Women on Writing Blog Event emphasizes Family

Today I'm participating in a mass blogging! WOW!

Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We're celebrating the release of Therese Walsh's debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers.

My most memorable family relationship was with my father. He was the hero in my life.

He moved through life with bold strokes, never letting other people bend him from the way he wanted to go. He was a pioneer in his family going where his ten siblings would not go. His bold strokes made all of our lives better.

When he returned from World War II, he took on the world – he married my mother and did things his way. He was always himself and didn’t care what other people thought of his thoughts or his actions whether they were laughable or significant.

He taught me to always reach for the stars even if you couldn’t touch them – just keep reaching. He wanted a better life for me and now I have it because of him.

“I want you to do better than I have,” he would often say and when life beat him down many times, he still had a smile, a joke, and a cheerful, contagious presence that no one could resist.

He taught me that keeping one’s word is more important than anything else in life because that is what made the true grit of a man, not his wealth or his position or his looks.

When we were teenagers, we would play cards on the back porch during those lazy, nothing to do summer afternoons and my friends would not play without him. His contagious personality appealed to all generations.

There are many heroes in the world today, but a true hero’s words linger inside of you all your life and guide you when you have to make the tough decisions. That’s what my father did for me – his words and presence are always with me providing a guidepost that I have used all my life. He is my hero.

Samuel Anthony Policastro 1925-1999

Visit The Muffin (http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html) to read what Therese has to say about family relationships. And make sure you visit Therese's website (http://www.theresewalsh.com) to find out more about the author."

About the book: The Last Will of Moira Leahy By Therese Walsh A LOST SHADOW Moira Leahy struggled growing up in her prodigious twin's shadow; Maeve was always more talented, more daring, more fun. In the autumn of the girls' sixteenth year, a secret love tempted Moira, allowing her to have her own taste of adventure, but it also damaged the intimate, intuitive relationship she'd always shared with her sister. Though Moira's adolescent struggles came to a tragic end nearly a decade ago, her brief flirtation with independence will haunt her sister for years to come. A LONE WOMAN When Maeve Leahy lost her twin, she left home and buried her fun-loving spirit to become a workaholic professor of languages at a small college in upstate New York. She lives a solitary life now, controlling what she can and ignoring the rest--the recurring nightmares, hallucinations about a child with red hair, the unquiet sounds in her mind, her reflection in the mirror. It doesn't help that her mother avoids her, her best friend questions her sanity, and her not-quite boyfriend has left the country. But at least her life is ordered. Exactly how she wants it. A SHARED PAST Until one night at an auction when Maeve wins a keris, a Javanese dagger that reminds her of her lost youth, and happier days playing pirates with Moira in their father's boat. Days later, a book on weaponry is nailed to her office door, followed by anonymous notes, including one that invites her to Rome to learn more about the blade and its legendary properties. Opening her heart and mind to possibility, Maeve accepts the invitation, and with it, a window into her past. Ultimately she will revisit the tragic November night that shaped her and Moira's destinies, and learn that nothing can be taken at face value, as one sister emerges whole and the other's score is finally settled. Note: To read reviews about The Last Will of Moira Leahy, please visit Therese's website: http://theresewalsh.com/News_Reviews/news_reviews.html ------------------ About the author, Therese Walsh: Therese is the co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a blog for writers about the craft and business of genre fiction. Before turning to fiction, she was a researcher and writer for Prevention magazine, and then a freelance writer. She's had hundreds of articles on nutrition and fitness published in consumer magazines and online. She has a master's degree in psychology. Aside from writing, Therese's favorite things include music, art, crab legs, Whose Line is it Anyway?, dark chocolate, photography, unique movies and novels, people watching, strong Irish tea, and spending time with her husband, two kids and their bouncy Jack Russell. Therese's website: http://theresewalsh.com Therese's blog: http://theresewalsh.com/blog.html Writer Unboxed: http://www.writerunboxed.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/ThereseWalsh Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therese.walsh

