Cindy on April 30th, 2008
Maybe it’s a bit early to think about Father’s Day, but why wait until June to celebrate the most important men in our lives?James di Properzio and Jennifer Margulis have given every new father a wonderful present. The Baby Bonding Book for Dads (Willow Creek Press; $15.95) contains 20 short essays covering everything a first-time dad needs to know, from the importance of skin-to-skin contact (including “baby wrestling”) to the lifelong benefits of reading aloud. This is a handbook after my own heart, emphasizing the ordinary moments and sweet epiphanies of daily parenthood.
Margulis and di Properzio are married and have three kids of their own — which partly explains why their affection for children shines through every essay in the book. “Bonding with a baby or small child is about the small moments that you spend together, looking at each other, talking, taking walks. It’s not something that happens instantly,” they explain in the book’s preface. While the text is instructive, it’s also entertaining and accessible — and can be read between naps. Illustrating the text, Christopher Briscoe’s beautiful black-and-white photos of adorable babies and handsome dads will surely melt your heart. Few books are available on this topic, so this is a welcome addition to your parenting library, and an absolutely perfect gift for new dads and fathers-to-be, anytime. – CL
Cindy on April 24th, 2008
Visiting beautiful downtown Traverse City this week, I was happy to discover that Writing Home, my collection of essays on home and family life, is now available at Horizon Books, my favorite independent bookstore in northern Michigan. For a brief lapse last year, Writing Home was only available online, but is now being distributed to bookstores by Wayne State University Press. Writing Home has been in print for nearly three years, so I’m especially pleased that it’s enjoying a long “shelf life.” It’s also available at most Borders and Barnes and Noble locations, or can be special ordered. Proceeds from the sales of new copies are donated at holiday time to homeless shelters in Oakland County. — CL
Cindy on April 8th, 2008
âHow vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.ââHenry David Thoreau
It’s a little warmer outside, and I’m so ready to get out from behind this desk. After a long winter — endless months spent staring at my computer screen — I feel like a zombie. I get weird and unhappy when I do nothing but write. Or think about writing. I need balance in my life.
Many writing teachers have told me that the only way to become a real writer is to make deadlines and stick to them. This is very good advice. Authors have a reputation for being quirky or unpredictable — but the wildly successful ones aren’t quitters. They persevere. In fact, I’ve met a few who work so hard that they haven’t met their neighbors. Their world is populated only by agents, editors, publishers, and other imaginary characters.
But the solitary creative life â the tortured Poe brooding at his desk — is too one-dimensional for me. I believe you run out of air, not to mention ideas, if you lock yourself in a cabin or a garret and bleed on your keyboard until dinnertime. I don’t believe it’s possible to be an interesting writer (or person) unless you’ve got a real life — a life that offers up a wide variety of experience along with little glimmers of insight.
The happiest people I know lead three-dimensional lives, even if they’re not particularly adventurous. They don’t obsess over their careers, and seem to have gotten over themselves. They volunteer at the hospital, plant tomatoes, straighten their toolboxes, and trek through suburban jungles on the way to the post office. They raise children or Abyssinian cats. Some care for aging parents when they’re not working at the bank. Others rise early to ride mountain bikes or photograph morning glories.
As Rainer Maria Rilke told us in Letters to a Young Poet, even the most ordinary activity shimmers with poetry or story potential. But you have to leave your desk to make that discovery. So take a break from organizing paragraphs. Stop obsessing over plot and punctuation. Turn off the computer, grab your notebook, and tour a different neighborhood. Observe the zoology at a local park. Or if you’ve got the time and the budget, book your dream trip to Ohio Amish Country or Paris, France. Do everything you can to squeeze the juice out of your life, then come home and tell us what you’ve learned. — Cindy La Ferle
Cindy on March 12th, 2008
While I’ve always been careful not to push my son in the direction of my journalism career, I discovered several years ago that printer’s ink runs in his blood, too. As soon as he turned 12, the kid begged to have his own newspaper route. My essay on the topic of kids and work — “Life lessons on the paper trail” — currently runs in the March 2008 issue of MetroParent. – CL
Cindy on March 10th, 2008
There’s snow falling as I type this — but spring officially begins in less than two weeks. And spring is synonymous with home improvement. Whether you’re inspired to knock down a wall or two, or simply update your bathroom’s historic plumbing, you might want to read “Zen and Remodeling,” my newest essay in Strut magazine’s annual “Home Issue,” now on the stands. –CL
Maybe it’s a bit early to think about Father’s Day, but why wait until June to celebrate the most important men in our lives?James di Properzio and Jennifer Margulis have given every new father a wonderful present. The Baby Bonding Book for Dads (Willow Creek Press; $15.95) contains 20 short essays covering everything a first-time dad needs to know, from the importance of skin-to-skin contact (including “baby wrestling”) to the lifelong benefits of reading aloud. This is a handbook after my own heart, emphasizing the ordinary moments and sweet epiphanies of daily parenthood.
