Maryann Miller, Spunky Senior Author and Actress

Thanks to Morgan for inviting me to share my story here at Spunky Seniors. It has been such fun celebrating all the wonderful things writers have shared in previous posts, and I am honored to be included in such an inspiring group.  

When I was a little girl, my mother, sister and I would often go to the movie theatre a few blocks from our house. That was an outing that we all enjoyed, and I will date myself by admitting that we could see a double-feature and have popcorn for a quarter. My mother loved movies, and she passed that love on to me.

I can remember sitting in the dark and watching some of the great actresses like Joan Crawford, Doris Day, and Irene Dunn up on the big screen, keeping me spellbound. When the movies were over, I remember leaving the theatre and sometimes we would sing songs from the movies. Then I would go home to play movie star.

Like so many little girls, I flirted with the idea of growing up to become a famous actress, but in my teens and young adulthood, I chalked that up to childhood fantasy. I had too many strikes against me. I wasn't particularly attractive. I didn't have boobs to speak of. And I didn't know the first thing about acting.

Plus, when I tried out for a high school production I was put in the chorus, which is where all the kids who couldn't act were put. That clinched it for me. I was not destined to be an actor.

Fast forward many years later. I worked with a partner in the film business for a while, and we would hold acting workshops for theatre students in the Dallas area. I got to watch and learn and that childhood idea started to pester me again. I'd watch some of the actors play out a scene and think, "I want to do that."

Yet, I never could get brave and tell anyone.

Fast forward a few more years when I became the Theatre Director at the art center in our small community here in East Texas. All those tricks I learned about acting I put to use in helping others bring roles to life, but I still couldn't work up the courage to step on the stage.



Maryann in Mildred in Squabbles



Then, a few years ago, a good friend talked me into auditioning for a show at another community theatre. Her exact words were, "They need an old lady for a role." I didn't mind the comment. I knew I was an old lady. LOL



Maryann Miller as
 Martha Brewster



To my surprise, I got the role as Mildred in "Squabbles" and I had a jillion lines to learn. I was afraid on opening night that I would freeze, or do something else equally embarrassing, but I stepped out on the stage and became Mildred. What fun. And the audience seemed to think I did a first-rate job. 

Since then, I have had lead roles in several other shows, most recently as Martha Brewster in "Arsenic and Old Lace". The one good thing about being an old lady is I can play some of these roles and the make-up people don't have to add wrinkles or gray hair.

Like me, the heroine in my woman's novel, Play it Again, Sam, put her dreams on hold to raise a family. I'm glad we both got to pursue those dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Blurb:

Life as she knows it ceases to exist for Samantha Rutgers when her husband of twenty-plus years decides he no longer loves her. The challenges are myriad. Can she build a life without him? Will her daughter always blame her? Can she ever trust a man again?  And what is she going to do about sex?

Maryann Miller is an award-winning author of numerous books, screenplays and stage plays. In addition to Play It Again, Sam, she has written several other books. The latest, Open Season, is the first book in a new mystery series that features two women homicide detectives in Dallas. The second book in the series, Stalking Season, is under contract and will publish in November 2012. Miller has a suspense novel, One Small Victory, a young adult novel, Friends Forever, and a short story collection, The Wisdom of Ages, is also available as an e-book and paperback.

Website:  http://www.maryannwrites.com/

Blog:       http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maryann-Miller/295149340518119

Twitter:  @maryannwrites

Please leave a comment for Maryann to welcome her here at Spunky Senior Authors and Talents.

Spunky Senior Author, Kathryn Elizabeth Jones, Is On Hold at 29



Kathryn Elizabeth Jones



Getting Older But Feeling 29

Every year I turn 29 again, and people that know me have stopped asking me my age. They already know.

“So, you’re 29 again,” they say, or “you’re sure looking good for…29.”

The other day someone I didn’t know thought I was my daughter’s sister—my daughter’s almost 30. I told them that I’d just celebrated my 50^th birthday. I thought they were going to fall over.

I’m not sure how young I really look, but the idea of being 30 or even 35 thrills me to no end. And I share my feelings with anyone who will listen. And I mean anyone.



Breakfast on a cruise ship



The other day I was getting my hair cut. A new place was opening up and I was getting my hair cut for free! The lady in the chair opposite was groaning about her sorry life. “Can you believe I’m 32?” she said to the hair stylist.

