Cheers to My Endorsers and Their Recent Releases

I seriously considered who I wanted to ask to potentially endorse my latest work. I was so grateful the four women I’m highlighting in this post today responded to The Flower Girls with such praise (read their reactions below).

Each of the authors who endorsed The Flower Girls has somewhat recently released a book of their own.

 

Today I wanted to shine the spotlight on them.

Susan Schoenberger ~ The Virtues of Oxygen

Susan’s first published novel, "A Watershed Year," won the 2006 gold medal for novel in the William Faulkner William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She’s agented by Jessica Regel with Foundry Literary + Media.

Her second novel, "The Virtues of Oxygen," released by Lake Union in July. Susan works as a communications director and teaches writing.

Michelle DeRusha ~ Spiritual Misfit

A Massachusetts native, Michelle DeRusha moved to Nebraska in 2001, where she discovered the Great Plains, grasshoppers the size of Cornish hens ... and God. She writes about finding and keeping faith in the everyday at http://michellederusha.com, as well as for the Lincoln Journal Star, Prodigal Magazine and The High Calling.

She's mom to two bug-loving boys, Noah and Rowan, and is married to Brad, an English professor who reads Moby Dick for fun.

 

Katie Ganshert ~ A Broken Kind of Beautiful

Christy Award finalist and Carol Award winner, Katie Ganshert, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in education, and worked as a fifth grade teacher for several years before staying home to write full-time. She was born and raised in the Midwest, where she lives with her husband, their young son, and their goofy black lab, Bubba. When she’s not busy writing or playing or reading or snuggling, she is obsessing over the paperwork and the waiting that comes with adoption.

 

Lisa Verge Higgins ~ Random Acts of Kindness

Lisa Verge Higgins is the RITA-nominated author of sixteen novels that have been published worldwide and translated into as many languages--quite a switch for this former PhD candidate in chemistry. Now this opera loving mother of three is creating heartwarming new stories revolving around women's lives and women's friendship. THE PROPER CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF FRIENDSHIP, her first foray into mainstream women's fiction, won the 2011 Golden Leaf Award for Best Single Title, and was chosen as one of the top twenty novels of the year by the Barnes & Noble General Fiction Book Club. Her second book, ONE GOOD FRIEND DESERVES ANOTHER, cracked the same list in 2012. Find out more about Lisa--and peruse the first few chapters of her books-- at www.lisavergehiggins.com. If you'd like to hear about her "life with three teenage daughters," she'd love for you to join her at www.facebook.com/lisavergehiggins.

Lisa currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three teenage daughters, who never fail to make life interesting.

Cheers Susan, Michelle, Katie,  & Lisa!

May you continue to find joy in writing, may your readership grow, and may characters and ideas meet you in your dreams until you make a home for them on the page.

 

Here’s what these talented authors had to say about my recent release, The Flower Girls:

“Alternating between identical twin narrators with tragic secrets between them, Wendy Paine Miller’s THE FLOWER GIRLS examines what it means to recognize -- or not recognize -- ourselves in others. It’s a moving contemporary tale of blame, jealousy, longing, and how old scars can finally mend.”

 

–Susan Schoenberger, award-winning author of A WATERSHED YEAR and THE VIRTUES OF OXYGEN 

“An expertly woven tale of drama, mystery, suspense and romance, THE FLOWER GIRLS is, at its core, a deeply moving story about the intricacies of sisterhood, the unshakable bonds of family loyalty and the power of forgiveness, healing and above all, love.  Thanks to Wendy Paine Miller’s unique gift for creating approachable, compelling, intriguing characters, you’ll find yourself pondering her two narrators – identical twins Daisy and Poppy – as well as your own familial relationships – long after you turn the last page of this riveting read.”

–Michelle DeRusha, author of SPIRITUAL MISFIT: A MEMOIR OF UNEASY FAITH

“Deftly told and beautifully written, THE FLOWER GIRLS is a story about the bonds of sisterhood, the power of forgiveness, and the pain and the freedom that comes with letting go. Add in some long-buried secrets, intriguing family lore, a splash of romance and readers are in for a real treat!”

 

–Katie Ganshert, award-winning author of A BROKEN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL

“Wendy Paine Miller writes with gentle wisdom about the complexities of family relationships burdened with blame, secrets and loss. A poignant, emotional story about guilt, love, family, and the indestructible ties of sisterhood. Fans of Kristin Hannah will love THE FLOWER GIRLS!”

 –Lisa Verge Higgins, author of RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

 

 

 

Michelle DeRusha Gets Real

Want to know the name of one my favorite nonfiction books? I’m not only going to give you the name of the book, I’m hooking you up with my interview with the author today.

Michelle DeRusha & SPIRITUAL MISFIT...

