In Publications, you will find two recently published pieces since the last Newsletter.
Enjoy Nicolas Papazoglou, an actor of the Fleming Theater, Greece, performing the original Greek text of The Owl monologue, written by Karina Ioannidou. You will find it where the Greek text starts.
In craft pieces such as the above, I try to track my own process, observing the steps I take as I go along. Feel free to share and/or comment when you view them.
In the News you will find the book cover of my forthcoming memoir, Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past. Recently, a friend asked me how one goes about finding a publisher. It’s a search, a mutual fitting process. I send out a book proposal and when this meets a publisher’s objectives, it is a match! The book proposal includes excerpts from manuscript, a summary of the story, biographical information and reasons for the publisher to select the book. Once a contract has been signed, the full manuscript undergoes copyediting. Then comes the design of the cover, the step that has made the book real for me. It's a quick tour of the process and there are more steps to come, as She Writes Press prepares to launch it in September 2021.
Also In the News, you will find a book trailer for Sophia’s Return, the memoir’s English version which is similar but not identical to the Greek Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη which you can still order here for US delivery or any bookstore in Greece for local and International delivery.
Featured Guest
I am excited to introduce my Featured Guest this month, my Greek born neighbor from Vancouver, Washington, Maria Heckinger. She has written a unique memoir, a story of two mothers and their connection to one child. It is a courageous exploration of her search for roots, a touching story of an international adoption she describes in Beyond The Third Door. Click to read several pages from her memoir.
To my question about what motivated her to write her story, Maria answers: "As I entered my thirties, I was struck with the desire to visit the orphanage where I spent my earliest years. I had no thoughts of finding family, I simply wanted to walk the streets of Patras, Greece, my original hometown. I found the orphanage, met the director, and was asked a question that forever changed my life: “Would you like to see your records?” There, on a legal document left with me in the baby receiver at the orphanage, I learned my mother’s full name. At that moment, I knew these events needed to be recorded, and my journaling began. That document provided the critical details that led to finding my birth mother.
I continued to journal as I visited my birth mother every few years. Each trip I arrived with a new list of questions for her. All these questions and answers were documented and eventually provided the backbone of my book. Quickly it became apparent that I didn’t just need to write this book, I HAD to write this book. It was not a wish or a desire, it was my destiny. The completion of Beyond the Third Door finally relieved me of the burden I undertook in 1984."
In the Sun and in the Rain aspires to bring you writing from many corners of the world, and introduce creative friends, who in the dark days of coronavirus, gift us with their creative work.
Feel free to share the Newsletter with your reading and writing community and friends who can also subscribe. Live long and prosper!
Best,
Sophia
Share Via: sophiakoudougiles.com
