Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for our family, our health and my memoir. Earlier this year, Adelaide Books, an independent New York firm, published “The View from a Midwest Ferris Wheel.” It’s available from Amazon in Kindle and paperback. If anyone wants to buy a signed copy, stop by my house or email me at DitzlerLTD@aol.com.
I spent ten years composing the story of our seven-year courtship in the fifties. I attended workshops to learn to write creative nonfiction, a style similar to a novel. I’d been a freelance journalist submitting newspaper and magazine articles since 1969, but never written a book. I had my mother’s diaries to remind me what happened during those years and stir my memories. I also visited area libraries to read old newspaper accounts of events. I joined writers’ groups that gave me camaraderie and constructive criticism.
When I finished the manuscript, I attended workshops to learn to write a book proposal for publishers. I expected to send multiple submissions, but I started with the one a couple writer friends recommended. The editor, Stevan V. Nikolic, asked to see the entire book and then offered a contract. I was amazed and delighted.
I didn’t realize Ken and I are a part of history until five years ago when we attended the Fireside Dinner Theater at Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. We walked into the building with a busload of high school students from La Crosse. After a delicious meal, we enjoyed a portrayal of The Million Dollar Quartet including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. The four rocked and rolled like they did in the ’50s. For the students, it was a music lesson from the ‘old days’; for us, reliving yesterday.
What are you thankful for?