I haven’t posted for two whole months! Having been very busy during March and April. so, in a nutschell: I have been busy with family events, a trip to Las Vegas beginning April to see our first great grandchild, a little girl, Brianna Leah Cruz, born on February 19, 2009. We stayed “off Strip” at the Trump Hotel. Jason and Genny (Brianna’s parents) visited us there at the hotel and celebrated their first wedding anniversary at the same time. Jason works as an Airman at the Base in Las Vegas and Genny has enough do do to raise her family. It was wonderful to meet the Three of them. We also spent some time at the strip, even made some money (all under $5.–) Charlie, our son-in-law, invited us to two shows, the “Jersey Boys” and the “Cirque du soleis.” We had a great time!

March is almost gone and, boy, was that a busy month. Hayward did the “Big Read” and I participated in some of the activities. The most impressive one was the movie about Ernest J. Gaines’s book A Lesson about Dying. Also Lalita’s Tademy’s review of her books, expecially Cane River and Red River was very touching. Her family moved to Almond Road in Castro Valley, not far from my own home on Walnut Road and she and my children went to the same school: Castro Valley High School. she did not like living in this, almost all white town. She felt ostracized for being black, though hardly noticeable. Her neighbor’s daughter, also black, was in my girl Scout troop, but we certainly enjoyed having her. For me to feel as an outcast was not an unfamiliar feeling  since I am German and only six years after World War Two ended, there existed still tensions between Germans and Americans. For me, this was a very special event.

I feel more ;and more motivated to spend time at our Castro Valley library as I belong to several book clubs. I will help at the ;up-coming booksale. Our new library will be be ready to open this Fall, another exciting event.

I am now teaching three German classes, two with the Hayward Area Recreational and Park district, H.A.R.D. and one private student, an eleven-year-old girl, home-taught by her mother.

I am also starting to write another novel.

Having recently joined two new clubs, Women’s National Book Association, WNBA and California Club of California in San Francisco, also keep me busy.

Then there is our cabin, still shrouded in snow, and our garden, needing my care, and, of course the unevitable housework, daily cooking etc. Family events like a trip to Las Vegas to meet mith our brand-new great ganddaughter are absolute priority.

Good thing that March has 31 days!

We are approaching the Ides of March. Already my schedule was so full, with book clubs, teaching German, classes I take, hair appointment, etc. For the first time in my life I am dependent of my calendar. so far I had it all in my head, but not any more. I almost have to make appointments with my husband to eat with him. And that is not at a restaurant, that’s at home. what I discover is: I’m not the only person with a full schedule–most other people are too. Today, for instance, it’s a class at the Senior Center, have a haircut, swing over to San Francisco for an event at a club there, and listen to Author Lalita Tademy talking about her book Cane River at the hayward Library. Tomorrow: do my cleaning job at Dental Building in San Leandro, give a private lesson to an 11-year-old German student, teach a German Class at the Senior Center, read a book for a book club, and get picked up at 4:50 to go to West Portal Bookshop in San Francisco for a lakl about my writings. Sounds busy? It is. Am I happy? I am. Happy and fulfilled. My only problem: I might forget some of those planned events. Remedy: have a calendar. Weekends are filled with garden work, also fun in this nice weather. Once a month a trip to our cabin in the mountains, with or without friends. And beginning April: a trip to Las Vegas with my two daughters to visit our first great grandchild! Hardly any time left for blogging.

Meeting with Greg Mortenson at Diamont Palace

Last night’s event at the Diamont Palace in Union City drew about 900 people. The event was sold out and every place of the huge hall was taken. The event was sponssored by the Association of American University Women of Fremont, California. Mr. Mortenson had already staged a performance that day for a younger audience at the Logan High School auditorium, but he did not seem tired at all. He spoke completely free, wandering back and forth on the stage while speaking. Outside it was pouring rain, still people kept coming until 7:30 when the performance began. An unforgettable evening. The “Pennies for Peace ” movement resulted in a check for over 30,000 dollars, which was presented to Mr. Mortenson after the speech.

I wrote a few books, so what. Now I’d like people to read them. I wrote them to share my views with my readers.

Here I am, almost three months into having a blog and posting once in a while, forgetting what I’m doing between postings. But eventually, I might “get in the flow.” I’d like to share with you how it feels to finally arrive at the genre that suits you more: writing a novel. I wrote my first novel last year, in 2008. It was built on one of the short stories in “Lake Dwellers” and has the same title as that story: The Old Castle in Austria.

