Author Archives: mfrazeradmin

The Great Endnote Nightmare

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I have been entering footnotes for David’s book for the past several days. I hope I never have to do this again! It is a most impossible task. Enough to drive anyone crazy.

Actually, these are endnotes (note: it’s one word, not two), not footnotes. I have learned the difference, adding to my writing knowledge. Footnotes are found at the bottom of a page. Endnotes are found in the back of the book. Most of these endnotes contain information that was obtained through the internet. Therefore, I have to reference these, which is nothing less than a nightmare.

I knew I needed to check each internet reference to make sure the endnotes were accurate. Many were not, even though my husband labored to copy them down carefully. Just leave out a period or put a capital letter instead of a small one and you never find the site. His book contains about two hundred endnotes, each one to be researched and carefully copied onto the page. Every of the thirty-five chapters of his book has an average of six endnotes. This can cause a sane woman to tear her hair out!

After entering the endnotes for a chapter, I would be in such a state that only madly devouring some chocolate could cure me!

I have a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style next to the computer. I learned that for a citation from a book, the endnote is written one way. For a citation from a newspaper, it’s another way. This gets italicized. That is in quotes. But not always. A citation from a website is written still another way. Definitely a cause for desperately seeking chocolate.

I learned that Op-Ed, means it’s an article from the editorial page of a newspaper.Of course I had to look up how to write Op-Ed. Naturally I wrote it the wrong way and had to scroll back through the text changing all the op. ed.s  and op-ed’s to Op-Ed. Then there’s the Ed Page. To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize, That is the Question. I’m still researching that one. No luck so far. However, whatever I put down, you can bet the editor will tell me I have to write it a different way.

Even though I have a Masters Degree in Counseling, even though I graduated in the year 2000, even though I wrote gazillions of papers in graduate school, almost all of them with footnotes, I still had to research how to write an endnote. Footnotes or endnotes for a book differ from those for a research paper.

The world of footnotes and endnotes is one I do not ever wish to enter again! Now where did I put that chocolate bar?

Send Me Your Story

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When I tell people that I wrote a book of touched-by-an-angel stories, I’ve often heard them say, “I have a story that could have been in your book.” So, I decided to write a sequel to WHEN ANGELS CALL YOUR NAME. If you have an idea for a title, I’ll entertain all suggestions.

I am amazed at the number of people who have told me that they, too, have experienced unusual coincidences or small miracles. Little miracles happen all the time. Some of us are aware that something unusual and beautiful just happened. Others brush it off and go on with their life, forgetting the experience. Those who have been touched by an angel never forget.

What kind of experience is it? For example, you drive by an accident and know that you could possibly have been in it, except that you had to go back to pick up your car keys that were left on the kitchen counter. That small delay, prevented you from being involved in the pile-up. You look up and send a silent thank-you to those who watch over you from above.

In my book, When Angels Call Your Name, I wrote the story of a man named Roy who was underwater for twenty minutes and lived to tell me his story. It happened one day in April when he and his friend, Mike took their new canoe for a test run on a beautiful lake in Wyoming. Their joy at owning a new canoe turned into a nightmare.

Send me your story of an unusual, amazing, or beautiful touched-by-an-angel experience, and pass along my request to a friend who might also have a story that could be in this sequel.  Send it to: mfrazer117@gmail.com. as soon as possible!

Try Writing a Memoir

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Everyone has a book inside waiting to be released. Authors are people who are brave enough to put their words on paper. Writing a book isn’t easy but it’s not impossible, either. An easy way to begin is to write about a subject you know. Write about yourself! Tell about the funny, sad, amazing, or touching incidents in your life. Just write. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or how it will sound to others. Just do it. Then you can go back and correct the errors. After that, once a week or more often, add another page or two. Slowly build your memoir. The more you write, the easier it gets.

Now think of a title for your memoir. It could be as simple as “My Memoir.” At some point you will realize it’s becoming easier to think of what to write. You could start with the day you were born, or just write about an incident in your life and later organize the incidents into chapters. You can create categories such as Early Childhood, High School Days, Marriage, and so on. Find a few pictures to include, like the one when you were four years old. Learn how to download them into the memoir. The more pictures, the better, but be sure to include captions for them.

When you are finished, reread what you wrote looking for errors. Then add more pictures with captions, and titles for chapters. You did group your stories into chapters, didn’t you?

Now design a cover and go to Kinkos, print and bind your book, and make several copies. The book will be an excellent gift for a family member or friend. Above all, have fun with this project.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

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My goal is to finish my third book this year. It is a biography of an entrepreneur who has had a number of businesses, all successful, and has just started a new venture at age 84! This guy has had some incredible adventures. I have been interviewing him for several months, taping his stories and am busy with the tedious work of transcribing them, phrase by phrase. I know there must be an easier way to do this, but it works for me. I can’t wait for you to read some of his stories!

I have several books lined up which I need to finish…”miles to go before I sleep”… therefore, I want to remain healthy enough, and have plenty of time to finish my work. I wish I had started sooner, but I didn’t know I had so many books in my head.

Well, it’s January, a new year, like a fresh clean page on which to write. This year I decided I didn’t want to make any resolutions…except one: to create a better lifestyle. This means looking for ways to eat better, incentives to exercise more, thus living healthier.

In order to exercise more, I enrolled in a Zumba class. If I can roll out of bed early enough to be at the 7:45 am class, It should be a fun experience. Hopefully, the Charley Horse I will experience after the first class won’t be too bad. I also am taking Tai Chi and learning how to coordinate the arm and leg movements, a Chinese ballet somewhat akin to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

It should be an interesting year. What do you hope your year will be like?

