BOOKS
Books are born in what you see, hear, feel and in how you observe personal relationships all around you. These things get saved back in the holy (or holey) recesses of the mind where they quietly swirl together until ideas take tangible form. This is the way it works for me. Only occasionally do I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about characters or ideas that have to be poured into the computer right that minute.
For twenty years, my writing energy spilled Christian education curriculum and materials for church leaders. Meanwhile, I wrote plays and other dramatic material. From my chronic illness support group lectures and discussions I gleaned material that became HARPS IN THE WILLOWS: STRENGTHS FOR REINVENTING LIFE. About that time I was reinventing my own life due to multiple sclerosis, so the book also came from many adventures in my own experience.
The mosquitoes nearly got me as I collected experiences for the book THE RELUCTANT IMMIGRANT. I set out to visit and experience the trail my reluctant immigrant, Rika, and other Germans would have taken inland. First stop: an historical marker on the beach at Indian Point. When I stepped out of the car, 3,002 (times 3 million) hungry mosquitoes with sharp proboscis engulfed me. Those same mosquitoes engulf Rika and her family in the first chapter.
In teaching, I have discovered drama to be a form of vicarious experience that easily enables learning. Since I think in pictures, it is easy for me plot, cast and enact teaching skits and other plays. FUN WITH DRAMA and MORE FUN WITH DRAMA, my first two drama books were designed for teenagers. These were followed by the strangely named ABINGDON’S INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAMS, PLAYS, READINGS, SKITS AND MORE written to promote interaction between persons of different ages. I am now compiling a book of skits and participation stories for persons with special needs.
What’s the next book? THE SACRED PATH THROUGH THE SCARY CANCER WOODS is almost finished, and the marketing of INVISIBLE ALDO AND THE GUY WITH THE VISIBLE WIG is under way. Varied? Certainly. Writing is definitely not boring.
Cheerio and enjoy,
Naomi Mitchum
Naomi has a number of books in print and in development. These include: