Please welcome Morgan Mandel.
Life Altering Events
Both of my stories in The Corner Café: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories deal with life altering events.
In What Nice Blessings, Suze’s Dad finds a new job and her family must move from their home town. This happens right before her first day at high school. She’s stressed by the thought of leaving her best friend behind and entering a new environment amongst strangers. In the process of relocating, a more drastic event takes place, dwarfing Suze’s prior fears, and testing her mettle.
In The Closing of the Corner Café, a couple takes a huge step by starting their own business, a corner café. With no guaranty their venture will succeed; they, like many entrepreneurs, are still plucky enough to give it a try. It takes courage to invest time and money in such an enterprise.
On the upside, some might be: Starting school, graduating, getting or changing a job, making friends, moving to a new town, new house or apartment, meeting a life partner, getting married, having children, grandchildren, or even adopting an animal. I was born in Chicago, moved to a suburb, lived in several different apartments, before finally buying a house. I was introduced to my husband in the cafeteria at college and we’ve been married for over 39 years. Though we were never blessed with children, we’ve always shared our home with an adopted dog, the current one being Rascal.
On the downside, it’s hard to avoid any of these sad events: Death of a family member or friend, illness, unemployment, estrangement in the family or of a friend, foreclosure, unsettled weather. I’ve suffered the loss of both parents, and some good friends, have dealt with my share of illnesses, some minor, and others chronic, such as high blood pressure and thyroid issues. I lost my job, which turned into a blessing in disguise, and have since retired. Last July’s flood left seven inches of water in the basement and it was no picnic cleaning up the mess. I’m hoping that will never happen again.
It may not be easy to deal with whatever comes our way. How we relate to the good and bad not only tests our character, but is also what life is all about.
Do you have a particular life altering event you’d like to share -- One that’s either happened to you, or someone you know, either real or fictional?
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Thank you Morgan. You're so right when you said that some of our most trying experiences can turn out to be blessings. (Giving birth came first to my mind.)
Here are some places you can click to find out more about Morgan and her books, as well as to connect with her online:
Amazon Author Central Page
Blog
Excerpts & All Buy Links to Morgan’s novels
Remember, leave a comment about your own life altering events - or even ones that happened to someone you know or to one of your characters, if you're a writer.
Thanks for letting me share a little bit about my contributions to The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories, as well as some of my life altering events.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
What A Nice Blessing is the next book I'll read. Didn;t have time to start it today. But I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like it, Stephen.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for visiting here at Straight From Hel, Morgan!
I'm a military brat, so every time we moved it was a life altering event.
ReplyDeleteHope you like What Nice Blessings, Stephpen!
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
I often wish I'd had fewer life-altering events, but the biggest one was losing my father at age 14, leaving me parentless & at the mercy of an abusive alcoholic. I've had some amazing highs and some awful lows since then, but in the 25 years that followed, that one event has been the turning point. There were traumatic things before that, too. Gee, whiz. No wonder I became a writer. I'm just all sunshine and rainbows.
ReplyDeleteI blogged about two life-altering events today: In 2005, my mother had a stroke that took the left field of vision from both her eyes. Yesterday, she fell and bumped her head and recovered some of the lost vision!
ReplyDeleteHelen, thanks for hosting Morgan. And Morgan, thank you for sharing so much! It's great to get to know you better. :)
Marian Allen
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes
Hi, Morgan and Helen. Interesting to think about the highs and lows of our lives. I'm sure we've all had our share of both. I'll be thinking about mine all day now and hoping I come out ahead on the high side. One good way to think about the lows might be: What doesn't kill us only makes us better writers.
ReplyDeleteY'all are so right about writers pulling from their own life experiences. They may not write their own experiences, but they do pull from their emotions and feelings.
ReplyDeleteHi Morgan, and Helen,
ReplyDeleteYes, certain events in our life cause large changes,inevitable changes. I'm looking forward to reading the collection of short stories, and am happy to meet Helen here!
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteI think everything in life shapes us...whether it's a little thing or a big thing. I also think our experiences shape us as writers.
I can't wait to read all of the stories (especially yorus!) in the collection. It's on my Kindle and ready to go...
debraStJohn
Wise words, Morgan. It seems each decade of out life brings some new life-altering event. Hopefully they will be normal ones, and not disastrous or fatal. As one ages, we can do it yelling and screaming, or...we can do it gracefully. I haven't quite figured out which I am doing.
ReplyDeleteThanks...and tell Helen how much I loved her Gila Monster story. I'll get back to the book tonight.
Thank you Celia. I'm glad you enjoyed Gila Monster!
ReplyDeleteHi to all.
Both of Morgan's stories are great reading. I especially liked The Closing of the Corner Cafe. It was such a great ending to the book.
These events worm their way into my stories whether I want them to or not.
