A New WINDFLOWER Release!
The Absent Mother, Memoir of a Foster Child
by Paula Shaffer
“I really believe people are called to a literary life like others are called to a theological life or a religious life, but publishing is a business that is really hard. Hard on your heart. Hard on your soul. Hard on your everything.” – Anne Lamott
Paula Shaffer’s poignant and courageous memoir depicts the reality of being traumatized by Seattle's flawed foster care system. Abandoned by her mother when she was only two months old, Paula winds up in one foster home after another until fate brings her at the age of three to Mrs. Brown where she and her older brother must endure all forms of abuse.. It’s been estimated that 80% of children aging out of foster care wind up leading dysfunctional lives.Too many vulnerable, tortured children have spent years in inappropriate foster homes and emerge without the life skills necessary to cope with perpetual feelings of unworthiness as they battle the self-fulfilling prophecy established during their formative years.This truly is an American tragedy. Paula Shaffer finds solace in her older brother and places her hopes in an absentee father. Paula Shaffer says, “It’s this being unwanted. That’s the thing. The continuous underlying gnaw. Eating away. The constant sting. Invisible. A way to disappear. Feel gone. No one wants the unwanted. No one.” Using a fast-paced, poetic form, Paula Shaffer will break your heart and make you want to change the system. The author's substantial talent is revealed in her compelling and brave memoir. A must-read!
5 Stars! This book leaves you both stunned and inspired.
5 Stars! A breathless read!
5 Stars! New author who will keep you rating page after page.
5 Stars! story of true vulnerability and amazing perseverance!
5 Stars! I was truly captivated!
5 Stars! A heartbreaking story of survival and resiilience!
COMING SOON: DECEMBER 2019 RELEASE!
When young Jaybe runs away from a dead-end life on the family farm in Arkansas to go live with his enterprising but roguish Uncle Harry, he comes face-to-face with the economic depression, prejudice, and hardships of the 1930s. Needing the money, he winds up illegally transporting poverty-stricken Okies with “minds of their own” from Arkansas and Oklahoma to California. As he makes a number of harrowing trips along America’s Main Street known as Route 66, Jaybe encounters human suffering, determined resilience, and bitter blockades at the California border where “them Okies” are not welcome.
An American history buff with a passionate love of old cars in mint condition, Dale Presson is a retired Army colonel living in California. He based his novel on actual events from his own life and his family of "Okies" who migrated west during the 1930's. A former food consultant, he enjoys “real” Italian food.
Windflower Press
The Writer’s Best Friend! Box 7089, Laguna Niguel, CA 92607 - 949-285-3831
MISSION STATEMENT
At Windflower Press, we understand writers because we are writers, too. We offer publishing assistance, consultation, editing, classes, workshops, & coaching; we sponsor literary events, salons, author panels, book launches & more. We are writers supporting writers.
Boutique Publishing, :Literary Salons, Writer's Intensives, Book Launches, Peer Coaching, Critique, Editing, Press Releases, Workshops, Consulting, Speakers, Poetry Events!
If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery,
it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. - Michelangelo
Books from Windflower Press
Interstices, an Anthology of Poetry & Prose by OC Writers
She Writes, an Anthology of Poetry & Prose by Women
She Writes Journal
Coyote Blues, Poetry & Prose Poems by John Gardiner
Rogue Waves, Poetry & Prose Poems by John Gardiner
Notes on Napkins, Poetry by John Perry
Hunter Killer, YA Fiction by Dick Easley
Home is Where the Heart Is, a Memoir by Alice Seegar Secrist
Wide Horizons, Facing Life with Steady Eyes by James King
Random, Poetry & Art by Janet Mackaig
Through the Gate, Moments of Remembrance, Thought, Consideration by Sharon Hanks
I Should Have Been a Cowboy, Memoir by John Romano
Meet Ethan Barrett, Kid-Kart Champion, by MaryAnn Easley
The Seventh “S” of Spring by MaryAnn Easley & Noosha Ravaghi
Footsteps of Gopal, a Memoir by Elaine Pike
Dancing Skeleton, Journey Through Stage 4 Cancer by Joanna Giangardella
Without Reservations, a Memoir by MJ West
Without Reservations Cookbook
Into the Light, Journaling for Optimal Change by MaryAnn Easley
A Jar of Fireflies, a Memoir by Jane Lewis
Changed in the Night, Fiction by MaryAnn Easley
My Own Darling, a Love Story for the Ages from the Greatest Generation by Christina Valentine Larsen
Chopping Wood, Carrying Water, a book of poems by Laura Miller
Now Write, If I can create poetry, so can you! by Kimberly Krantz
A Look Back with Faith in the Future, a Memoir by Claus Beneker
The Absent Mother, Memoir of a Foster Child by Paula Shaffer
WP
- Selective Memoir, Inspirational, Poetry, Anthologies, Fiction, Personal Essays.
