House of 49 Doors is here!
Thank you, friends, for your prayers!
As with any vast project finally completed despite the odds, a recap might hearten us all amid our current — and coming — ventures.
January 2016:
Note to self: Another book? Never. Dodge — no, shun . . .
- that ego trap
- that marathon of minutiae
- that +10 score on the poet pain scale
July 2022:
The email pings: an editor I admire.
“Dear Laurie:
I would be pleased to review another manuscript.”
Oh dear. No matter our field of endeavor, whenever we risk nurturing a new “brainchild,” insecurities clamor. Who am I to try? Or, Too little, too late. Too old. Too costly. (Read, Get out while you can.)
“Send it on when you’re ready.”
Did I have a book’s-worth of poems in me? Not likely. I felt steamrolled by politics, aging, loved ones in crisis, shocking weather, the state of my floors . . .
I missed the good ole days.
Hang on . . . I could resurrect the quasi-magical house of my childhood. The one with the turquoise door. Coax out my kid-self.
Would she talk on the page?
July 2022 – January 2024:
She did. As if awaiting my summons.
I named her Kid Larkin.
Eldergirl, sixty years her senior, replied. At times, the two voices entwined, mutually probing memory’s alchemy.
If poetry seems alarming, be not dismayed. House of 49 Doors unfolds like a story. Or a memoir. (If it didn’t sound so daft, I’d call it a novel-ish poemoir.)
A lot of words did NOT make the cut. The ones that did bear witness to wonder . . . threaded within and around a trauma I’d hoped to never relive.
Which sounds grim. Revived delights abound. The house speaks, with a shapely, three-story voice. The backyard muskrat expounds on family life. A menacing garfish models self-esteem. Even a maligned vesper bat chimes in via echolocation.
Turns out they all knew things I needed to read . . . so I could heal.
Most of the poems locate themselves on the premises or in beloved rooms. Hence, my title:
My intrepid sister located the circa-1950s photo of our house, taken by our long-ago neighbor, Lester Smith. She also double-checked the door count with me. (Try this with a sibling! Decant the memories . . .) Enhanced by masterful artist, Shannon Carter, the cover beautifully captures the enigma of shadows and shelter.
To revisit three years in that wondrous house made me willing to look when Kid Larkin insisted on excavating a family secret: the story of my childhood hero, beloved Uncle Dunkel, an army vet whose inborn joie d’vivre valiantly resisted his post-war death wish . . .
Until it didn’t.
And I was told too much, then told to keep it secret.
Sixty years later, Eldergirl finally let herself feel emotions long-denied. Such are the cathartic gifts of time, distance, grace. Art.
Is this part of putting one’s house in order?
Friends, I have glimpsed God’s interventions as never before.
“New every morning,” Dreamer recently quipped, quoting Lamentations.
In my head, though, I heard Kid Larkin: Shazam! YOU are new every morning.
You. Me. Each of us an ever-glowing, work-in-promise.
Paul’s verb choice in Ephesians 5:18b can be translated, “Be ye, being filled with the Spirit.”
So how about Be ye, being . . . made new?
Amid devastation there moves an unforeseen grace: the Great Mystery at work — even among the skeletons in our closets.
Is there a “next endeavor” we’re resisting?
Dare we take on a project too big for us?
Years ago, Oliver Wendell Holmes warned, “Many people die with their music still in them.”
Some will do best within a controlled sphere: perhaps in the wings, at work, or privately, in transit, or at home. Some will go public. It’s costly to translate part of oneself into a separate entity, then send it forth. We face evaluation by strangers. No matter the venue, the creator’s heart . . . still breakable. The proffered work . . . un-take-back-able.
Risky.
BUT it’s (still) a new year. You are newly new.
Friends, how will you put your house in order?
February 28, 2024:
House of 49 Doors published Leap Day Eve. Which seems fitting.
It still makes me grin. And cry. It helped me heal. It might help others. That’s why I mention it. Should you wish to explore it further, there’s currently a 40% discount available only from my publisher. Here’s the link. Click BUY, Select your country, Click add coupon,” type in DOORS. https://wipfandstock.com/9798385208067/house-of-49-doors/
And here’s the link on Amazon.
Laurie, how wonderful. Your life in poetry. It’s beautiful. Congratulations on your book. I can’t wait to read it. I love the cover and the title and just everything.
