This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marcia Rosen will award a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Happy Fathers Day.
Our history and experiences can define us, inspire our actions and as writers impact our words and stories. Mine most definitely has. My father was a gangster. Really!This is my story about my relationship with my father and how his profession affected me and my life, “He called me Sugar Plum. Both a blessing and a burden, I learned interesting lessons from my father: about generosity and determination, taking risks, and certainly finding the willingness to live life as an adventure.”
Enjoy an Excerpt
Some fascinating and incredible women have inspired me. None, who by the way had a physical beauty, but surely an inner beauty. Being inspired and inspiring others provides us with shared strengths giving us opportunities to be more than we are as one. Those who inspire us, in the process, influence us by their intellect, accomplishments, and wisdom.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Golda Meir have been two of my role models. Author Gertrude Stein and many other good writers have influenced me. These are people who dared to go beyond the ordinary. They were not willing to accept the limitations society or family set upon them.
If we are fortunate, there are also those in our lives who inspire us, expressing belief in us. I’ve had a few such people in my life, encouraging me to never give up my dreams and ambitions. I decided long ago to keep at a safe distance people who are angry, jealous, and mean-spirited. Really. Who needs them? Who made them right?
I know it’s not always easy to do. Sometimes they are a close relative, even a parent. And it’s quite a juggling act dealing with those situations. The worse is for any woman dealing with an abusive spouse. Finding support and asking for help is critical. We all deserve better.
What does all this have to do with me and my dad?
Quite a lot, in fact. His actions inspired me. In doing so, they influenced my actions in many ways. He almost never gave up at times when it would have been easier to do so.
Once asked what characteristic I think most important in a partner, my response was generosity. Oh, not only financial. I also mean being generous in expressing feelings and communication and being generous in kindness, thoughtfulness, and love. Many people are stingy and withholding of those things. They and their relationships have lost so much in the process.
All we need to do is look and listen to the world around us for negative influences. Controlling people need power to fuel their egos and cause pain and chaos. The benefit of their actions is solely for their own egos even though they falsely claim otherwise. The psychology of their actions and rhetoric is for professionals who understand human behavior. But I do know they are difficult people who create difficult situations.
My father showed me his love and affection. Maybe it’s why writing and words matter so much to me. There should be no doubt how much words matter. Cruel and thoughtless words sting. When I owned my first business, two nursery schools, many parents would say goodbye to their child with, “You better be good today!” or “Don’t be bad today!”
I would ask them please, not to do that and just tell their child, “Have a good day,” and better yet, “I love you.”
There had to be something about my growing up, about my experiences providing me with such an awareness.
I think back about my father buying lunch for the homeless man asking for money. I remember him taking a huge basket of food to one of his sisters whose husband was out of work. I saw how he never said no to my mother when she asked for money.
Sometimes a simple action or a few words can influence.
Sometimes a simple action or a few words can inspire.
About the Author: 
Marcia Rosen is an award-winning author of twelve books including nine mysteries, the most recent is An Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock, and Me Mystery: Murder at the Zoo. She is also the author of The Senior Sleuths, the Dying to Be Beautiful Mystery Series, and The Gourmet Gangster: Mysteries and Menus (Menus by her son Jory Rosen). She wrote The Woman’s Business Therapist and My Memoir Workbook and has given Memoir Writing presentations and classes for close to twenty years. Her Memoir Blog can be found on her website. For twenty-five years she was owner of a successful national marketing and public relations agency.
Marcia has frequently been a featured speaker at organization meetings, bookstores, libraries, and Zoom Programs presenting talks on Encouraging the Writer Within You, Marketing for Authors, Writing Mysteries…Not A Mystery and A Memoir Detective…Writing Your Life Story. She has also helped numerous writers develop and market their books.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Southwest Writers, New Mexico Book Association, Public Safety Writer’s Association, International Memoir Writer’s Association, Women’s National book Association and National Association of Independent Writers and Editors—for which she is also a board member.
Buy the book at Amazon.
Resilience isn’t inherited. It’s a hard-fought skill forged by our ability to pick up the broken pieces of our past and remake them into something new.
Delicia Niami is an acclaimed memoirist and LGBTQ+ advocate, whose raw and edgy storytelling has touched the hearts of readers worldwide. Residing in Santa Cruz and an alumna of UCSC, Delicia draws inspiration from her own journey of resilience and empowerment. Through her memoirs, she fearlessly addresses topics such as sexual abuse, trauma recovery, and the importance of self-compassion. Delicia’s work not only sheds light on difficult experiences but also empowers others to find their voices and embrace their own resilience. Her passion for advocacy shines through in her writing, making her a powerful voice for change and healing in today’s world.
I’m excited to announce my latest nonfiction narrative picture book, Dancing through Space: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights illustrated by Sawyer Cloud and published by Albert Whitman. Most people know that Dr. Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to fly to space, but many may not know that she also has a deep passion for dance. This provides the hook for my book: the intersection of dance and science. That’s why I structured the book as a dual narrative that features and dance. As the story unfolds, the two worlds merge together, illuminating how art and science are both essential parts of our world.
Lydia Lukidis is the author of 50+ trade and educational books for children. Her titles include DANCING THROUGH SPACE: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights (Albert Whitman, 2024), DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench (Capstone, 2023) which was shortlisted for a Silver Birch Express (Forest of Reading) award, THE BROKEN BEES’ NEST (Kane Press, 2019) which was nominated for a Cybils Award, and NO BEARS ALLOWED (Clear Fork Media, 2019). A science enthusiast from a young age, she now incorporates her studies in science and her everlasting curiosity into her books.