ReplyDeleteEvery day is a life-altering event, it seems! Let's see... finding out that your then-husband was trying to kill you. Yep. Big turning point, that one.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Morgan. I'm in the middle of a change now. I'll be leaving my current employment at the end of the month. It's time for me to work outside of the home for a while. I'm not sure what God has planned for me, but I'll pray on it and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI picked up a copy of this most The Corner Cafe the other day. Hope I get a chance to read it soon. Feel free to let me know if you would like a spot on my blogs at some point.
Wishing you the best,
Cheryl
Morgan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts abut life changing both fictional and autobiographical
Wow, Some of you have really gone through some very life altering events, some good, some bad!
ReplyDeleteA husband trying to kill you! That's horrible!
Marian's Mom's loss of part of her vision from a stroke in 2005 and regaining some back after hitting her head yesterday, that one started out bad and got better!
Thanks for sharing. I'll stop by more to see what else has happened to people.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
I know just how Alex feels - life wouldn't be normal without something life-altering happening. A biggie for me was getting fired from a big corporation after practically giving them my life's blood. I will never work for anyone except myself after that. Indie forever! It's why self-publishing holds such allure for me. Nice post, you two!
ReplyDeleteMany initial kernels of story ideas derive from life-altering events in my life. Without them, without those experiences that move us and make us think and feel, I think it would be difficult to write. My moves from my hometown of Baltimore to Chicago, New Jersey, Louisiana (especially LA), and Texas, were definitely life-altering events for me that made me think about character and setting more in my stories.
ReplyDeleteAll those experiences we have often provide inspiration for our writing, whether we want them to or not. And writing can be cathartic, so it probably is a good thing, right?
ReplyDeleteIn Miniature Style II
Getting fired, moving, those seem to crop up for many as life altering events!
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Moving across the country was a life-changing event for me and my wife. There are so many other events that caused my life to turn in a new direction.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen and Morgan.
Wow! Great conversation. I love what you say here: "Each of us face countless life altering events. Ranking number one has to be being born in the first place." Beautiful and so true! My life altering event happened after I was grown. My sweet son was born with a very rare brain disorder. It changed my life, but for the better, though I lived in fear for him, he has been such a blessing to me. He's now gown and doing wonderfully. He still sees lots of doctors and he will never drive a car, but he can read and write and have conversations with people. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love your stories in The Corner Cafe. You are a wonderful writer. Will look for Forever Young on Amazon. *waves peace sign*
ReplyDeleteRobyn,
ReplyDeleteIt goes to show how adversity can strengthen a person. Your life is that much better and fulfilling from caring for your son and seeing him become more independent.
I'm glad you enjoy my writing, Robyn. Authors never get tired of hearing that readers appreciate what they write!
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
My father died when I was 11 and it had a huge impact on my life, mostly in terms of how I was raised.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how things change your life unexpectedly. Having children. Losing family. Moving. Marrying. Leaving home. Getting sick. Your first job. Your first taste of ice cream. Some are big moments. Some are quiet. We are what we experience.
ReplyDeleteLots of sad experiences shared here, then there's that fun one - first taste of ice cream!
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
This was not a life-altering event, but surely a career-altering one. I had just returned home form a speaking engagment about my work for a Texas publication, particularly a column I had written for a numer of years, when my editor called to say he was dropping the column. Just like that. Not even time to say goodby to all the readers. I used to get lots of letters based on what I wrote about and I really felt bad for all those faithful readers who may have wondered why I just left. This was a new editor, and that often happens when a new person steps into a job. Lost one of my major PR clients the same way. So happy to be out of that business.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad how some employers show no finesse when it comes to letting employees go.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
What a wonderful blog post. A very good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer. I have to say how wonderful he's been. He's been positive the whole time. Happy and joyful. He said life is too precious not to enjoy every moment of it and that he wouldn't want to be sad! He told me he's loved every moment of his life to date and wasn't about to start feeling differently.
ReplyDeleteHe made me think differently. He's so right! Be happy everyday!
What a great post Morgan. It seems that I go through life-altering events every five years. So far I've managed to bounce back. Now I'm wondering if I should stop writing, but that terrifies. It would be the ultimate turning-point.
ReplyDeleteLawna,
ReplyDeleteYour friend sounds so inspiring. What a wonderful attitude!
Morgan Mandel
http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com
Mona,
ReplyDeleteI think almost every writer has those doubts and wonders if it's time to give up, but there's something that tells us to keep going anyway.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Hi, Morgan,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post.
Not every life-altering event is negative. And sometimes you don't know that something is "life-altering" until after the fact. In 1998 I was traveling and picked up a book by Portia da Costa in a hotel in Instanbul. That book inspired me to write and submit my first novel. I never expected it to be accepted - but Lisabet Sarai wouldn't exist if I hadn't read that used book.
Very true, Lisabet,
ReplyDeleteYou may not know at the time that you are experiencing a life altering event until later in retrospect.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
I agree Morgan. Sometimes your life can change in a moment without you even being aware of the moment or change. That has happened to me. It was only later that I realized my world had stopped for a few seconds without me knowing it.
ReplyDelete