I stand at the mic looking out over my reading glasses. All those faces. On this bright blue afternoon filled with so many other things they could be doing, they’ve come. Heads cocked, listening.

Oh, the gratitude. Oh, the joy. Oh, the beating of my heart!

I highly recommend the feeling — a sense of completion wrapped in the thrill of lift-off. That’s why I urge you to stick to it, stay with it, keep on plugging away. Create your art, your music, your poetry, your life. Don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way. Steal your moments, jot your thoughts on scraps of paper, sketch on the backs of envelopes. Keep what my friend calls a “noticing book” in your pocket.

Stuck in traffic, stalled in the longest check-out lane, sitting in the waiting room, catch your musings on the fly. Then carve out time to tweak and edit and futz and refine. Do the work. Head down. Seat to the seat.

It’s a matter of one page or brush stroke or note at a time. Trusting. Readying to take the leap.

Otherwise, … a silent sorrow, a life lived in regret.

Where’s your Other Wise? The world is waiting.

 

 

The honor of your presence is requested at the official launch of 

Other Wise

a novel

by Mary Lou Bagley

Sunday, October 14th, 2018

3 pm

RiverRun Bookstore – 32 Daniel St. – Portsmouth, NH

 

I will read. We will chat. I will sign copies. And we will all leave happy.

The first in a series, Other Wise introduces a cast of characters who will find their way into your dreams and beyond.

Sixty-two-year-old Margaret Meader is both a native Mainer and an outsider. Though she’s not “from away,” many in her community deem her an oddity — an other. Plain-spoken and direct, Margaret is gifted with second sight — an intuitive ability to see beyond ordinary perception and distill what is seen to its practical essence. For decades her gift has benefitted many while frightening others, often making her a target for  jealousy, suspicion, and hatred.

She has her friends and protectors, including young Emily Donne whom Margaret encourages to recover abandoned gifts of her own, deal with the mystery that is her mother, and learn who her long dead father truly was. But even as Margaret supports friends in need and helps find those who are lost, some very old business is coming back around, setting the stage for confrontations rooted in tragedies of the past.

 

I hope to see you on the 14th and may Margaret’s story land gently on your heart.

 

 

Dear friends,

I promised an update on the novel and here it is:

JOIN ME, please, as I officially launch OTHER WISE.

Sunday, October 14th, 3pm

RiverRun Bookstore

32 Daniel Street, Portsmouth, NH

I will read a little, sign some books, and celebrate a couple of births–mine and Margaret’s. She is the plain spoken artist gifted with second sight who whispered in my ear one day and kept on whispering. I am but the scribe. This is her story, or at least the beginning of it …

I welcome you to come and get a wee taste and meet Margaret and the characters who people her life.

And if you want to get started beforehand, Other Wise is available now at RiverRun Bookstore, A Little Something in South Berwick, Amazon (with a “look inside” option), and through me (there’s a box in my trunk!). Bring your copy if you want it signed. E-read it if that’s your preference. Or wait for this first public reading on the 14th.

And now, tell me: Who or what has been whispering to you? Share your works in progress, your wish fulfillments, your dreams not fully formed, your secret scribblings or etchings or wonderings. And let’s have a little party and celebrate …  you.