Inspiration and encouragement for your own personal journey of awakening …
I recently received links to a couple of remarkable documents from a Palestinian friend who goes back to my time in Cyprus. I described my harrowing last days there in The Lullaby Illusion.
In addition to the linked photos, I have posted photos given to me by a UN employee. Because of its historical significance, I have created a page instead of a blog post: More firsthand accounts of the Cyprus invasion, July 1974.
Cyprus was an awakening for me on many levels. I lost everything I owned, escaped with the clothes on my back, and felt grateful to be alive. Others weren’t so lucky.
Cyprus taught me that doomsday can happen anywhere, at any time — a natural disaster, a financial disaster, the loss of a home. The important thing is to be aware and plan, so that your assets don’t all sit in one basket under one government.
MEMOIR MADNESS-ALL 99p/99c!!!!!
Some of our authors have got together to bring you #memoirmadness. All these WLM books are reduced this week to just 99p/99c, plus the authors of these memoirs will be taking part in interviews on twitter and Facebook. They will be on twitter at 7.30pm UK time today answering questions using the #memoirmadness and the Facebook event is on Tuesday evening. Click this link (the blue writing) to check out all the books on offer and all the links to buy are on there-just click the relevant book cover/s.
http://www.memoirmadness.moonfruit.com/
Then click the picture link for info about the memoir madness event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1688712111400723/
Win a 1st Edition, paperback copy of THE LULLABY ILLUSION!
THREE COPIES TO BE WON. The giveaway is operating in the following countries: US, CA, GB, AU, FR and NZ. The closing date for entries is Monday, February 15th. Enter now and have a go! GOOD LUCK!
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try” – Dr. Seuss
As a kid I loved things that were different, out of the ordinary; unpredictable rhyme, unpredictable reason, things that flowed by chance, and anything that stirred my wild imagination.
I remember the day at the Tucson Public Library when I first discovered a book called “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” Published in 1937, the story turned 77 this year. It’s about a boy who wants to impress his father with an interesting account of what happens on his way home from school. So instead of seeing the same boring old horse and wagon on Mulberry Street, the boy imagines a zebra pulling the wagon. Then as his imagination kicks in and runs wild, the zebra morphs into a reindeer, the wagon becomes a golden chariot, and then magically changes into a fancy sleigh.
From that day forward, the different rhythmic lines in Dr Seuss’ children’s books stirred my imagination again and again. I enjoyed making up songs and stories; but I had dyslexia and my language skills needed help. When I tried to speak, my words got all mixed up and people laughed at me. My dad nicknamed me ‘Dutch’ because it sounded like I was trying to speak a foreign language.
My mother worked long hours teaching me how to read and write by putting the letters and sounds together in word puzzle games. By the time I was in the fourth grade, I was reading, writing, and telling stories that others understood. I wrote a short story about my dog Brownie and his bad liver breath, and how I loved him in spite of his bad breath. The story won first place in a competition, giving me confidence to keep writing.
I recently received a fun note from a book reviewer, and it got me thinking about thinking … left and right, low and high. Rhonda, the reviewer wrote, “It was a different reading experience, but then I love different.”
I smiled at the thought. My writing style is different. It is unique.
Check out her review of “The Lullaby Illusion” on her unique blog site.
The Miami International Book Fair 2014 was great fun! Even in the rain. Not only did I receive a gold medal, BEST Non-Fiction — Travel, for The Lullaby Illusion; I also met other authors and readers, and made several new friends at the Readers Favorite 2014 Awards ceremony in Miami on 22 Nov 2014.
My husband, Doug DuBosque, traveled with me. We normally explore new cities aboard a sightseeing tour bus but with no time to spare we instead examined the cosmopolitan city loop by Tri-Rail and rode the Metro to and from our hotel. Riding high above the city streets, we saw iconic buildings and monuments. Quite impressive!
We enjoyed two delightful days visiting with Doug’s sister and her daughter (Joanne and Amanda). From their hotel room, we had an awesome view of the river and bay. Through fits of laughter, we ordered an Uber to take us to South Beach for lunch. This cool new concept of a ride sharing service in a private car was nice to experience.
As we strolled alongside the palm trees and beach, we saw the whackiest and best characters that South Beach has to offer and a variety of colored buildings; reflecting the rich history of American, European, and Caribbean influences.
