Love & Other Matters is in the world. My publisher put it up on Amazon on November 12th, checked all three novel proofs for symmetry’s sake, and now I can spread the word.

What my publisher didn’t know is that November 12th is my late Mother’s birthday. What I want you to know is that there’s a little bit of Evelyn F. Hamilton in these pages. My heart is full.

Gifted with second sight, Margaret Meader—introduced in Other Wise—is both an integral part of her Maine community and an outsider. Here’s what readers will find in book 3 of her story.

Kasha Gula, the photojournalist from James Harchett’s past, arrives with a request. This puts Margaret’s carefully earned friendship with the reclusive Vietnam vet at risk. And when a woman from Margaret’s own past arrives, more challenges surface.

While visions are a constant in her life, a prescient dream sends Margaret on an unexpected  journey, awakening a calling that has lain dormant. When she is asked to create a container for communal healing—a medicine bowl of sorts—obstacles and opposition arise intent on keeping her in her place. … Outside the circle of belonging. … Ever the Other.

Come fill yourself with story …

A bird in flight. A thin place. A ghost light. 

The gathering. The telling. The listening.

Stories within stories.

Hello again, dear readers & writers & singers & poets & makers & creatives of everyday magic,

With my third novel in the hands of my publisher, I’ve come up for air. I’ve no other excuse for neglecting this blog for so long. But here I am, hoping you’re still with me.

Love & Other Matters continues the journey begun in Other Wise and This Other Way of Knowing. For those who know Margaret and the cast of characters who people her story, it’ll be a short wait for installment three. For those who don’t yet know Margaret, I hope you’ll explore the first two books.

My publisher, Piscataqua Press, is finalizing both the cover design and the interior format and I can’t wait to show you what it looks like.

I will soon share events surrounding the launch and hope those close at hand will come fill yourselves with story as I read a little and we chat a bit about the writing process.

Listening to a voice reading to us fills a quiet need. I love that I sometimes get to be that voice. And, … my actor self loves that I get to be all the characters–the ones who started whispering in my ear so long ago. The ones whose words I’ve tried to get down on the page. The ones who have become integral to the telling of Margaret’s story.

So come if you’re able when we gather to celebrate. I’ll do my best to live up to these words from award winning Maine writer, Jodi Paloni, author of They Could Live With Themselves, a collection of linked stories set in rural New England & founder of Maine Coast Writers Retreats:

“Mary Lou Bagley has an exquisite knack for storytelling using cadence, tone, and timing to elevate the deeper meaning in her words. I am forever riveted, often moved to bodily sensation, sometimes to tears, always entertained.”

Now tell us a story in the comments about what you’re up to these days …

Let me share an experience, a prompt really, that was offered to me in a writing salon. It sent me searching. It urged me to write, to explore, and to wonder. I’m hoping it serves to stimulate something in you as well.

Sonder is a made-up word for an emotion we all feel but don’t have the words to express. John Koenig’s The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows began as a web series, then became a beautiful hard-bound book. I bought that book after experiencing this video and responding to this word as a writing prompt. Other words therein have led to more adventures and conversations since.

Watch. … Write. … Let me know what happened for you? Or keep it to yourself and adventure on …

NOTE: Whether or not this interests you, please let me know you received this blog post if you’re on my email list. Reply with a simple “Yes.” We’re fixing an issue Respond in the comment section below or by email. (mlbagley@comcast.net) Thanks.