Thank you, sister-wordsmith and friend, for rejoicing with me! It has been a deeply healing project. Now I hope it offers encouragement and delight to others.
May your Holy Week be greatly blessed!
Dear Laurie ~ my warm and relatable congratulations on your poetic memoir of grace. Mine waits within yet. Not in poetry but in the way the Lord and I write. I just ordered a copy of your book from your publisher. Will be a gift to embrace upon receipt ♥ I look forward to reading it, knowing it will stir yet more. The Lord’s timing is impeccable ~ sometimes Holy Spirit feels like my personal Woody Woodpecker 🙂 In the perfect faithfulness of God’s timing. Meanwhile, I will engage yours in spirit.
Dear Nancy, thank you for these elegant and generous words about the book! I am so grateful you’ve ordered a copy and pray the timing of heaven’s nudge (or should I say the “feathered tap-tap-tap”?) gently “stirs” what is needful, accomplishing further goodness God envisions for you, within you, and through you. I’ve been bowled over by the lengths traveled by the Spirit to enable reclamation and forgiveness. It’s deeply good to feel increasingly freed from an old, old sorrow. Wishing you rich times of remembrance and writing and prayer . . .
Thank you and so be it ♥
I’ve now read this again.
First read last week was a lot to take in.
Almost resonate overload.
I knew I could complicate in the comparison.
Noted to go back.
Your email yesterday re: Aiden reminded me to do so.
One resonate at a time: “Turns out they all knew things I needed to read . . . so I could heal.”
Book ordered.
Will revisit again.
Thank you.
Dear Rick, thank you for your thoughtful words. And many thanks for ordering a copy of the book! I hope it will speak to you. I have been sobered and amazed, over the long months, at the quiet and unexpected ways God has sifted through memory’s rubble on my behalf, caring minutely and tenderly about childhood impressions and stories I told myself at the time about what various circumstances meant. What infinite patience shown toward a hurting soul!
It has been deeply good, if somewhat painful, to yield.
And since then, the process continues as I see flashes of my more youthful self reappear, from time to time. I am so grateful!
minutely… “minutes.” 🙂😉
Oh, clever you, to notice that! And now I get to announce Dreamer nailed a part in the minutes song, “Seasons of Love”! I heard his group practice together for the first time last night.
AND, you remind me to cherish the minutes today . . .
Congratulations on your new book, Laurie! You are a true poet in your poetry, in your prose, and in life. Your words are encouraging and freeing: “You. Me. Each of us an ever-glowing, work-in-promise.” And with just the right touch of realism: “It’s costly to translate part of oneself into a separate entity, then send it forth. We face evaluation by strangers. No matter the venue, the creator’s heart . . . still breakable. The proffered work . . . un-take-back-able.
Risky.”
Many thanks to you!
April, thank you with all my heart! You’ve risk-walked this public pathway of writing far longer — and more prolifically —than I. Thank you for all the ways you radiate Light. Your congratulations mean the world, thank you!
Congratulations, Laurie! I’m thrilled you embarked on the long journey of creating another poetry collection. Also, congratulations for creating a new genre: the novel-ish poem-oir! LOVE it! / Thank you for the lovely encouragement: “Each of us an ever-glowing, work-in-promise.” It’s true! Thanks to the Light of Jesus and the untiring work of the Holy Spirit within, even at my age I can still glow! And I’m still a work-in-promise. Thank you, Laurie!
You are radiant, my friend. Ageless as you radiate faith and hope. Thank you fir rejoicing with me! It has been a long road of intense endeavor. My author copies arrived today. Amazing to hold the finished project in my hand!
Congratulations on your new “novel-ish poem-oir” collection, my friend! I just ordered my copy and so look forward to the day it arrives here at my door. 🙂
Dear Bethany, thank you! I hope it exceeds your expectations. Some of it was really fun to write; other parts, pretty demanding. But it is wonderful to feel more in touch with my youthful self. She continues to present her viewpoint at key moments!
“She continues to present her viewpoint at key moments!” Sounds insightful and intriguing. Glad you were able to pen some of these ideas into pieces of poetry, my friend.
You know how fiction writers sometimes mention waking up with their characters inside their heads already holding a conversation? It might be similar. Certainly, surprising. I kind of like it. It opens me to new outlooks. Seems smart to keep Kid Larkin “on call”!
: )
Absolutely! What a fascinating and helpful perspective to have nearby. 🙂 I’m so glad I’m getting to read your book, Laurie. I am taking my time as I go through and just love your use of language. 🙂
Bethany, it reminds me of stories I’ve heard about novelists who sometimes wake up to a conversation already going on in their head . . . between their characters! . . . then having to play catch-up so as to get it all down on paper (or screen).
Your support is, and has been, a delightful gift to me, friend, again and again. As well as your writing. Thank you!
Hi Laurie-
I’m so excited to hear you published another book! I just put in my order and am excited to receive it. Your entries always make me smile and give me good perspective about life. I miss seeing you! I’m so grateful for the years that I had with you in Bible Study. You helped feed me spiritually when I was a mother of young children. I’m grateful to know you!
Dear Linda, I miss seeing you! Those were wonderful years shared. You brought such vivid inquiry, energy, and joy to our gatherings. Thank you for letting me know you’ve found encouragement. And then those dear “small children,” goodness, are they moving toward junior high now? Wishing every blessing on you and your family, friend! Thank you for buying a book!!
Oh goodness Laurie, yours and Susan’s books launched nearly back-to-back.!
This email post languished in my spam folder and I never saw it until today. Thank goodness I thought to check!
I am fascinated with this story, and we’ll get to ordering right away.
How graciously good of our God to bring healing to places even at this stage of the game… and always through writing down the words that he brings to the surface.
You are an inspiration my friend.
Both books were published Leap Day Eve. Isn’t that wild? I’m behind in getting the news out as I’ve been slammed with a monster cold/flu bug. Ugh. (I’m wearing a stocking cap and wool socks as I type, trying to stay warm!)
I’m so grateful you’ve ordered a copy, thank you, my friend! Let me know what you think?
Oh Laurie! I almost didn’t recognize your old house without its turquoise door brightly shining your mom’s spirit. And then there’s the attic window… I’m ordering several copies as I know I will gift it (not wanting to give up my own copy). Holding you in my heart as I read. Love you dearly, Brave Soul. Lynn
Dear Lynn, had I known they would use the mid-century B&W photo I sent them, I would’ve requested the door paint adjustment. How bold she was! The photo was taken by Peter Smith’s dad, perhaps when the house went up for sale? So grateful to his big sister Cheryl for granting position.
Goodness, how many times did we walk each other home, and then back the other way, unwilling for time together to end!
I am teary with thanks, friend, for all your encouragement means to me today, and always has.
Dearest Laurie!
A hearty congratulations on your new release, a “poetroir” of heretofore untold secrets. Writing itself is done in secret and one never knows where the pen will probe and prod and purge and point. But for you, it pointed (God pointed) in your saying yes to write, to heal, to share. I know I will be grateful having read and been blessed by you yet again. I loved your first poetry volume. I’d comment more, but I’ve not been well (another reason I’ve not commented more recently–but I do read your blog faithfully). Sending you soooo much joy!!! A cheerful heart on behalf of a dear author friend and my favorite contemporary blogger, though, is surely good medicine pour moi. xo Lynn
Oh Lynn, I’m so sorry the health issues persist. Thank you for sharing your joy and cheer. In the midst of it all. And always, your wisdom and generosity. May relief come swiftly, sister-writer. And may it be lasting. May your delight for me reflect back on you. What was it Solomon said? “[S]he who refreshes others refreshes [her]self.” Yes.
I much prefer “poetroir” to poemoir, which now sounds, and even looks, like a mouth full of marbles!
Love to you, and continuing prayers for health!
Thank you for that returned refreshment, dearest Laurie. I needed a splash! It’s been a long, tough siege (nearly 4 yrs now, daily). I smiled about that poetroir, b/c I thought that is what you had written! I’m not thinking clearly, and I love poemoir. Makes more sense! All the best on this beautiful, new tome! xo L
Oh Lynn, what an ordeal! Lifting you today as gently as I know how to and asking for ease and equilibrium . . . en route to restoration. Amen
I love this book. You will adore Larkin. Eldergirl oversees and finds within what is unbreakable in our broken world. We all need this.
I could not have written this book without you, my friend. Thank you with all my heart.