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Publisher:
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Release
Date: 2002 |
ISBN:
0971477514 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Trade Paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Nonfiction / Writing / Inspiration / Self-Help |
Reviewer:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson |
Reviewer
Notes: More Info Link: http://www.NAWW.org
Reviewer Carolyn Howard-Johnson
is the author of This is the Place and Harkening:
A Collection of Stories Remembered |
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Feminine
Writes
National Association of Women Writers
By Compiled
by Sheri McConnell
Edited by Angel Brown and Julie Ann Halick
Women, Wisdom and Writing
Women Writers Bare Souls,
Share Knowledge for Other Writers
The
three big W's: Women, Wisdom and Writing. An apt subtitle for Feminine
Writes, a kind of writing genre all its own.
Compiled by Sheri' McConnell, president
and founder of the National Association of Women Writers, this book
is a little of many things. This could be the kiss-of-death for
a book, the path to self-destruction, but in this case it works
very well. The first five chapters are composed of inspirational
works culled from essays by members of NAWW-a huge organization
that is growing every day. Covering subjects like "The Identity
of a Woman" and "Passion and Creativity", they appear
in this book by invitation and Sheri' has been careful to include
only the best. These are lovely pieces that should be read by any
writer, whether she journals only for her own needs, is a hard-working
reporter or writes creatively. They may be read one-by-one and savored
or devoured nonstop. Intended for women, many would be of value
to men.
The second section is designed to
give a writer experience but also to "Ignite the Woman Writer's
Soul."
Section three is all (or almost all)
about the practical. It answers 25 commonly-asked questions about
the writing life. A woman writer may find something here that she
had thought to ask but never had, or a new slant on an answer that
she long thought she had the answer to.
At the end is a "Directory of
Wisdom." There is a surprise here that I shall not reveal.
It may be sufficient to say that wisdom does not always spring from
expected sources.
Feminine Writes, edited by
Angel Brown and Julie Ann Halick, is available at no cost to writers
who choose to become a member of NAWW, along with many other perks.
Or it may be ordered on Amazon with the rest of this spring's reading.
I highly recommend this book. It is,
in part, a mass memoir. Women share their innermost selves with
other writers. It is a workbook extraordinaire. All in all, it is
a book full of camaraderie. If I used a star system for rating,
I would wave a flag full of them for Feminine Writes. A pretty
pink flag, for women writers everywhere.
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