Podcast Notes
Persistence U with Lizbeth Podcast
Podcast episodes are posted Wednesdays and include stories by and for survivors and strivers, all threaded together with a dose of persistence.
Is it Verbal Abuse or Basic Rudeness? What is the Difference?
Have you ever asked yourself if your love interest is verbally abusive, or simply experiences bouts of unfortunate humanity? Often, we issue labels for behavior without looking at the context. I think it's worth noting that there are differences. To review the...
Am I Too Old for Literary Success? A Few Reasons 50 -plus is Just Alright With Me
Some of the literary greats didn’t start publishing until well after 50 years old. —She Writes Press I read this post a couple of weeks ago and felt relieved. I'm well in to my fiftieth year now. And I’m well in to the process of getting something major published,...
Eyes Wide Open: Seeing My Father in a Balanced Light Twenty Years After His Death
It had been thirty years to the day since I met my father, a fact I mused only when I boarded the plane to see our shared kin in early June. I got to see my dad less than a handful of times before he died in 1995 after we were separated by a parental abduction in the...
Who Would Kill a Child? The Murder-Suicides of Domestic Violence
As I was leaving work today, one of my coworkers was glimpsing the news and shaking his head. "Second murder-suicide report in the last two weeks in Alaska," he said, adding what's on everyone's else's mind. "Who in the world would kill a child?" But before you think...
Solo Travel for Women/Are We Just Asking For It?
It's a holiday weekend, and I am in the thick of planning my next solo travel adventure. One thing I enjoy doing is making a friend or two in each place I visit. I keep in touch with them, and make a point of finding them in another part of the world later. So dear...
The Beauty of Barrow
I’ve dreaded this trip to Barrow. A month ago, I volunteered to work here. This is completely my doing. But in the interim weeks, I’ve been barraged by memories of my last trip. The tales of recent suicides. The scarcity of trees and greenery. The abundance of...
When Online Dating and Reuniting with Lost Siblings Intersect/The story of Erik de Vries and Josephine Egberts
These days, since I'm working on a few different projects, I'm not always certain which direction to focus my blog posts. I've revised my memoir and given it to my editor (yay, me!) for an assessment, and I'm giving my novel a last tweak, now that it's done. And I...
Love My Kindle Interview about Online Dating Safety: Get Ready, Get Set, Let’s Go and Online Dating Horror Stories/ A Man’s Side
I knew that blogging would lead me to other writing projects, and it has. Today, I was interviewed on Love My Kindle. Below is part of the interview. Go to http://www.lovemykindle.com/love-these-interviews/interview-with-author-lizbeth-meredith for the whole read....
The Process of Progress/Three Projects plus Platform
Do you keep a journal? Have you ever heard of a writer's process journal? It's essentially a writer’s diary noting the progression of their project. My challenge in keeping one is that I'm currently working on three projects. My memoir is in the many-eth draft, and...
Author Rachel Weaver’s Eight Essentials of Storytelling
Sometimes my disciplined life prevents me from advancing in ways that I’m hoping for. I rarely embrace interruptions to my rigid schedule, but this week, on a whim I signed up for a class from author Rachel Weaver for writing the three dimensional novel or memoir...
My Secrets To Enjoying Unexpectedly Extreme Cheap Skate Travel
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.--African proverb I like going fast, and I'm a huge fan of traveling alone, but when a dear friend invited my little family to use her empty condominium in Manzanillo, Mexico cost-free, I couldn't...
Knowing Who I Am/The Journey Continues
Today, I finished a workshop with a number of youth-serving professionals called Knowing Who You Are by the Casey Foundation to identify and propose strategies for addressing personal and professional biases. I loved it. So much of what I write about is related to...
A Few of My Favorite Things in 2014
Happy New Year! Every New Year, I like to recap one thing I'm proud of that happened over the past year. On New Years Day in January, 2014, I made a bucket list item come true. I went to France and Italy alone and made memories, some of which were transformational....
What The Body Remembers/Help for Healing from Trauma
Trauma is a universal theme, sadly. Sitting next to my daughter in the emergency room for several hours turned out to be invigorating in a strange way recently. I have a day job working on the front lines with abused children, and this year, I've been a staff trainer...
A Girls’ Guide to Travelling Alone/Interview with Jane McIntyre about Roman Holiday
'Tis the season to be jolly. How are you holding up ? I've never been subtle about my dislike of the holidays. If I can't travel this time of year, I like to reflect on my travels or read about the travel adventures of others to transport me out of my funk. And I'm...
