A big thank you to Sarah Elgatian, Isaac Hamlet, and Little Village Magazine (October 2023) of Iowa City, Iowa.
I am home. in the Little Village.
I am home. in Marco Island, Florida.
“I am well into the book now. It is so brilliant! I feel so many different emotions reading it and I love the bits of irony and humor you bring to the stories, along with the questions you raise.
Now that I know how important water was to the story, I am pleased that I made it my first book to read by this new pool we are going to after we work out.
I appreciate the way you have moved between the dramatic passages and the lighter, witty, thought-provoking chapters of the story….changing, variously, the time frame, the tone and the location. It gives the narrative an interesting momentum and energy that for me is very engaging.
I am savoring each chapter and each story like I don’t want it to end. I love the style of writing,
I ordered Lucy, go see. and it should arrive just in time so I can roll from one to the other. Congratulations on publishing this amazing book!”
I am home. with Lucy, go see.
Another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences. I like the way these two books call to each other, live with each other, are enriched by each other.
Available wherever books are sold.
I am home. in freedom.
“It’s really a book about freedom, about what it takes to live as a free-spirit in this world,” this reader wrote from Chicago.
Available wherever books are sold.
I am home. in the Pyrenees.
I am home. swimming.
As I have mentioned before, there is a lot of water and a lot of swimming in this book. And a lot of a lot, really. Anyway, it was a thrill to be asked to sign it at the pool in front of the Mediterranean in Barcelona last week. And this is another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences.
I am home. on the screen in Kansas.
What a wonderful reception for I am home. from the GO Book Club in Shawnee, Kansas! Because of the time difference between the Kansas City area and Barcelona, I was unable to appear live so I recorded this video in which I answered questions these readers sent me.
I could probably write another book to answer each of the following:
This book has a different format and flow than most books. What were your thoughts when creating the structure of the book?
Why did you write the book the way you did? Aka not in chronological order of how things happened…
As I read, I felt you had such inner peace and calmness even in the midst of turmoil. Any thoughts or tips on how you achieved this?
Do you think you will move again? Is there one place that will feel like home and where you will eventually want to stay or is home what you make it?
When you move to different countries, what do you miss about other countries? What commonalities or differences do you see in different countries and what do you miss most?
You said you think about silence as voice, as a choice, as a speechless voice or unspeakable silence. Can you explain what you mean by that? It’s brilliant. I’m curious how you came to that conclusion?
Where are your favorite places you’ve ever visited?
Again, you can link to the video with the answers here.
If you’d like me to appear at your book club, just send an e-mail to welcomewonder@mariannemaili.com .
Coming back to home.
Another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences. This one hints at the humor peppered throughout the book. I love it when readers tell me they laughed out loud while reading. Cried and laughed. Two great releases. A male reader who speaks English as a second language recently wrote, “Yes, some pages made me cry.”
“That seems a good thing– a good grieving cry does wonders,” I answered.
“Yes, it’s good because you feel pain going out,” he replied.
Pain going out. I love that.
I am home forgetting.
It’s true, I write to remember and to forget. Versatile, useful writing that does so much for the writer, and often and eventually, the reader. And what makes a writer? Writing. It can be a way of remembering, forgetting, playing, imagining, wondering, searching, asking, answering, corresponding, reading, soothing, and more. Write, I say, write. You can do whatever you want with it during and after.
I am home writing.
Another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences.
I am home. in collective happiness.
Yet another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences.
Available wherever books are sold.
Marianne Maili 