20161130

Therapeutic Reading:For falling out of touch with siblings

There are many types of therapy. I have recently read about a kind I had not heard of before:

Bibliotherapy: Prescribing novels "to cure life´s ailments"

That sounds like my kind of therapy. Reading novels :-).


"For falling out of touch with siblings" the bibliotherapists Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkind prescribe:

The color purple by Alice Walker



For the same ailment I would like to prescribe my own Ursus-dit rättvisan inte når


That book includes two troubled sibling relationships: Susanna and her sister Melissa and Otto and his brother Jack.

Extract from: Ursus-dit rättvisan inte når

Lite senare på kvällen satt de ute på sin balkong, det enda stället i lägenheten som Susanna riktigt gillade. De drack varsitt glas vin och Kanga låg vid Susannas fötter.

”Det finns ännu ett sätt, men det är inte säkert att det går vägen.”

”Vadå?”

Otto tittade fundersamt på sina händer.

”Jag äger en stuga. Den ligger nära Vänern och vi har fått förfrågan om att sälja den tidigare.”

”Vi?”

”Jag äger den tillsammans med min bror.”

”Bror? Vi har känt varandra i flera år och du har aldrig ens nämnt att du har en bror!”

Otto ryckte på axlarna.

”Han är inte min bror egentligen. Han är en bastard.”

”En vadå? Vad menar du?”

”Han är min halvbror, vi har inte samma pappa.”

”Men, herregud! ’Bastard’ vad är det för ett uttryck? Vilket århundrade lever du i egentligen? Kallar du mig bastard också?”

Otto ryckte till.

”Självfallet inte. Din mor var ju gift med din far när hon fick dig. Att de är skilda nu gör ju inte dig till en bastard.”

”Och din halvbror, fick din mamma honom innan hon gifte sig med din pappa?” Susanna blev upprymd, hon hade aldrig i sin vildaste fantasi kunnat gissa att det fanns så mycket hon inte visste om Otto. Det var riktigt spännande.

”Nej, nej, han är min lillebror. Sju år yngre.”

Precis som mellan mig och Melissa tänkte Susanna. Hennes mamma brukade säga att Susanna var sju år äldre och sju resor värre än Melissa.
”Men hur går det ihop? Hur kan du ha en yngre bror som är född utanför äktenskapet? Jag fattar inte.”

Otto suckade djupt.

”Mamma blev våldtagen när hon och hennes syster var på Irland en sommar.”

Susanna slog handen för munnen. Det var inte alls spännande. Det var tragiskt.

”Far hatade Jack från början. Han ville att mor skulle avsluta graviditeten.”

Susanna bleknade. Ett vitt rum, en frätande doft… När hon satte ner vinglaset på det lilla bordet skakade hennes hand.

”Mor ville inte. Hon och pappa hade försökt att få ett syskon till mig i flera år, men det gick inte. Inget barn kom. Därför tog det ett tag innan hon förstod att hon var gravid och hon ville inte ta abort så sent. Mor hatar inte Jack men hon har alltid behandlat honom annorlunda. Han har alltid varit en udda fågel i familjen, aldrig passat in.”

Susannas händer hade slutat skaka. Hon kände en plötslig samhörighet med den här Jack, en person hon aldrig hade träffat. Ännu en som ingen ville ha, ännu en som inte hörde hemma någonstans.
...

Om du är intresserad av att läsa mer kan du köpa en signerad version av Ursus-dit rättvisan inte når här.



20161123

Life: A bittersweet dessert

The lullabies sung by your loving mother,
the bedtime stories told by your caring father.

The joy of playing with your first best friend
the sadness when the friend moves to another town, far away.

The sheer happiness of playing with your first dog
and the soothing feeling when you caress the black cat in your lap.
The sorrow of losing your first pet, the one you thought would live forever.

The thrill of the first love, then the second, the third and finally the forever one.
The miracle of creating life, yes life! and realizing it is your task to nurture it, to ensure it lives on, as happy and well as it possibly can.

The tough periods that life inevitably brings
the loss of your youth, of your parents´ health and of grandparents that once were your safe haven, the oasis on school holidays.

Your children´s disappointments and your own realization that you cannot protect them from all bad things in the world, no matter how hard you try.

The joy of family, friends and fantastic experiences.
The gratitude for everything life has given you, after all.

The grief when loved ones leave this earth too soon. The realization that they will not be the only ones going before you do.

The understanding that you are part of the circle of life. A life that is like a bittersweet dessert, with the lemon making us enjoy the sweetness. The sweetness of life.






20161116

Qui sine peccato est, "my new look" and my web shop released!

Today has been the day of releases and launches!

My third novel Qui sine peccato est was released on Bokens dag, the new look is now available and my web shop is launched!




I hope you like it :-)


20161109

#MyStorytellerBrand: The logo


 So I learned that I was not going to brand myself, but my Storyteller persona. I defined my Storyteller role models and key characteristics 

Now it was time to turn my chosen words: Creative, Caring, Closer into a logo. 

They all start with the same letter (I like the alliteration) and at the same time each word has a specific meaning. It made sense to me to use three different fonts.   After some searching I found three fonts by creative people who offer them for free. 

Debby  created by Typeface




Grand hotel Designed by Brian J. Bonislawsky and Jim Lyles for Astigmatic



 and Simplifica by Kaiwa . 


After choosing fonts, it was time to decide about colors.  I wanted something colorful I decided to go for Orange (warm, caring, passion) and Blue (my favorite color and a complementing color to orange). 

Last but not least, I wanted to combine the words in a way that made them not just words but also a symbol. I tried out a number variations and in the end I did what any sensible person would do, especially a closer; delegate the  task to someone who can do the job well. My husband.  

He took my input, turned my first attempts into something that looked really professional but not yet like me. 

"It looks good, professional, but it is too closed, to sharp. It is not me. I want it to be more  airy, more round, less edges..." 

After a few iterations it was there. My logo. 

On my book release November 16 in Kungälv, you will see the new look. Later on you will see it on the blog, in the newsletters and of course in the coming web shop.  

Branding my Storyteller Persona has been educational and fun. And I have a feeling this is somehow just the beginning...  

20161102

#MyStorytellerBrand: Key characteristics

"You have this unusual combination of creativity and self-discipline", 

said Staffan, a friend and colleague, after I had published my first book Jenny, Jenny. I had never thought about it that way, but when he said it, it felt right. 

It takes creativity to tell stories. Just like it takes creativity to be a good engineer, since the essence of what we do is solving problems together.

When it comes to self-discipline, I have plenty of that. Always had. 

When I watched the movie "The American president" (a forerunner to the amazing TV series the West Wing) a person described Miss Wade (Anette Bening) as a "Closer":



I liked that description a lot and found that it fitted me. At that moment I only thought about it from a work perspective; as a leader I make sure we get things done. I am a closer.

Over the years, I understood that being a closer is applicable for my writing as well. I have met many who say they want to be a writer, yet they do not manage to complete a story. They have a number of reasons (excuses?) and in the end they end up with a number of half-finished texts or ideas. 

When I write a story I conclude it. If I do not, the story will not let me go. It seems I am a Closer also when it comes to Storytelling.

It took a little while before I decided to add a third characteristic.

To me, we are like snow. We are all snow, all needed to light up the world, yet each one of us is unique, like a beautiful snow flake. I enjoy our differences and I care about all living creatures.  So the third part of my brand starts with another C: Caring.

Snow art by Simon Beck


Creative Caring Closer. My Brand, My Words.

 I was ready to get started with a logo.