Pay It Forward

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I saw an interview of Chelsea Clinton last night on a new NBC program, “Rock Center.” She told how she has successfully avoided the limelight for so long but she is now back in the public eye. Chelsea’s grandmother passed away a few months ago, but she gave Chelsea one important lesson not long before she passed away. She said, “It’s not what has happened to you, but what you do with what has happened to you.” Her grandmother told her that she is Chelsea Clinton and it is time she used that name to help others. So now Chelsea has shed her desire for privacy and is bringing inspirational stories to the television program as a new reporter on Rock Center.

No matter what has happened to you, what hand you’re dealt, do something positive with it. Help someone else in that position. Be supportive. Be there for her or him. You’ve gone through it. You came out of it OK. Let them know, they can, too.

It is time to give back and Pay It Forward. Think of a way, this time of year, to give something to others: your time, a small gift, an offer to help, a letter by snail mail telling someone how much you love-appreciate-miss them-whatever. This is the season of giving. Give from your heart and you will benefit just as much as the other person.

 

Memories

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All my family has gathered recently in Los Angeles. When you live so far away from family the family reunions become more and more precious as the years go by. Now that I began my memoir, I have delved into my memory to recall past family reunions.

When I was a child, we had a family circle. I thought everyone had one. Only later did I realize how rare this was. We met in a rented space somewhere in Manhattan, which was a central location for all the families, who mostly came from Brooklyn and the Bronx. When I see old Neil Simon movies, I recall what it was like when I was a young girl. Woodie Allen grew up not far from my childhood home in Brooklyn. How far we have all come.

At the family circle meetings, the older folks soon dispensed with “business,” the reading of the minutes and so on, and the cards came out. The pinochle games, the gin games began. The teenagers, of whom there were very few, disappeared as soon as they could. They didn’t want to be with the grown-ups. The young kids, of whom there also were few, chased each other up and down the halls, and played hide-and-go-seek. How precious was the time. How innocent we all were.

My grandfather was one of ten children, and most of them belonged to the family circle. Some had passed away earlier and I only knew them through the stories the elders would tell. However, I knew eight of them, and their children, my cousins. My mother was one of the oldest cousins, and the youngest were only three years older than me. I grew up knowing so many aunts and uncles, so many cousins. Nowadays, families live so far apart, that it’s almost impossible to know very many cousins.

This is why I so treasure the time we have together this Thanksgiving and give thanks for the time I can spend with all my family.

A Hurricane and a Flood

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Our friend Buzz Singer, who lives in Bangkok, updated us on his situation there. Thankfully, he is safe, and his neighborhood is unaffected by all the flooding that hit Thailand.

This takes me back to October 29, 1989, when  Hurricane Hugo slammed into Charlotte, NC, where I was living at the time. I did not have electricity in my home for eight days. Everywhere trees were down, and some unlucky folks had trees or branches smash their cars or the roofs of their homes. Lawns were a mess, strewn with leaves, branches, or downed trees. I couldn’t leave my house because a fallen tree lay across the street, blocking the corner, and making it impossible to drive. For months afterward, I could hear the sound of buzz saws in the distance. Cut branches and tree limbs were piled at the curb and it took months for it all to be cleared away.

I had water (but not hot water) and telephone service, but that was about it. Cold cereal for breakfast with apple juice or water instead of milk, just doesn’t do it. No hot showers, just cold washcloths for bathing. Grocery store clerks were handling checkouts with little hand calculators and I could only buy canned and packaged goods. Junk food was available; meat, dairy, and frozen food was not. Two days after the hurricane hit, Ben and Jerry’s was giving away ice cream because they had no electricity. People were barbequing meat and chicken, and inviting neighbors to a feast because the food had defrosted and freezers were useless.

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A Life of Its Own

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2011-barnes-nobleSometimes, there are twists and turns in life that come at a time when you least expect it. Last night, when I gave a talk at Barnes & Noble about my book, When Angels Call Your Name, I told how one of these wonderful happenings occurred. In the book, the story entitled The Day I Drowned, is about a guy named Roy. He drowned and was under water for twenty minutes and yet, lived to tell me about this terrible experience. Roy’s best friend, Mike saved his life. After I published my book, I sent a copy to Roy. He bought three more books and sent one to Mike’s mother. Unfortunately, Mike died at 49 from complications due to years of alcohol abuse. However, his sister wanted her children to know that their uncle Mike was more than just a drinker, that he once saved a man’s life. She ordered several books, one for her son, daughter and granddaughter.  “His life had a purpose,” she wrote to me in an email. You see, this story grew and took on a life of its own.

They Touched My Heart

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Giving a Talk

On Tuesday evening, October 4th, I will be talking at Barnes & Noble (on 90th St. and Shea Blvd.) about my book, “When Angels Call Your Name.” I can’t wait to tell people about the touched-by-an-angel stories that are in the book. I’ll start by telling the audience how I gathered all these stories over a period of 15 years. When people learned that I was rather spiritual, someone now and then might confide, “You know, I’ve never told anyone about this, but a couple of years ago…” and they would begin to share a story of an amazing coincidence. I might have been a life-changing experience. By 2010 I had 45 inspirational stories and I selected 35 to be in the book. There is a story called “61 Pounds of Pure Chocolate”, how an encounter on a dark country road changed a woman’s life, and another story, “The Day I Drowned”, about a guy who was under water for at least 20 minutes and lived to tell about it. That last story continued beyond the pages of the book. It’s a story that touched my heart. It’s one thing to hear these beautiful stories, and another to write them down so I can share them with others. Since this book has been so well received, I am now actively seeking more touched-by-an-angel stories. If you know of someone who has one, please let me know. Email me at http://www.marilynfrazer@hotmail.com. And come to my talk at Barnes & Noble.