Living Through Grief ~ Author Biographies

Victoria Moo Briddell Victoria Moo Briddell

BRIDDELL, Victoria Moo, author of “Silver Lining” – I live in Mount Airy, Maryland with my husband, fellow seeker and best friend, Don. I participate in the Hilltop Writers and Sophia Writers groups, working in memoir and short story genres. In my writing I am seeking to express universal truth through personal experience. Having lived in several different countries I consider myself a citizen of the world. I have studied and practiced Yoga Vedanta for forty-four years in India and the USA and currently teach yoga in Frederick, Maryland. My children, Matt and Christiana, enrich my life with inspiration and support.

 BUDD, Lindi Mitchell, author of “Two Mothers” – I was born and raised in Miami, attended college in the North Carolina mountains near Asheville where, after college, I lived a back-to-the-land, self-sufficient lifestyle in a 100-year-old cabin with few conveniences.  The lessons I learned from living close to the land have stayed with me as I moved to Virginia and then to Baltimore, Maryland.  I hold a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education.  I have one daughter, Harmony, who has been and is, my greatest teacher and my life’s most precious blessing.

Corby's bio photo Corby Caffrey-Dobosh

CAFFREY-DOBOSH, Corby, author of “Absence” – I live in a rural coal-mining town in Southwestern Pennsylvania, down the road from where I was raised and where my parents still live. Our home is two hundred years old, and the family burial plots and headstones of the original owners are visible in our back yard. My most sacred work is as wife-soul-mate to my beloved Doug, and momma to Finnegan, Caleb, and Ruah. I help children who have structural and personal difficulties as they navigate through an educational system indifferent to diversity. At Waynesburg University, I instruct Sociology and Psychology courses. Find Me on Facebook

 CARLE, Barbara Ann, author of “Decisions” – I am a personal essay writer and poet. My work has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul books and several anthologies. My book New York Rhapsody, a collection of poems about growing up in New York City, was published in 2010. I live in Friendswood, Texas with my family and husband Ed.

Dena Clayton Dena Clayton

CLAYTON, Dena, publisher and editor, Love Revealed series of books – I believe we all share a life’s purpose of learning to give and receive more love. I bow to the reality of billions of hearts healing via the Love Revealed books. My gratitude is deep to be able to share these books. I am happy to tend the blog on this site, writing of ways people can live with more love in their lives. Ten years ago, a passion emerged: joining friends for evenings of 10-minute writing exercises. Today, I enjoy the Hilltop Writers circle in Frederick County, Maryland. www.denaclayton.com

DAVIES, Marcia, author of “A Place Beyond” – I started writing after retiring from 38 years of service in a Yoga community. In 2009, I took a writing journey to Prague and have attended two 10-day projects retreats at the Hollowdeck Press LLC. in Boulder, Colorado. I attend workshops and a monthly writing group at the Sophia Center in Lineboro, Maryland and the regular monthly Hilltop Writers group near Frederick, Maryland. I live in Keedysville, Maryland and am currently working in memoir.

Sheila Foster Sheila Foster

FOSTER, Sheila, author of “Trampled by Elephants” – My devotion to the Divine Mother was quickened when I was six year old. At eight years old I founded the Blessed Virgin Mary Club. That eventually evolved into a women’s mystery school, the Temple of the Sacred Feminine, which I have been stewarding and loving for 30 years. I serve as companion and ritual elder to women in their healing and spiritual awakening. Always a maker of art, I love writing, nature, and finding creative ways to engage the Mystery. My two grown children are my ultimate Teachers of fierce, unconditional love. www.temenoscenter.org

Susan Gordon_1st preference Susan Gordon

GORDON, Susan, author of “Magic, At Last” – I am a poet and a prose writer of memoir and fiction. I am currently at work on a memoir-based dictionary inspired by my daughter, Liz Gordon, who died of heart disease at age 34. I am a member of a number of writing communities and host the Hilltop Writers. I work as a licensed clinical addictions counselor. I live with my dogs on a 41-acre farm in Ijamsville, Maryland.  susangordonstories.com

KEEFE, Marie  author of “Recognition” – Poetry is a new route to surprise for me – a far cry from the writing and editing prevalent in my prior work as Counterparts to social service organizations. It has become the thread that weaves together the strands of advocacy for social justice, printmaking, family and the natural world that currently form the fabric of my days. I am a long-time resident of Cabin John, MD, but my writing haven is Hilltop Writers Group. Family always informs thought and writing, and in that I am blessed by Rob, Mia, Sean, Matt and their lovelies.