Awaiting our bus back to the hotel, we took a selfie of the four of us in the pouring rain to remind that Miami is fun; rain or shine.
Swinging is pure joy! As a kid, I loved to swing. If I saw a swing, I’d run for it, sit on it, kick off with my feet, and get the momentum going until I knew I was touching the sky. The higher I’d go, the better it felt. Swinging higher, I could feel the breeze pat my face and the wind whip my long braids about as I soared skyward. I would try to swing so high that I would fly over the top. Never did; but I loved that exhilarating feeling of taking off, leaving the ground behind, and flying high. Swinging while standing up was a whole other over the rainbow, flying high adventure. That’s when I would burst into song, singing my favorite, “Would you like to swing on a star?” Felt like I was doing just that. Whee! Pure glee!
To this day, I can’t resist having a good swing to relax and loose myself to that feeling of joy–letting go of everything that holds me back. Unfortunately, the old swing set (shown above) had a broken seat so I wasn’t able to swing on it when we visited our friend Jerry on his farm for a typical Uruguan asado last weekend. So I sat on a chair nearby instead and imagined swinging to my heart’s content. I swung so high, I touched the sky.
Over the years, I’ve been interviewed about my writing, my books, and life in general. A couple of my favorite questions remind me of why I like to swing and imagine.
Who were you as a child? (Were you the shy, demure child, or did you always have that adventurous spirit)?
Shy? Never. More of a tomboy type. Always adventurous, I had a wild imagination. I was the second child born into a family of eight children. My father became a Pentecostal preacher months after I was born (was I to blame?) and my family moved from Los Angeles, California to Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and then to Arizona.
Most of my childhood was spent in Tucson, Arizona. I used to sit out on a hot rock in the desert with my dog and wait for the space ship to pick us up. I was convinced they had left me with the wrong family.
If you were an animal in a zoo, what would you be and why?
An orangutan. They’re gentle and quiet, and swing when they get bored. It would be a good way to study people and observe their strange behaviors.
If you were an animal in a zoo, what would you be and why?
Savannah Mae of BLOGCRITICS.ORG recently interviewed me about my new book, The Lullaby Illusion.
Her questions were thought-provoking and took me back to my childhood reminding me of why I became a writer.
Susan, I’ve been perusing the various websites and web-pages of yours and I have to say that you have lived an extraordinary life. If you don’t mind though, I’d like to start this interview a bit further back by asking you about your childhood. Who were you as a child? (Were you the shy, demure child, or did you always have that adventurous spirit)?
by Susan Joyce
New book details the harrowing personal journey of a young
American woman facing seemingly insurmountable situations while living in the Middle East and Europe. After many miscarriages and the loss of a child in childbirth on the island of Cyprus, Susan seeks solace by creating art and recording her vivid dreams. Through difficult life changes—Cyprus’s bloody coup and war in 1974, a rescue from a sinking ship in the Indian Ocean, learning
of her husband’s secret life, and surviving his deadly assault in Belgium, she discovers her “ticking clock” is not the child she fails to produce, but rather her creative potential.
Following her vivid dreams and intuition, she successfully reinvents herself as an artist and writer. From beginning to end, Susan Joyce reminds us of the stream of awareness that flows through all of us.
Early reader reviews show it resonates universally with men and women:
A hell of a tale…
— Mark Mercer, Writer
Amid the gripping account of her final days living in Cyprus as war broke out and bullets flew past, what moved me most was Susan’s spirit through the difficulties life throws at her. This true story gives honest insight into the complex emotional turmoil we all experience for various reasons, and shows how it is always possible to see the positive and build our life afresh exactly as we choose to live; not to long for what might have been. An uplifting, inspiring and triumphant story.
— Jennifer Barclay, Author, Falling in Honey
…like riding the roller coaster of life, exciting and engrossing, funny and sad. A real page turner. I was sorry to read “The End.”
— Isabel Saltonstall, Editor
Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Powell’s, other online sellers and better bookstores.
My life was shattered by the coup in Cyprus on 15 July 1974, followed five days later by the Turkish invasion on 20 July 1974. Thousands of lives were drastically changed forever by the atrocities, including
foreigners who happened to live there. Of which I was one. The writing was on the wall then. Because of the island’s strategic location, big powers continue to fight to control it.
The Bank of Cyprus was forced to absorb the insolvent Laiki Bank as part of the international rescue plan.