Member: kathrynmagendie

Hi,

Thanks for responding. I'm sorry to hear about your brother's death. It sounds like it was at a young age and very untimely. The worst kind of loss. And what you describe is also very common--feeling sad on birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. That's why I think it can take at least a year and quite often longer to mourn the loss of someone important to you--you have to get through all of those days at least once to even begin to feel like maybe you can begin to move on.

You haven't read the Harry Potter books??!! Well, as a mental health professional I would advise you to keep that to yourself as many HP fans would become absolutely unhinged and possibly become violent upon hearing that news. :o) I confess I have read them and while I'm not a rabid fan, I do see how they have come to be such popular books.

I think that's very interesting and cool that you hid those small personal elements in your book. :o) And thanks for sharing that with me. Are there a lot of those instances? What's that like when you give readings of your book--does it feel more intimate to you that you are sharing these things with people about yourself and they don't even know it? Sometimes when I'm teaching I use my own poetry as an example or I use my own letters or other writings and examples from my own life and I tell my students they were written by a close friend of mine and are examples from her life, because I don't really want them to know that much personal information about me. It feels strange to talk about myself in the third person and to hear my students' comments about what my "friend" has written and experienced. Do people assume that your book is in some way autobiographical? I'm always fascinated by people's perceptions of what an author "must be" like based on what they have written. Most people don't ever realize that their perceptions of others have a lot more to do with who they are than with whom other people really are.

Anyway, I digress. :o) Sorry about that. I do hope you have a good week. :o)

MK

posted by drsyko at 10:38 pm (EST) on Aug 2, 2009

Hi again,

Just wanted to say that I don't at all think it's silly that you were having a hard time over the anniversary of your dog's death. Pets are family and we take their deaths hard. Also, just in case you're interested in this sort of thing, there is a psychological phenomenon called the anniversary effect and it's when you feel very bad around the anniversary of a difficult or traumatic event. So, there's even a name for what you were going through. What's interesting is that people can suffer through an anniversary effect even when they don't consciously remember that it is the anniversary of the event! The mind is a pretty fascinating thing. :o)

And I could totally relate to what you said aboutt not liking books others go on and on about. I have that experience all the time with books and movies. And also in the reverse--I love something that everyone else hates. I guess I'm just perverse that way. :o)

Take care, and I hope you're feeling better now. :o)

MK

posted by drsyko at 12:52 am (EST) on Jul 30, 2009

Hi Ms. Magendie,

Thank you for your comment regarding my review. I wanted to let you know that after some thought I went back and edited my review. I realized that I wrote a fairly off the cuff review that wasn't really an accurate representation of my experience reading your book, and I wanted to remedy that. You are correct, I do love books, and I have great respect for people like you who have the great courage and tenacity it takes to actually publish a book. I am a pretty lowly LT reviewer so it's not like my review will really mean anything in the real world, but still I thought you and your book deserved better than my original review.

Thanks again, and keep writing. A book is such a great gift to the world. You have accomplished something so many people (myself included) dream about, but so few people actually achieve. And for that I salute you.

With much respect,
MK

posted by drsyko at 11:01 pm (EST) on Jul 27, 2009

You were the featured author on July 10th and 11th! Your picture was on the home page with some information about you and Tender Graces.
I'm glad that you are home safe!

posted by missysbooknook at 4:19 pm (EST) on Jul 23, 2009

Yay!! You are the featured author today!

posted by missysbooknook at 6:00 pm (EST) on Jul 10, 2009

I just wanted to tell you how much i LOVED LOVED reading Tender Graces!! I didn't want it to end. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review it.

posted by NWADEL at 8:46 pm (EST) on Jun 14, 2009

In case you're interested in reading it, today I reviewed Tender Graces, which I received through LT's ER section.

Thank you so much for making your book available.

posted by Boobalack at 8:59 pm (EST) on Jun 13, 2009

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

- John Wesley

posted by theoldman at 11:36 am (EST) on Jun 8, 2009