The Discipline of a Grateful Life
This week, I enjoyed reading Sam Gentoku McCree’s piece on Ten Steps to a Grateful Life. Having a grateful life is a discipline. It’s not difficult for my mood to tumble this time of year. It’s dark in Alaska for much of the day. My energy dips just as my work chaos...
Does Yoga Prevent Domestic Violence? The Harm in Perpetuating Silly Myths
It’s that time of year again. October. Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I decided to go to a presentation titled “Let’s Talk Prevention” put on by a social worker at one of Anchorage’s mental health hospitals. I should’ve taken the misplaced quotes as a sign. A stop...
The conversation continues with the Ray Rice saga/Is it the perpetrator or the victim to blame for domestic violence?
What's going on in your world? I made an executive decision to cut back blogging to no less than twice monthly. Somewhere between work and home remodels, revision on an old project and the developing of a new one, I realized that something had to give. But in the past...
SWIMMING WITH MAYA: Interview with Author Eleanor Vincent
I have mentioned before that Swimming with Maya is one of my favorite memoirs ever, so I was ecstatic when Eleanor Vincent agreed to be interviewed. Thank you, Ms. Vincent! As I lift May's still warm and pliable fingers in mine, the instinctive mother's recognition of...
The Life and Death of Muriel Pfeil/What have We Learned About Domestic Violence Since 1976
Were the good old days really that good? Not to Alaska resident Muriel Pfeil. In 1976, Muriel got into her car in downtown Anchorage, turned the key, and was blown to bits. Someone had planted a car bomb. At the time, Muriel was not much past forty and had been...
Three Lessons Learned from the Tale of Two Merediths
Have you ever read an article in the paper that you just can’t forget? I've been stuck on the story of these sisters for five years now. That’s when I read a piece in Newsweek magazine in 2009 called the Power of Two, about the emotional reunion of Chinese fraternal...
From Past to Present/Dusting Off My Manuscript to Answer the Real Questions
A few weeks ago She Writes Press announced a cool new contest for memoir writers. Simply put, women writers can submit a query letter and the first couple of chapters of their memoir and compete for an agent with Serendipity Literary Agency. Check it out on She Writes...
What Makes Fifty Nifty?
Today I turned the big 5-0! Fifty years old! Yikes! Can you imagine? What do you think you will be doing on your 50th birthday? Or if you are 50 or older, what did you do on that big day? Traditionally, I spend birthdays reflecting on what I've accomplished over the...
Three Lessons I Learned from Mike Dominoski/What’s Luck Got to do with it
Some people have all the luck. That’s what I thought when I met my friend, Mike Dominoski. I met him in the dorm cafeteria at Western Washington University in the fall of 1982. You could tell he was fun by how he held himself. Wearing a pinstriped, button up shirt...
The Art of Talking To Strangers/When It’s Time to Throw Caution to the Wind
This weekend, I had an epiphany. For the past twenty years, I’ve been talking to my now-grown daughters about things like stranger-danger and picking safe friends, later followed by picking a safe partner. And yes, it’s good to follow a sort of universal precaution...
Weekend Roundup
How have you been filling your summer days? I took an impromptu trip to Talkeetna, Alaska this weekend and stayed at a charming youth hostel there. I love the connections and conversations when I'm in a hostel, and caught up on reading and writing. Here's what...
It’s Just Me, Picking Me/Taking the Advice of Blogger Jeff Goins
I like to think I’m a positive person. I wake up and give thanks every morning before I start my day. I live intentionally, setting goals for each season that cover the different priorities in my life—family, volunteerism, fitness, financial, professional, and...
How Do You Know When You’ve Found the One?
How do you know when you’ve found the one? I’ve asked my successfully coupled friends and family at various times. It’s not like I would know. I haven’t had a relationship that’s lasted more than five years. Ever. And soon I’ll be fifty! If you’re math challenged like...
IF I’M SO WONDERFUL, WHY AM I STILL SINGLE? Author Susan Page Answers Your Questions Now
Several months ago, I revived one of my favorite classic self-help books and interviewed its wonderful author, Susan Page. This time, I listened a little better to her advice as I sifted through an assortment of single men, and I'm pleased with how things went. If you...
Twenty Years Later/The Messages that Survived Nicole Brown-Simpson
I can’t believe that 20 years have passed already. There are important historical events that are forever etched in our brains. We remember where we were, and how they changed our world. For me, I remember clearly when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon (1969)....