Celia was rarely afraid of the woods, but lately she’d been feeling jumpy, especially after she’d found the kitchen door ajar one early morning when she returned from a dance performance at the Toi Toy Club. She’d switched on all the lights and looked beneath the bed and inside the closets. She even crept up the stairs to Star’s old bedroom, holding her breath with each silent step until she reached the top. Stock-still, she watched the shadows jump in the flashlight beam, her stomach sinking like a water-soaked log, dreading someone jumping out at her.
Frank Frazee, a fellow artist, drew this rendition of Celia Monroe after he read, Celia’s Heaven, I love it. Thanks, Frank. For more of Frank’s art, see more at https://www.studiotour.net/frank-frazee
Celia’s Heaven launched at Village Books in 2020, soon after we were locked down with the COVID pandemic. Now it is 2022 and still cases of Omicrone surge. Both my husband and I were exposed by my 92-year-old father-in-law. He is fine, and we never got sick. Throughout the pandemic, I have found solace in writing and painting. I finished a rough draft of my second memoir, “Finding Virgil,” the story of finding my biological father. “Struck: A Memoir,” is out shopping for an agent. It is the story of my work as a fire lookout attendant in the 70s, as well as the childhood sexual abuse I grew up with.
Village Books, in Bellingham, WA, has Celia’s Heaven displayed on the Featured Local Author rack just inside the front door. Please pick up a copy. There is a blizzard, which I think works well as a winter read, perhaps better than a summer read by the pool. But who knows? It might cool you down a bit. If you like my book, please let everyone know at Amazon.com on my author page. Receiving reviews helps with distribution. It could be as simple as: “I couldn’t put down “Celia’s Heaven.” I highly recommend this book!” And if you read on Kindle, it is available in eBook format too. Here is the link Celia’s Heaven on Amazon.
If you are interested in taking a writing class from me, Wild Mind Writing will be offered in March. I’d love to have you join me virtually to learn how to write fast, getting down the first word from the bottom of your mind. Based on Natalie Goldberg’s practice writing work from “Writing Down the Bones.” I hope to see you on ZOOM.
Nancy Canyon is published in Take a Stand: Art Against Hate, True Stories II, III, & IV, Raven Chronicles, Water~Stone Review, Fourth Genre, Floating Bridge Review, and more. She holds the MFA in Creative Writing from PLU, coaches for The Narrative Project, and paints in her Fairhaven art studio. Nancy’s poetry collection “Saltwater”, and novel “Celia’s Heaven,” are available through villagebooks.com. More at www.nancycanyon.com
