Friday, April 21, 2023

Friday Ann Fowler is visiting and Talking about her latest release #MFRWAuthor #Memoir

 

1.     Tell me about your latest release or the book you wish to feature? Genre?

My only release is my memoir I’ve Worn Many Hats. It is a “no holds barred” chronicle of my rather tumultuous 82- year old life!!! The book can likely be best summed up by these remarks from one of my readers: “Your candid account spanning decades of a long bumpy life evokes many emotions; laughter, empathy, shock, admiration. As I read the first half, I kept going back, re-reading and thinking, she did what?! In the second half of the book, I discovered what had inspired you to make such a drastic life change and accomplish “all this.”  Your memoir is hard to put down, in fact I read it twice! Bravo!”                                                                                                                                                       

 

2.     Where did the idea arise?

Friends had been encouraging me for years to write about my life. So when two of my closest friends retired to Vancouver and wouldn’t be around at the cottage that summer, I knew this was the time to get started.      

 

3.     How much research was involved? Did you stay on point or be distracted by wanting to look at just one more thing?

 

        Since the book was about events that had happened to me, research was not a factor. What WAS a factor, was my memory; not about the things from fifty years ago, that was easy! It’s the stuff that happened last week that I sometimes had difficulty with! The way I handled it all was to keep paper and pen EVERYWHERE so that when I had a random memory or thought, I could jot it down at anytime of the day or night. I had a basic book outline already in my computer so every few days I would gather up the paper scraps and insert “that” idea/memory into the correct time spot. This worked out and allowed me to stay on point.    

 

 

4.     How long did you take to write the book?

About 18 months working both at the cottage and in Honduras. Covid had disrupted life to such an extent that my Honduran projects were on hold and summer visitors to the lake were at a minimum. This gave me plenty of free time to concentrate on writing.

 

5.     Now a bit about you. How long have you been writing? What is your Sun Sign?

NOT SURE IF YOU WANTED A BIO HERE, SO HAVE ENCLOSED I am a Capricorn and this was my first attempt at writing a book

BIO if needed!

Born and raised in Toronto I grew up an only child in a traditional middle class Canadian family of the 40’s and 50’s. But my life has been anything but traditional! After finishing school my career included flight attendant with American Airlines, model, travel agent, world traveller, sales and marketing and almost 30 years in Human Resources as an entrepreneur/ business owner. I closed my company and retired in 2001 to take up another role, that of humanitarian. As someone once said when they described my various life pursuits during their introduction of me as that night’s speaker, “and she’s only 108 years old”! 

 

 

6.     Do you write in a number of genres or stick to one?

The memoir is my only book so far but I am in the process of putting together a collection of “stories” from the past 22 years as experienced by my many international volunteers to Honduras. Not sure what genre this will be classed under, you be the judge! Their tales will fall into one of these categories: “Is it Love?” “This Inspired Me,” “Shouldn’t That Be Illegal?!” “How Sad,” “Dangerous Pursuits,” “Where Are They Now?”  “Please Don’t Tell My Mother!!” (the authors of these stories will be assigned a pseudonym to protect the innocent!)….and I‘m sure there will be other submissions that will fall under a different category!  

 

7.     Where on the internet can you be found?

My web page: http://anne.honduranhope.net

Email: anne.fowler@xplornet.ca

Face Book: Anne Hamilton Fowler:

 

No comments: