The Trendsetter

I saw him for the first time on TV during the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. And only later did I learn that he wrote a couple of books– Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

I just don’t pay attention to politicians who write books. They’re all about politics and I’m not really interested in politics anyway.

Then he ran for President of The United States. My curiosity about him increased. So I decided to get both the books he wrote. I chose to read Dreams from My Father first.
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Did you have someone you looked-up to when you decided to become a writer? Someone who understood your desire to write and nurtured you along the way to become the writer who you are today? I believe all writers had some type of mentoring when they first started to write. Be it their teachers, editors or how-to books written by long gone writers.

This is exactly what the best seller writer, Susan Shapiro wrote in her latest memoir titled, Only as Good as Your Word.
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Do you like the Peanuts characters? How about the one and only Snoopy, the beagle owned by Charlie Brown? If you do, and you are a new writer, the book titled Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life is worth reading.

This hardcover book is edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz (Charles Schulz’s son) and features 32 essays by famous writers. They include essays by Danielle Steel, Clive Cussler, Sidney Sheldon, Cherie Carter-Scott, Thomas McGuane, Leslie Dixon, Oakley Hall, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Fannie Flagg, John Leggett, Dominick Dunne, William F. Buckely, Jr., David Michaelis, Frances Weaver, Herbert Gold, Sue Grafton, Jay Conrad Levinson, Barnaby Conrad, Elizabeth George, Budd Schulberg, Monte Schulz, A. Scot Berg, Sol Stein, Ed McBain, Jack Canfield, Shelly Lowenkopf, Ray Bradbury, Charles Champlin, Lair Koeing, Julia Child, Elmore Leonard and J.F. Freedman.
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While perusing for books in the writing category, I found the book titled “Writing as a way of healing” by Louise De Salvo, Ph.D. As the title says, the book is on how writing can help the writer to heal their psychological wounds. I picked up this book because one of my friends is currently going through a difficult time in her life due to the ordeals in her marriage. I encouraged her to write about her psychological trauma and hopefully this will help her to find relief - other than just whining about how to get herself out of her predicament. This book divided by three parts and an epilogue.
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