are several ways you can participate in the conversation:
1. Join the conversation! Enter comments and/or respond to entries in the comments section at the end of each blog entry. The author and blogger will actively monitor and engage in a virtual dialogue during the ten day tour.
2. Share a link! Copy and paste a link to each blog entry on your FaceBook page, your Google+ account, your Twitter feed or cite an entry on Pinterest, Tumblr or your own blog...wherever you find yourself socially networking.
3. Buy the book! The author and blogger will provide a great many reference points over the next ten days but to fully appreciate the beauty of the book one must really dive into the text. Available on Amazon at: The Other Mother
Blog Tour Day 1: Crossing Paths
In fact Teresa, our becoming acquainted two years ago at the Beaufort International Film Festival was very much like that. I have always relished "table readings" so when the festival schedule included the opportunity to hear some of Beaufort's local thespians reading the screenplays entered for competition, I was quick to secure a ticket for the occasion. And with that attendance I became acquainted with you. That first encounter, listening to your screen play being read, set in motion an appreciation for your brand of storytelling. Most especially for your knack in bringing to the page the good, bad and sometimes comical way life has a tendency to flow and unfold.
Chapter 8 of "The Other Mother" presents readers with your first encounter with Byrne and Duncan Miller while on assignment with a local public television affiliate. Initially you take a journalistic approach upon meeting the Millers, to design a story of "worthiness and drawing out empathy" for a man with Alzheimers and a wife eager to bring public attention to their plight, by the conclusion of that chapter your approach quickly shifts to an admiration for the reflected love you witnessed in meeting them.
Thus, my volley to you, Teresa on Day 1 in our "10 Days with The Other Mother" conversation starts with our crossing paths at the film festival and you crossing paths with Byrne Miller....
I remember it well...Our paths crossed on the auspicious occasion of the first ever screenplay table read in Beaufort, South Carolina! That was two years before MovieMaker Magazine would name the Beaufort International Film Festival one of the coolest 25 film fests in the country ~ I guess we were BIFF before it was the film world's BFF! I was so nervous and it was great to look out into the audience and see your smiling, exuberant face in the audience. I didn't even know you but I could feel your encouragement and support for the creative process.
I love it when that happens ~ paths crossling like two dancers on stage at the same time, hooking arms and spinning off in new directions.
I was like that meeting Bryne Miller, the Other Mother in the title of my memoir. I was 22 at the time, a rookie TV reporter at WJWJ-TV in Beaufort, SC and she was an 82 force of nature. I never set out to find an Other Mother but she folded me into her world before I knew what was happening.
She always said "The family you're born with is not the one you're stuck with" and that was the genesis of a word I invented to describe her pearls of wisdom: womenisms. And now, years later, our dance together has spun off into so many directions. I have a blog called "womenismsm" on wordpress and a whole book worth of chapter headings in "The Other Mother: a rememoir."
What a great position to open the tour with Ann-Marie!
Tell us about your experience in crossing paths with people who made an impact on your life...
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Teresa, it sounds like Bryne Miller played a large role in your life, did you immediately recognize that or have you come to know that in writing in your own voice?
ReplyDeleteand that comment goes right to the Day 2 post as I asked the very same question of Teresa!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Teresa's book yet, but it is on my wish list.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many people I have crossed paths with and learned from, as I have moved and started over many times, the majority of which being other women.
Since I wore a 34B bra in fourth grade, I am often classified as an early bloomer. When it comes to work/career or discovering my unique gift to give back in this life I am definitely a late bloomer. In fact I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
During my five year stay on HHI, I was fortunate to meet Ann Marie. She was always so put together, so full of energy - I admired her (and still do). As I have come to know her better I am constantly inspired by her creativeness and her incorporation of life and "work".
I will always remember her being completely non-patronizing when I described to her how I often start at the bottom to try out a new career move and work my way up. She said, "too many people won't do that." Since I have a business degree, most people I work with, interview with and are related to feel I have lost the opportunity to be successful. Ann Marie continues to be open to my exploration. So thank you Ann Marie for crossing paths with me.
The Low Country itself has been an extremely influential "person" to cross paths with. I have tried out the big city, the mountains and the small rural town, only to realize that the Low Country is where I must get back. The salt, sand, seafood...and most importantly all the wonderful people who I can sidle up to at the bar who will just be happy to see me. Me the whole me.
I think we all thrive in the Lowcountry Jennifer! Teresa's book is as much about the people as it is about the place! She does an excellent job in revealing every side of what we have all come to know and love!
ReplyDelete