This novel eveolves around several categories: two cultures, Europe and America, intertwine, an Austrian castle owner marries an American widow with two sons.  A rape, committed in 1975 to a young Gypsy girl, has dire consequences and almost ruins a good marriage. The son, the outcom of the rape, cannot forgive and carries on the sin of the father by raping an innocent girl. In both cases the victims of rape resent abortion. The story ends on a positive note, both rapists are redeemed and changed. The surviving baby becomes the future castle owner. The protagonist of the story is the castle, observing changes of history around and within. I loved the process of writing this novel. I actually dreamed about my characters. I was able to get completely lost while writing–a great experience.

I was still putting together my second book, “The Lake Dwellers,” when I heard Dan Gilbert on the radio while driving at night. He was promoting his book, “Stumbling on Happiness.” I was intrigued, went next to my bookstore and purchased the book, a bestseller. Mr. Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard and he teaches about Happiness. the book is studded with experiments and calculations, which I felt had nothing to do with inner happiness. I had my own ideas about this subject and I decided to put my novel in progress on the back burner for a while and write my own version of how to become and stay a happy person. And so, I put the following blog together:
I’m no spring chicken–but I love being still alive and kicking!
In 2008, at eighty-seven, I decided to publish my third book. I started my writing while I was in my eighties, and I still have more to do. Age has nothing to do with plans or dreams. You are never too young or too old to do anything. It took me severals months to write my third book, which was published with title “Happiness–A Matter of the Mind” with the subtitle,”Vantage Point of an Octogenarian.
It was a great joy to write this book. Even if no one ever reads my book, at least the person who created it became happier–me! I was always an avid reader and a lover of mankind. So I based my book on thoughts and experiences of other people and also my own experiences. I’ve also found that through the course of my life I bacame happier all the time. There have been many events in my life that have contributed to everlasting positive feelings deep down within me–not only happy events, but also sad and even life-threatening ones. After surviving something traumatic or tragic, I found myself blessed more with inner happiness than before. It even was good for my marriage. my husband and I got closer.

Last weekend (Presidents’ Day) I spent in San Francisco. It was a very stimulating conference, six hour-long work sessions on Friday and Saturday, great meals, about 300 writers, agents, editors, and publishers, and about twenty volunteers who helped the whole event functioning smoothly. I went with a friend and we stayed together most of the time. We had a room at the hotel, the great Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill. Best-selling writers, like Jane Smiley, were the key-note speakers. On Sunday morning we had a chance to present our work in progress to agents, who listened to your pitch and either encouraged you or told you blandly they weren’t interested right now. So far, I haven’t manage to interest an agent with my brain children. so for my fifth book (which I’m starting now), I might stay with iUniverse. At least they do a good job publishing one’s book attractively.

It took me only three months to write the first draft of my first book. I did not care much about typos or poorly written sentences. I just wanted my memoirs written on paper and share them with my family. I had no wish to publish them. Ten years later I changed my mind. Some of my family members were serious readers and helped me getting my memoirs ready for printing. Now I tried to find a publisher. My daughter had started a career as literary agent and she advised me to go via iUniverse, a self-publishing company. I followed her advice and soon had my first book in my hands, not without struggles, though. It cost me quite a bit to make the book “clean”, or error-free. But finally all that was done and I felt real proud. But then I noticed that bookstores didn’t like self-published books. They are “nonreturnable,” and it’s a risk for them to stock such books. so I got used to sell my books one by one, at signing partiers, flea markets, to friends who know me, etc. That was back in 2007. I tried to forget my disappointment and wrote another book, this time the outcome of a few writing classes where I had to do assignments. I had assemled about 15 short stories, essays and poems. so I decided to use most of these, write some more and create a frame story with characters that matched my writings and had them tell those creations as their own. And so “The Lake Dwellers” developed. I stayed with iUniverse because I still liked the way they produced my books. I had tried to find an agent who could help me find a “traditional” publisher, but I couldn’t find one. Truthfully, I was tired to run after people who didn’t even want to look at my wonderful manuscripts. At least I thought they were wonderful. Next time I’ll write how I got the idea to write my third book, about Happiness.