Introducing Canadian author: Lissa M. Cowan

Lissa M. Cowan is the author of Milk Fever and founder of Writing the Body. She speaks and writes about storytelling, creativity, work-life balance and creative spirituality. She is a Huffington Post blogger and writes regularly for Canadian and U.S. magazines and newspapers. 

She is co-translator of Words that Walk in the Night by Pierre Morency, one of Québec’s most honoured poets. She has been writing and telling stories in one form or another since she was six years old and has received awards for her writing from the University of Victoria’s Writing Department and from The Banff Centre. She is an alumna of The Banff Centre and The Victoria School of Writing. She has had some wonderfully talented teachers along the way such as Nino Ricci, Jane Rule and Daphne Marlatt who have helped her hone her writing craft.

Lissa believes that inspiration for writing can come from anywhere and that lifelong creativity begins by cultivating a deep awareness of ourselves, and the world around us. She coaches her students to develop the skills to tune in—rather than wait for the muse—and to trust their intuition. She believes that true creative work begins with a loving relationship to self and spreads outwards to encompass all living beings.

When she’s not writing or teaching, you can most likely find her in a cafe working on one of her stories or book ideas. She just started work on a creative non-fiction book, though it’s too early right now to spill the beans on that one!

She holds a Master of Arts degree in English Studies from l’Université de Montréal and lives in Toronto, Canada.

Here is a description of the Bastille, a Paris prison, which is one of the settings for Milk Fever. In this excerpt, the protagonist searches for Armande, the wet nurse.

The passage was dark and wet. Water droplets fell from the ceiling and onto my shoulders and hair. The only light came from a chain of small, narrow windows. Close to the wall, I looked over my shoulder to make sure nobody trailed me. After walking through a series of passages that veered sometimes right and sometimes left, I came upon a heavy wooden door that opened easily. The echo of my walking sounded through the passage as I climbed heavy stone steps.

The woman I saw outside the prison the other day sang a tune that seesawed this way and that. The passages had that same strange and troubled rhythm, I thought, as I wandered through them.

I breathed in the damp. My heart felt cold and heavy while my hand felt the shape of Armande’s diary in my pocket, the thickness and weight of it. To know it was still there, gave me comfort. After walking along the passage to a higher floor, I saw a door with a tiny window. Inside was a room with a chair and a table covered in dust and cobwebs. Past that were other doors. The chambers were dark and empty, and I began to feel that there was nobody in that stinkhole but me. Past a large arched door, I found myself in a courtyard overgrown with ivy. In the middle was a statue of a child, its face blackened with moss. After crossing the courtyard, I reached another arched door, which led to another tower where I heard a faint sound like a woman whimpering. I ran up the stairs after the sound but it faded as quickly as it came.

A light appeared at the far end of the passage, and then I saw a figure holding a lantern. His footsteps echoed and grew louder as he approached. Quickly, I dashed to a door nearest me. Once inside the chamber, I crouched under the little opening and waited for the man to pass. The room was no bigger than a store cupboard and had a fancy chair in it of red and gold that seemed out of place next to the dust, stench and cobwebs. In the far corner were tapersticks and a row of books. I sat down in the chair and then realized that my feet hurt, the bandages the doctor applied to them, were coming undone, much like my prospects of finding Armande alive.

I walked along the passage to a different tower. Yet this time, instead of looking in every chamber, I said her name, in a low voice, though high enough so somebody might hear. Perhaps I was going mad just as the doctor suspected when he saw my knotted hair, dirty clothes and feet. “Armande,” I called out again. Another voice joined my own.

 Author Links - The link for any or all of the following...

Website: lissacowan.com  Blog: lissacowan.com/blog | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gosmall | Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/lissamcowan | Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lissamcowan | Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lissamcowan | Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Lissamcowan

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lissa-M.-Cowan/e/B00G48XN3S

Giveaway -

A copy of my novel and one-hour Skype or phone call lesson on how to write historical fiction

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What happens when your parents can no longer care for themselves?

"Just because people are aging or beginning to face health challenges doesn’t mean that they are insensitive, ignorant, or incapable of decision-making."

Navigating The Eldercare Journey:Without Going Broke

by Jodi Clock

(Available on Amazon.com) We’ve all enjoyed a good laugh at the perils of getting older. But entering your Golden Years without any money is no joke. End-of life planning is a difficult subject to talk about - between facing mortality (either your parents or your own) to discussing the ever-confusing subject revolving around long term care options or understanding the differences between Medicare and Medicaid, or a living will vs. a living trust, there’s nothing fun about facing death and the issues that come with it.

Navigating the Eldercare Journey – Without Going Broke! can help reduce the challenges and minimize frustration encountered when you are placed in this situation. This easy-to-understand guide takes you from the basics of understanding long term care options that are available, how to seek out an elder care attorney and know if they are good fit for your needs, and how to qualify for Medicaid as a financial means to pay for care, including the benefits of funeral planning - in layman’s terms. Author Jodi M. Clock provides fundamental information regarding the basics in a way that helps you understand not only why her recommendations are important, but how you can minimize financial exposure regarding end-of-life events. Whether you are in a crisis situation or taking proactive measures, these valuable end-of-life solutions could safeguard you and your parents’ assets.