 

Wendy: As a native New Englander I could relate with your apprehension about moving to the Midwest. We’ve moved all over the country, but settled down in Ohio for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your transition to Nebraska. I loved the line, “In New England…God was not discussed over coffee and blueberry muffins.” What do you think it would be like if you moved back to New England? You mention how much a place can define us. Do you still feel as though you’re partially defined by your New England roots?

Michelle: I am definitely still defined by my New England heritage and by my Catholic roots as well. Once a Catholic New Englander, always a Catholic New Englander, apparently! In all seriousness, though, when I visit Massachusetts, it still feels like my true home, mainly because my whole extended family is there. I’ve realized that’s the key for me: home isn’t so much a place as it is a people.

That said, I’m sure I also romanticize and sentimentalize New England because I don’t live there anymore. Truthfully, there are plenty of aspects I notice now when I visit that don’t appeal to me: like the wild, tailgating drivers (including my own mother!), the frenetic pace and the “keeping up with the Jones” mentality that seems a little more prevalent there than here in Nebraska.

Now that I am more spiritually grounded it would be interesting to see how I would navigate faith and religion in Massachusetts if we were to move back. I suspect, even though religion is a little less overt in New England, that I would eventually find my niche there, too.

Wendy:  One of my favorite lines is “I’m beginning to think he gives us these ordinary miracles, these small blessings, these ‘Why not?’ moments in the midst of the everyday instead, so we will learn to open our eyes and see him not just in the wild, over-the-top, media-worthy miracles, but in the hundreds of everyday miracles as well.”

In Spiritual Misfit you detail a wonderful encounter with a Klee Klee. Could you explain the significance of that encounter and why you included it in your book?

Michelle:  Oh my word, I love the Klee Klee story, and it’s about a bug, for heaven’s sake! That experience in the garden was an “ah-ha” instant for me. It was as if everything dialed back into slow-motion, and I was suddenly aware that beautiful, albeit tiny, miracles were unfolding almost every moment of every day.

I included that story in the book because it was a spiritual turning point for me. I’d always yearned for the big, splashy miracle – the road-to-Damascus experience, the lightning strike moment. The whole time I was waiting for the grandiose, I’d missed the thousands of miracles taking place every day in my very own life. The day I sat on the curb and watched, mesmerized, as Klee Klee the bug crawled daintily over Rowan’s shirt, I realized I’d missed the big picture all along.

Wendy: I love how your book isn’t a three-step guide to faith. Instead, you are raw and real about how your understanding of God manifested as John Wesley describes a “heart strangely warmed.” This is so freeing, to be reminded there is no one size fits all type of faith out there. As a fellow “wrestler” I’m grateful for your candid account of warming to God. Gary Thomas wrote a book called SACRED PATHWAYS that really spoke to me about how we can all receive God quite differently. Some best through music, interaction with others, Bible reading, nature…the list goes on. When do you feel your heart is warmest to God?  

Michelle: I am most connected to God outdoors in nature. Whenever I feel spiritually disconnected or dry, I try to make a point to step outside, even for just a few minutes, and even if it’s only into my own backyard or neighborhood. Sometimes I take my camera, because snapping photos encourages me to hunker down and get close to creation, and that helps me feel God’s presence in a real, palpable way. That’s also why I prefer to run outdoors instead of indoors on a treadmill. I don’t even wear headphones, because I like to listen to the bird calls and hear myself think. 

I feel like the “right answer” to your question should be that I receive God most clearly through Scripture, and while that’s true a lot of the time, there are also times when I feel restless or even agitated when reading the Bible. Stepping into the outdoors, on the other hand, nearly always offers me a connection to God.

Wendy: You conclude your book confessing how you often still feel like a spiritual misfit. Then you remind us that “Jesus chose the outcasts and loved the misfits.” Why do you think this is so difficult for our current culture to perceive—or for any culture to perceive for that matter? What is the most pressing message you want readers to “get” from your book?

Michelle: Our culture emphasizes success, achievement and ambition, but Jesus emphasized the exact opposite. He was all about downward mobility, but because we face a constant barrage of messages that insist on the opposite, it’s difficult for us to understand, accept and live out “less is more” in our own lives.

I, think, too, that misfits – whether spiritual misfits, social misfits or any “other” for that matter – make us uncomfortable. They don’t fit into the comfortable boxes we have established for ourselves; they threaten us with their differentness.

As for the message, I hope readers finish this book realizing that faith and doubt can indeed co-exist, that questions can remain unanswered and that faith doesn’t have to be all wrapped up nice and neat and tied with a shiny, red ribbon. I want readers to know that faith is messy and that messy is okay.    