Participating Bloggers! Day By Day Writer: http://daybydaywriter.wordpress.com/ Adventures in the Writing Life: http://adventuresinthewritinglife.blogspot.com/ The Beautification Project: http://thebeautificationproject.wordpress.com/ Reading Frenzy: http://lumorgan.blogspot.com/ A Girl, Her Career, and Life on the Dairy Farm: http://sandhillssequitur.blogspot.com/ The 5th Line Project, Page 56, Line 5: http://the5thlineproject.wordpress.com Read These Books and Use Them!: http://margodill.com/blog/ Julie Bogart's blog: http://juliebogart.com/blog/ A Ponderance of Things: http://rcponders.wordpress.com/ A Woman's Life Stages: http://www.awomanslifestages.com Danielle Buffardi's blog: http://www.daniellebuffardi.com/ Just Another Perfect Day: http://gundiva.blogspot.com/ Stories of life: one writer-mom's odyssey: http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.blogspot.com/ Once Written, Twice Shy: http://www.shywriters.blogspot.com/ Writing Cops...It's What I Do: http://melanieatkins.wordpress.com/ Anna Louise Lucia's blog: http://annalouiselucia.com/blog/ Word Wranglers: http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ Erin Denver's blog: http://www.erindenver.com/ Writers Inspired: http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/ Romancing the Blog: http://obe-romancingtheblog.blogspot.com MamaBlogga: mom's search for meaning: http://www.mamablogga.com/  About.com's Freelance Writing: http://freelancewrite.about.com/ GardenWall Publications: http://www.gardenwallpublications.com/blog/ Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem: http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/ Five Scribes: http://fivescribes.blogspot.com/ R.J. Writes: http://www.ruthjhartman.blogspot.com/ Catch a Star Before It Falls: http://celestialgldfsh.livejournal.com/ Words from the Heart: http://contemplativeed.blogspot.com/ Magical Musings: http://magicalmusings.com/ Fat and then, a journey back to my true self: http://fatandthen.blogspot.com/ Gayle Trent, Cozy Mystery Writer: http://www.gayletrent.com/blog/ Paris Parfait, Tara Bradford writes from the City of Light: http://www.tarabradford.com/ Cathy C.'s Hall of Fame: http://www.cathychall.blogspot.com/ Misadventures with Andi: http://www.misadventureswithandi.com/ Kristin Bair O'Keeffe's blog: http://www.kristinbairokeeffeblog.com/ Awake is Good: http://www.awakeisgood.blogspot.com/ The Writer's Edge: http://writersedgeinfo.blogspot.com/ Writing is About Putting Yourself to Words: http://aspnovelist.blogspot.com/ Squirrel's Treehouse: http://www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com/ Gaijin Mama: http://gaijinmama.wordpress.com/ Multi-Tasking Mama: http://www.multitaskingmama.com/ Self Help Daily: http://www.selfhelpdaily.com/ Words and Coffee: http://jonathandanz.wordpress.com Elizabeth Kirschner's blog: http://elizabethkirschner.wordpress.com/ One Woman's Eye: http://onewomanseye.blogspot.com/ Entering the Age of Elegance: http://www.maturingmodernwomen.com/ The Write at Home Mom: http://www.thewriteathomemom.blogspot.com/ Mother Daughter Book Club Blog: http://motherdaughterbookclub.wordpress.com/ Muse: http://erikarobuck.wordpress.com/ the SIMMER blog: http://simmerblog.typepad.com/ Scales and other lies: http://scalesandotherlies.com/wordpress/ Natalia Maldonado's blog: http://www.nmaldonado.com/blog/ writers, dogs, and germans*: http://sdennard.wordpress.com/ Meryl's Notes blog: http://www.meryl.net/section/blog/ Little Miss Information: http://s-frostie.tumblr.com/ Linda Mohr's Blog: http://lindamohr.wordpress.com/ Reconsidering Sanity: http://www.reconsanity.blogspot.com/ So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/ Cynderella's Castle: http://www.cynthiadalba.blogspot.com/ Dianne Sagan, Life as a Ghost(writer): http://diannesagan.wordpress.com/ Janel's Jumble: http://janelsjumble.blogspot.com/ North Side Four (plus Eleanor Roosevelt, the Senator and the President): http://www.northsidefour.blogspot.com/ Teresa Shen Swingler's blog: http://teresashenswingler.com/ Color Your Life Happy-Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.: http://coloryourlifehappy.com/blog/ a-century-of-thoughts: http://chehrenegar.blogspot.com/ Behind Brown Eyes: http://right2write.blogspot.com/ 'Manda Blogs About...: http://mandablogsabout.blogspot.com/ SFC Blog: Families Matter: http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/