You have a choice – be proactive and preserve your money. Don’t leave it unprotected and unnecessarily taxed when you or your parents die. No matter how prepared you think you are, the reality of death is sobering, and expensive. When time is on your side, you can make well- thought-out, proactive decisions, enabling you to focus on what’s most important in life.

 

About The Author:

For over 25 years, Jodi M. Clock has worked in the ‘end-of-life planning’ industry, including family and corporately owned funeral homes, advance funeral planning companies, casket manufacturers and insurance agencies. Having personally witnessed the financial confusion that families endure, especially at an emotionally taxing time, Ms. Clock has centered her career on helping people to understand the options that are available to them. She currently writes and speaks about the basics of Medicaid and asset protection and is a seasoned expert in end-of-life directives.

Ms. Clock wrote Navigating the Elder Care Journey...Without Going Broke! to help people appreciate the important facts they need to know in order to make the right financial choices, in one easy-to- understand guide. It is her hope that through the personal stories, straightforward information, and family care plans which include checklists, she will help people manage this process. Her goal is for everyone to become informed on options available that will not leave their hard-earned assets unnecessarily exposed, potentially saving them hundreds if not thousands of dollars; qualify for Medicaid; and have their funeral expenses pre-paid, therefore allowing their loved ones the ability to focus on what’s important and not have anxiety or stress over finances.

When she’s not consulting or helping manage the family funeral business, she volunteers with The Noah Project, a no kill animal shelter. An avid animal lover and supporter, she has a house full of pets and enjoys spending time on the western Michigan shoreline.

 

Let's talk about sex, baby!

Even though we have progressed technologically the subject of sex is still a little stuck in the dark ages.  It's a taboo subject in that is never fully explored and labeled gutter-talk.  Women don't really share their wants and desires which are deemed too personal to discuss.  But if you never discuss it and keep all your thoughts secret, then how will people ever know what you desire.  Glitter is a ground-breaking book put together by Mona Darling, an ex-dominatrix.  This anthology of true stories and real experiences will open your eyes and make you think.  Warning:  Do not attempt to read this book if you don't have an open mind, some of the stories might educate you.  Then again some will make you laugh and some will make you cry.  A great honest read.

Book Description:

Glitter is about the female sexual experience, which contrary to what the media would have you believe, is not all bubble baths and chick flicks.
Women are constantly judged as slutty, or uptight, but the reality is somewhere in between those two, and sometimes, nowhere near either. We have secret shames and private desires and we all feel we are the only one.
We are good church-going girls with a fondness for the paddle, PTA moms who hire escorts, feminists who like to bottom in the bedroom, slutty virgins, bi-curious married laddies and women with a past. We are gay, straight, and undecided.
We are all over the map, and we are amazing.
10 facts about Glitter. 
People reading that Glitter is about the female sexual experience automatically assume it's erotica, self help or how to. It's none of those, yet at the same time, it's a bit of all three. It's not like any other book you've ever read. It's not fiction telling you what could be. It's not self-help telling you what should be. It's simply other women talking about their desires, their sexual histories and how they've been effected by shame and abuse. 1.  Glitter is about destigmatizing the female sexual experience. 
2.  Glitter is NOT about being sexual. It's about realizing that everyone is different sexually, and respecting that. 
3.  Glitter is not about having the most amazing sex life ever. 
4.  Glitter is not about convincing you that you need to be more open sexually. 
5.   Glitter is not just about fetishes or BDSM. It's also about desires that are shaped or distorted by abuse. I find that a common feeling from those with what is considered non standard desires and those who have suffered sexual abuse is the shame of feeling broken. I feel that shame needs to be removed from women's sexual desire in both cases and that they are inseperable. 
6.   Glitter Girls are women from every walk of life, every age, and every race and religion. 
7.   Glitter Girls are both CIS and Trans.This means that some Glitter Girls have always been fine with their anatomical gender, and some have not. In the end, we are all Glitter Girls, even if we were born with the wrong bits. We all need sisterly love and support. Not judgement. 
8.  Glitter Girls are encouraged to find and voice their limits, as well as their interests. 
9.  Glitter encourages women explore their interest and limits, but also to realize that other women have different interests and limits. 
10. The number one goal of Glitter is to get women to stop shaming other women by acknowledging that there is no norm for us to aspire to. We are all different and that's ok.

About The Author:

 Mona Darling aka Dead Cow Girl, spent close to twenty years as an A-list professional dominatrix before becoming a D-list mommy blogger. After spending many years traveling the world being told that she is fabulous, she now spends her days being told she doesn’t drive fast enough by her three-year-old son.

Dead Cow Girl was a nickname she received in grade school after a humiliating morning involving a mobile butcher and a school bus. She chose to use that name to reclaim the part of her that spent much of her childhood red-faced with shame, embarrassed for her unique childhood. She also likes it because it is readily available on nearly every social media platform.

 She writes, sporadically, about food, sex and toddler-related mayhem at DeadCowGirl.com.

Her website is www.glitterhood.com.  You can find Mona on Twitter http://twitter.com/deadcowgirl or Facebook http://facebook.com/glitterhood.  You can buy Gliiter as an ebook or paperback on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

 
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