In this uplifting episode of Bookable Space with Yvonne Battle-Felton, we’re joined by Deborah Rudell. Deborah reads to us from Grace and Grit: The Transformation of a Ship and a Soul and talks to us about writing, the difference a supportive writing group can make, and getting to know herself through writing.

About the author:

A college professor in San Diego, California, Deborah Rudell participates in her city’s vibrant writing community. She is a graduate of Hay House Writer’s Workshop and the Certificate in Memoir Writing program at San Diego Writers, Ink. Her work has been published in the International Memoir Writers Association’s anthology, Shaking the Tree: I Didn't See That One Coming. Deborah lives with her black cat in a tiny house built in 1906 by a retired sea captain, who carved a sailing ship into the front door. This is her first book.

About the book:

Deborah Rudell’s world unravels when the leaders of her spiritual commune are exposed, arrested, and imprisoned for bioterrorism and attempted murder. Crushed and adrift, she moves her family off the commune to create a sense of normalcy. But when her husband seeks an opportunity to dismantle and rebuild a derelict fifty-foot schooner, Deborah uproots their children once again and joins him in Kauai.

For the next five years, she dedicates her life to restoring a boat. Pouring herself into the work at hand can only distract her so much as disillusionment about the cult’s lies and manipulation slowly rises to the surface. While she grapples with emotional turmoil and contemplates a new life path, Deborah sets out to accomplish something she never thought possible: sailing across the Pacific to the Olympic Peninsula.

Will the dangers that come with navigating the ocean be too much to bear, or will she find resolution and fortitude in the turbulent adventure? Grit & Grace: The Transformation of a Ship & a Soul is one woman’s account of conquering overwhelming challenges with tenacity and ingenuity and ultimately discovering her inner strength

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Bookable Space with Yvonne Battle-Felton, we’re joined by Moira Darrell.

Moira reads to us from Selena and Her Mysteries and Messed Up Choices, and talks to us about questions, secrets, writing, and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Bookable Space host Yvonne Battle-Felton is joined by Valerie Nieman. Valerie reads from Upon the Corner of the Moon: A Tale of the MacBeths. She talks to us about writing, researching, and imagining.

About the author:

Valerie Nieman is the author of Upon the Corner of the Moon, In the Lonely Backwater (Sir Walter Raleigh Award), five other novels, a short fiction collection, and three poetry books. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, she has held NEA and regional writing grants.

About the book:

Deeply researched and thoughtfully constructed around themes of women's lives and spirituality, the power of storytelling, and the complex politics of northern Europe between the invasions of the Vikings and the Normans, Upon the Corner of the Moon is the first of two books telling the story of real people who’ve been rewritten into emblems of evil. “Steeped in the myth, mystery, politics, and culture of Celtic Scotland, Upon the Corner of the Moon presents the world of the young Lady Macbeth and Macbeth with authenticity, a deft hand, and a poet’s voice,” says Susan Fraser King, author of Lady Macbeth: A Novel.

At the dawn of the second millennium, two royal Scottish children are swept away from their families—Macbeth to the perilous royal court of his grandfather, Gruach to the remnants of the goddess-worshiping Picts. Macbeth learns that blood bonds are easily severed while Gruach finds her path only to lose it when she’s summoned back to the patriarchal world. They struggle with gaining and losing power, guided and misguided by prophecy and politics as their paths converge in a fiery bid for royal succession. Upon the Corner of the Moon separates literary legend from the reality of rulers who changed the face of Scotland. "Upon the Corner of the Moon is a haunting and bloody tale of Scottish history. It’s also a finger tracing along a set of scars, ones we already know are too deep to ever really heal,” said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.