Nancy Kern Nancy Kern

KERN, Nancy, author of “Drawing Grandmother Home” – I am a working writer and metaphysical teacher in Houston. When I was four, I scratched a magical alphabet into the dirt with a stick. I wrote my first poem when I was seven, after seeing mountains for the first time. I write daily: memoir and curriculum for the classes I teach. I teach at the Spectrum and Jung Centers in Houston, and give consultations. I teach clients and students to trust their creativity, their truth and their connection to Source. I am the mother of three amazing grown children, and the grandmother of a recently arrived miracle. www.nancykern.com

 KOLKER, Linda, author of “Nana’s Divine Love” – I live in Charlottesville, Virginia at the foot of the Shenandoah mountains. Deer, bear, foxes and wild turkeys are regular visitors in my front yard. Several generations of bluebirds have fledged from my nesting boxes. When I fly out of our local airport, I feel as if I am leaving my mother’s lap. I have made a career writing for corporations. Until now, I haven’t taken my personal writing beyond the pages of my private journals. The opportunity to write about grief made me want to share the story of my tender relationship with my beloved grandmother, Emilia Regina Wearner.

LOEFFLER, Dan author of “Leah’s Gift, a Father’s Story” – I am a chevalier, disguised as a construction manager, consummate procrastinator and raconteur.  Married to my life’s love, Nancy Miller Loeffler, the mother of our two beautiful children, and live in North Carolina. I will always be a Midwesterner at heart, so expect an open and welcoming hug.

The road we have wandered has included a life changing loss of our daughter, Leah. This is the first time I felt encouraged to share my story. Passionately thankful for the life I have been blessed with, I will see you around the corner when you least expect it.

 

Nancy Loeffler Nancy Loeffler

LOEFFLER, Nancy, author of “Leah’s Gift, a Mother’s Story” – I am the founder of Being With Grief.  As a Being With Grief Counselor, I help others navigate their own grief processes in a way that honors each unique journey exactly as it appears each moment. I use Samyama along with a medicine bag full of strategies that have been a help to me on my own path.

I love to walk on the beach, dance, collage, cook and eat delicious food. Dan and I live in North Carolina. Our son Peter lives in Minneapolis. I have tremendous love and gratitude for the unknown and the mystery that has brought me to this moment. beingwithgrief.com

MELOTTI-CORMACK, author of “An Unexpected Grief” – I live in West Virginia, teach in Maryland and write with a partner from Pennsylvania. Originally, I am from New Zealand. I began to write at the age of nine; now I write because I have to.

 PACKER-HALSEY, Irene, author of “One Word, Ten Years” – I am blessed to have Frederick, MD, New York, NY, Taos, NM, Ft. Berthold, ND and San Juan, PR as the centers of my world. A social justice advocate providing leadership and organizational development training in Latino and American Indian communities for over 45 years, I am deeply grateful for the path which has guided me to good people, places and things. Mother to Nikki, Nyja and Mayobanex, Gaga to Benito, and widow of Wesley Deane Halsey, my mantras are “life is one great sabor!” and “think big or leave!”

 

 RILATT-RICHARDSON, Beverley, author of “The Decision to Love” – I am a widow in my late 60`s who lives on the beautiful Redcliffe Peninsula, in S.E. Queensland, Australia. I am also a recently trained teacher and facilitator of the Art of Feminine Presence, helping business and career women to develop a more feminine and powerful presence so they can feel confident in any situation, and be seen and heard in the way that they want. www.feminineandpowerful.com

 ROSENBERG, Anita Karen, author of “Let’s Change the Subject” – In 2005 I traveled to, Moldova, the most impoverished country in Eastern Europe; my ancestral homeland. Before this journey my writing was limited to years of journals. As I walked in the footsteps of my grandmothers, I sensed their happiness that I’d come to tell their stories. Shortly after my return I found a writing home at the Sophia Center in Lineboro, Maryland. I work with Max Regan and meet monthly with the women at the Farm who inspire me. I belong to a memoir group of the Maryland Writers Association. I live in Catonsville, Maryland, and I am a writer.

YOUNKINS, Diane, author of “A Mother-in-Law’s Love” – I live in the woods of Pleasant Valley with my favorite animals – currently two humans, a fluffy dog and several imaginary friends who live in fairyland villages under the trees and near the rocks. I am a member of the Hilltop Writers group.

http://www.heartgarden-life.blogspot.com