I’m so happy to finally announce that my memoir, The Place of Us, will be available for pre-order very soon!
Writing this book has been such a wonderful, meaningful, and enlightening journey for me as a mom, woman, writer, and all around student of life. Having a child with disabilities changed us, and then losing that child changed us again. This book is a testament to the power of beginning again and again.
It took some bending and stretching of my soul to arrive at this juncture. A rebirth, if you will. A consciousness of who and how I was, an awareness of the layers that helped me arrive at the place of me. Which eventually helped me to live in the place of us more fully and vividly than I ever had before.
I slowly learned that if I didn’t bend and stretch my physical body as well as my inward being that life would not only bend but break me. I gave importance to unimportant things until I realized how irrelevant they were to my personal life map.
After the loss of our son my happy became a different happy that I worked fiercely to acquire and understand. I felt like a gardener trying to dig in hard, unworkable soil. With rocks at every turn. Ones that fought me back and hurt in my bones when I pounded into them. Ones that were stubborn to excavate. And somedays left me feeling so bruised and exhausted, I questioned whether my hard work was getting me anywhere. That’s when you know you’re doing the real work, when you look inward and ask the difficult questions. Excavation usually requires a crew, and I’m grateful to have had one in my husband, daughter, and dear friends and family members.
Life has surprised me many times over. In a nutshell, that’s the premise of my upcoming book. What do you do when life surprises you? My book isn’t an answer to this question. It’s more of a declaration of survival in the form of love, courage and ultimately, joy. And perhaps therein lies the answer.
karen draper ~ writer 
Karen you write so eloquently ~ I look forward to reading your book when the timing is right. At the present I cannot seem to concentrate on much and also we are very limited in what we can receive in Mexico via Amazon. And then when we find something that they WILL deliver, it usually is exorbitantly expensive. Once we are in the States visiting family I will have the option of ordering on line. Nice to know you have a website and blog
Peta
It’s so good to connect with you and your blog, as well Peta. Enjoy your time in Mexico and stay safe. I look forward to you reading my book when you get the chance. Until then…be well.
Karen
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
WOULD YOU FIND YOUR PLACE?
Oh Karen, you did it and my heart goes out to you. Huge congratulations, but I do resonate with the toll of it. I am going through this process now, having thought I was ready to submit to agents this time last year, got some feedback albeit it tiny, hit a crisis with it all in May (major crossroads about it all, the first chapter especially…) spent the entire last year reworking what I thought was my finished and realised was far from. 7 years and counting and this year (covid, broken ankle and DVT notwithstanding) the most intense of all. But you are right, not until we delve deep can we write the memoir it must be. I look to you for inspiration on your journey as I follow on with mine and my next round of submissions. I can’t wait to read your memoir. I hope I can write half as beautifully and movingly as you. So proud of you, my friend, so glad we met ❤