“Wow,” I said, “you’re young!”

She looked at me as if I was crazy.

I said, “Well, I’m 50 and so I’d enjoy being 32.”

Her eyes grew wide. “You’re 50? I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it. I have four grand-children. They’re my bonus round.”

She smiled. “You don’t look 50.”

Was she telling me the truth? I will never be completely sure, but I love people like that; they’re my instant friends on facebook and I can hardly wait to invite them over to dinner.

 

Kathryn with her sisters last year on Girls Night Out

Sometimes I don’t like it that I’m 50. You get treated differently at job interviews if they’ve figured that part out. Young kids think your 80 and sometimes, quite frankly, I feel older than I used to. When I turned 50, my doctor said, “Well, I guess it’s time for that colonoscopy!”

I could have strangled her.

Sure, I like the idea of being younger, but I wouldn’t want to rehash all of my learning experiences. They hurt quite enough the first time around. I’m happy to be 50, most of the time. And I like the thought that it’s never too late to start a new business (I began a new business last year) or even write a second book.

And I’m fine at 29.

___________________________________

Bio: I am an avid reader and enjoy long walks in the mountains (as long as I don’t have to camp overnight). I LOVE chocolate in any form: candy bar, cookie, ice-cream, brownie… I started writing when I was pregnant with my first daughter (I have 3) and published my first nonfiction article 8 years later. My new book, “Conquering your Goliaths—A Parable of the Five Stones” has just been released at Amazon.

Blurb: David gathered 5 smooth stones to meet and defeat Goliath. What did these stones represent and how can you use them to conquer Goliaths in your own personal quests? Ms. Virginia Bean will show you how.

Travel with her on her own personal journey. See what she does. Learn how she grows. Discover what she becomes.

“Conquering your Goliaths—A Parable of the Five Stones” is for anyone desiring to travel beyond mediocrity, pain and fear. Learn of the great power within you, a power given to you from God, a power that must ultimately be unleashed to conquer the Goliaths in your own life. Come to an even deeper understanding of God and what he wants for you. Come…

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Your-Goliaths-Parable-Stones/dp/146990294X/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1327598164&sr=1-1-catcorr

Or my website: http://www.ariverofstones.com/conquering.html.

Celia Yeary, A Spunky, Busy, Senior Author With Radishes on Her Mind

The Night of the Radishes

I'll bet you're just dying to know what The Night of the Radishes is all about. Before I get there, though, I'd like to say I'm a Senior and proud of it. I don't even have to ask for a Senior discount anywhere--the sweet clerks just automatically give it to me.

As I gradually turned into a Senior, I learned to play golf, and while I'd love to tell you all about that adventure, many have already heard my story. Our traveling became the most exciting event we did about twice a year. We traveled back and forth over the ocean on several tours, took a few nice long, cruises, toured Canada a couple of times, and finally began to see the good ol' USA.

Then we became intrigued with Mexico and made four trips on a tour bus down into the interior of Mexico, where the area and the people are more like a foreign country than they are on the Texas-Mexico border. It was quiet down there, historic, quaint, beautiful, and charming. The people were always polite, and for the most part the villages and cities were quite clean.

Our last trip down there was three years ago at Christmas. Our anniversary is near Christmas, and so to celebrate our 50th we traveled by tour bus to Oaxaca, Mexico, a city of half a million set in the beautiful Sierra Madre Mountains.

On Christmas Eve, our tour guide took us to the center of Oaxaca to view the spectacular Night of the Radishes. She warned us, "Senoras and Senors, Oaxaca has one half a million residents, and tonight you will see all of them!" She laughed. Well, let me tell it, it was a crowd of epic proportions at the huge double squares, located corner to corner.

A contest was held to display creations carved completely from giant radishes. We crept along in the line to study each display. I was truly amazed. The winners would receive a cash award, and so there were many entries, all vying for that special prize. Oaxaca is a poor state for the most part.

In this photo, Mexican Policia were loading this gorgeous, specially made motorcycle someone had parked on the square. It broke no laws, but the police loaded it anyway. I asked Sophia, our guide what they were taking it. She said, they will present it to someone higher up as a gift. Aha.