~

Thanks Michelle for answering each question with such thought and attention! I loved your openness to my asking them. And I am a huge fan of your book. I know it will impact many.

My review of SPIRITUAL MISFIT:

I’ve never encountered a book with such an insightful blend of humor and poignancy. I’ve been waiting to read DeRusha’s work in print for years. SPIRITUAL MISFIT exceeded my expectations. By tackling probing questions like can doubt and faith coexist, DeRusha writes a necessary book with a brave and witty voice that is sure to engage many wrestling and “misfit” souls.

I’ve been enthusiastically recommending SPIRITUAL MISFIT to friends and family. I’m eager to read more from DeRusha!

***

What are you waiting for? Go buy it.

*I almost forgot (actually, I did forget & I came back and edited this...life is a bit crazy) I have a copy of SPIRITUAL MISFIT to give away. Comment for a chance to win your own copy!

 

Grocery Store Grace

 

I’m devouring Michelle DeRusha’s book, Spiritual Misfit: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith. Seriously hoping MD writes a hundred more memoirs for me to laugh my way through and reflect upon. I love the way Michelle writes. (More on this another day.)

In Spiritual Misfit Michelle depicts some grocery story accounts that hit close to home. I’m talking baseball ball cracking the window to smithereens close to home. Michelle shares of a run in with an intrusive woman at the grocery store she’s dubbed Owl Spectacles. Good ole OS has a thing or two to say about Michelle’s children.

Man, have I been there.

Picture this. I’m hustling my youngest (three at the time) into Stop & Shop to buy lettuce. Yup, that’s all I needed. I agreed to bring a salad to a get together in T minus two hours. It had been months since my husband and I had done anything considered social. I was desperate to get out of the house sans children.

Of course I allotted myself the smallest window of time to purchase the one item I couldn’t find in my fridge, the item essential to a salad—lettuce.

Let us go, then, I said to the young skipping child. Not two feet into the store, right near the shiny apples, young skipping child turned on me. Feel free to imagine the spinning head from The Exorcist. I know I was. Flailing. Low guttural noises spewing. Well, not quite. But you get the gist.

Along comes a spider (scratch that) a cheerful elderly woman who apparently wanted to do nothing but help assist me with my little “problem child.” I briefly explained my predicament, already frayed (or couldn’t you tell by I HAD TO GET OUT OF MY HOUSE comment above) to the Mother Teresa lady.

She gleefully offered to watch young swinging one while I dashed to snatch up a bag of lettuce. I hesitated, then thought, If only there were more women like her in the world. I reasoned, they’d remain within eyesight the entire time. I grabbed the greens, watching Mother Goose calm my child with Julie Andrews attentiveness. As I prepared to bolt, I thanked the woman profusely, gushing over her unexpected kindness. Meanwhile, I worked to grasp young slippery one in the same breath.

I must have thanked her too profusely because this is when she got all passive aggressive on me. I’m warning you, it isn’t pretty.

“Well,” she huffed, “You’re certainly not going to win the mother of the year award.” She stared me down as though I’d dropped my child to the bottom of a well instead of spontaneously deciding to put my faith in the Mother Teresa kindness of a stranger.

Then I did what most women would want to do at this moment. I slammed my fist into her . . . Okay, so no, I didn’t. I cried. That’s what I did. I tackled my child, somehow made my way to the checkout aisle, and whipped out my credit card with tears streaming down my cheeks. The checkout clerk said something nice, but of course that didn’t stay with me.

Fake Mother T’s words did. I internalized what she said. And I felt small. I could have recited the following lines from Spiritual Misfit word for word four years ago standing outside of Stop & Shop.

“But it was people—people with their comments and their judgments and their good intentions—who taxed my ability to behave as I should. My fellow human beings made the whole Christian attitude thing very, very difficult to achieve.”

I hated that I let Fake Mother T’s words sink so deep, hated that I’d handed over that power, hated how I was so skilled at internalizing everything—even the lies and things that sliced into me.

After reading Michelle’s grocery store tribulation it hit me. This Stop & Shop slaughter was an opportunity for me to grant grace, not only to Fake Mother T, but also to grant myself some grace.

Three takeaways from this post:

1.       Buy Michelle DeRusha’s book.

2.       Beware of Fake Mother T’s trolling the produce aisle at the grocery store.

3.       Know that every interaction, every hurt, every lingering sadness presents an opportunity to grant grace and to finally let go.

So tell me, do you have any grace-filled grocery store stories?

“Grace does not make sense. It’s not supposed to make sense. Grace cannot be calculated or formulated…it is all grace. It is all a gift. Life itself is grace. And when it comes to grace, the word deserve isn’t even part of the equation.” ~ Spiritual Misfit: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith

“To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means.” ~ Brennan Manning