Bøger af Margie Willis

The setting for my fictional novel is Paraiso Hot Springs, in the hills above Soledad, California. This novel starts in 1985 and goes through 1986, however I base my impressions of this magical mystical place on the years between 1987 and 1998 when I lived there. My intent is to share the personality of this rustic resort before the claws of development began to rip it up and make it something more civilized and altogether different. There will never be another time when such a memorable zany group of eccentrics could enjoy an ambiance of acceptance, never again to be recaptured.My characters are completely made-up, but based on how people of these times really did conduct their whimsical lives. Back when Carlos Santana invented the phrase spiritual orgasm it wasn't an outlandish idea. My fondest desire is to capture how such a way of life might feel.

My book starts with the first time mom took me on a hike -- I was only three weeks old, on a family camping trip! Our stories include two times when the family hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, along with many walks along the central California coast, not to forget mom's first backpacking trip at age sixty-six. The grand finale is mom's own story of when she hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim (down the north rim and up the south rim) at age seventy-nine.Taking the reader along on our hikes, I can illustrate mom's long journey from being meek and beat down emotionally by her first two husbands and then finally finding herself and her strength by tackling these goals she previously felt unsure about doing. In the end, mom is an admirable phoenix rising from the ashes of bad marriages and abuse. Her accomplishments bring tears to my eyes, especially her own story of hiking the Grand Canyon at age seventy-nine.

In the six years I volunteered at two different animal shelters, I did many different and fun jobs that I explain in this book. I started out as a dog walker, then became a dog feeder, and eventually I volunteered in the spay-neuter clinic. I've included non-stop anecdotes . . . some are funny, some are bittersweet. In the end I was the volunteer coordinator, but I had to quit when I became wracked with issues.

This is an embellished account of the stories of my youth, finding my way through the desert of child abuse and beyond. My mountain man crush was central to many of these stories over the years.

Margie is a beginning writer and the newest member of the Writers Guild. Already she has shown that she is a quick learner and has tackled the challenge head-on by participating in the exercises and discussions at the Guild meetings. She expresses herself clearly and is and excellent storyteller. This, her first book, is a labor of love and her primary reason for joining the Writers at Bowers House. In it she presents in an everyday grandmotherly style some of the milestones in her long life. A full and happy life with challenges overcome with love, hard work, wisdom and Christian faith. This book will, no doubt be a treasured gift to her family for many generations.