As a Spunky Senior, I climbed a pyramid. I do admit it was not a tall pyramid, but at least I did it. The hard part was that the steps were very narrow, so that I had to turn my foot sideways, or just stand on my tip-toes. Also each step was about two feet tall. I really sort of crawled up, but at least I did it.

Thank you for joining me here today, and thank you, Morgan.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas  
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com http://www.celiayeary.com

http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com

Please welcome Celia Yeary to Spunky Senior Authors & Talents. Thanks for sharing with us today, Celia.

Spunky Senior Terry Palardy Doesn't Let MS Get Her Down



Terry Palardy



I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago, and love the page I read. I'm fairly new at blogging, having only started at the end of November - but am enjoying it, and invite you to view mine (link below). I'm not unfamiliar with technology, and everything I know I have learned primarily from my young students, and my son.



 

  

Terry Palardy, with son, Rob, and husband, Rick,
at Rob's Paramedic Graduation.

  Bless my son. Twenty years ago, I sat at the table of a faculty meeting, hearing the principal announce that we would be going on line, and would need a webmaster to host our school's page in the district’s new website. We all looked at each other blankly. After an awkward minute, the principal looked at me and said "Terry, would you be able to do this? … with your son's coaching, of course?"  My son, like many of his peers, was more than adept at computers, seeming intuitively to anticipate and grasp each new developmental change in technology. And so I began, with Rob's help. I deposited the stipend into his college fund account. We did that together for awhile, until another teacher with skills joined us, and eventually took that over.



Terry Palardy with Husband, Rick, at
an MS Walk Last Spring



I just retired this past June, after a thirty year career in public education. I would have taught longer, but a belated diagnosis of multiple sclerosis took me out two years earlier than I'd wished. I began my new career as a writer by gathering up essays that I'd written for years prior, and self-publishing a book. I next gathered up the many poems I'd written for family members and published another, and then another teaching collection, and then another poetry collection, and then a small town commentary collection, and then I was ready to write the story of my diagnosis.

With those steps behind me, I am ready to start writing now purely for the joy of writing, and am planning a few more books for this winter. I've been invited to be the featured author for our small town library's new venture, a Local Author's Program, and I'll be speaking to an audience in February, both about my books and about becoming a self-published author. 

I look forward to reading more of your blog, Morgan, and joining you here now and again.

Sincerely,

Terry

Visit me at:

and http://terrysthoughtsandthreads.blogspot.com www.beyondoldwindows.com 

I've written books about Teaching, Poetry, Georgetown and Multiple Sclerosis.

See my Author Page at Amazon, where I'm published under my full name:Terry Crawford Palardy -

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00580PJ9Y

Find medical links for MS at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Multiple-Sclerosis-an-Enigma/331324643544233

 

Please welcome Terry Crawford Palardy to Spunky Senior Authors and Talents!

Spunky Senior Liz Flaherty Sews Up Romances and Quilts



Liz Flaherty



Thanks so much for having me here. I never think of myself as “spunky,” but I do feel empowered by my age, my experience, the people and things I love, so maybe that’s the same thing.

I have a new book out. ONE MORE SUMMER, from Carina Press, is the book of my heart. Of the gazillion manuscripts I’ve started and the considerably fewer I’ve finished, it is the one I’ve never let go. Grace and Dillon are as real to me as nearly anyone I know. I hope they touch you in the same way. At the bottom of this blog, I’ll have buy links and a link to my website and to the site where I blog with some writer friends. There, that’s out of the way.

What do you say we talk about quilts?

When I retired from the post office in February, I made my plans public. I was going to write a lot—I have. I was going volunteer a lot—I haven’t. I was going to lose weight—I have. I was going to travel more—I have. And I was going to make a bed-size quilt for each of the Magnificent Seven, my grandkids.

Wait a minute, was I nuts? I didn’t even know how to make a quilt. While it was true I liked to sew, and hopefully I’d have a little more time, I certainly couldn’t…seven?

Well. I started easy, with a Brick Road in vibrant colors for my oldest granddaughter, got a little more intricate on each of the next three, then started the fifth. A Morning Star. I bought the fabric in a shop 200 miles away because when I looked at it, I thought of the 9-year-old who would get the next quilt. I bought a little extra fabric…you know, just in case.

The Morning Star has triangles. I never thought of triangles as being particularly evil once I finally passed geometry, but I have decided they’re really spawns of Satan. I read all kinds of books, tutorials, and blogs on how to cut and sew triangles so that voila!—they become beautiful star points. But actually triangles stretch. They go all catawampus just when you think you have them exactly right. They don’t know the meaning of the precise quarter-inch that seams in quilts are supposed to be. They are…well, I already said it—they’re just flat-out evil.

I had to cut seven million of them for the twin-size quilt I’m working on. The pattern said it was something like 254, but I’m sure that’s wrong. I worked on it through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the launch week of ONE MORE SUMMER. Unlike when I made the 9-year-old’s mother’s wedding dress, I didn’t resort to tears or wine…well, maybe a glass here and there, but my language did get a little shocking.

This week, I started sewing the blocks together. Oh, my. Those nasty little triangles really are starting to work out. The quilt’s going to look great. And even if it didn’t, that would be okay. That’s something I’ve learned in this short year of retirement, that “great” is relative. If an okay quilt is wrapped around a grandkid, it’s automatically great.

And I’ve learned that those quilts, no matter how easy—not that any of them have been easy for me—or difficult, claim places in the heart just like books do.

I hope you have stories, people, and things that fill the places in your heart, too. Here's the links for  ONE MORE SUMMER (I hope you like it) and where you can find me. Thanks for stopping by!

http://ebooks.carinapress.com/19C28077-E8B2-400A-ACBF-FAE0579EE2F0/10/134/en/Default.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-more-summer-liz-flaherty/1107412429

http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Summer-ebook/dp/B006BE6HAG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324908781&sr=8-1

I’d love to have you visit my website http://lizflaherty.com or http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ where I hang out with some of my best writer friends.

Spunky Morgan Mandel Tours About Forever Young: Blessing or Curse




Morgan Mandel Way Back When

  I'm a senior, therefore I'm old. My figure, my health, and memory aren't quite the same as they used to be. When I found a photo at home of what I used to look like, my husband even asked if it was me. Well, he knew me way back then, but when you see the same person day in and day out, it's hard to remember what they used to look like.

Sometimes I like being this old. Other times, I wish there were some way to turn back the clock. Such meanderings in my mind led me to write Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, where I allow a 55 year old to make the choice to take a daily pill to spin her back to 24 and stay there. Of course, all is not rosy when she makes her choice.

If you want to know what happens, this book is available on Kindle,Smashwords, and other ebook ventues. If you don't see it on Nook, it will be there shortly. It takes a few weeks for the channels to kick in.  Later it will go into print.



Forever Young: Blessing or Curse
by Morgan Mandel

 Today is the launch of my Blog Book Tour promoting my book, which is partly based on wishful thinking, but much more than that. If you'd like to come along to the next stop, it will be on Monday, January 9, at
http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/. The topic will be Them Bones, Them Bones!

My entire Blog Book Tour Schedule can be found in the sidebar at http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/.
I hope to see some of you follow along to one or more. Many senior topics will be discussed.

Thanks, Gang,
Morgan Mandel - http://www.morganmandel.com/
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/

Pioneers and Free Smocks Via Spunky Senior Lois Carroll

After living in North Dakota for eighteen years, Lois Carroll found it fun to research the hearty pioneers who settled that area.

Switching from her usual romantic suspense, her first historical novel

about them is titled Trail of Dreams.

It follows families moving from Philadelphia west, racing to arrive before the winter storms set in. The sequel coming out this spring is set in the Dakota Territory where they are establishing homes, and where the weather is only part of what they must battle to stay alive.

Available From Whiskey Creek Press: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=804

Trail of Dreams Print Book on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Dreams-Lois-Carroll/dp/1603137963/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323912594&sr=1-1

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Trail-of-Dreams-ebook/dp/B004I5C17S/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1323912594&sr=1-1

When she's not writing, you'll find Lois in her sewing room, headquarters for Sophie's Smocks, a service project she began last year. She makes feeding/craft smocks from cotton turtlenecks, adding a terry cloth applique on the front and a Velcro closure on the cut-open back. Sophie's Smocks, in sizes kid small to adult XXL, are free for children and adults with Angelman's Syndrome. The project is named after her granddaughter who has AS. She has mailed out 335 smocks to date to Angels around the world.

To order a free smock for an Angel in your life, send the size and complete mailing address to smocks@cox.net.

For more about Lois Carroll and her books, see http://loiscarrollbooks.com/