home – Page 3 – Marianne Maili

September 8, 2023September 17, 2023

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.

Another from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences.

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.

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August 26, 2023August 26, 2023

I am home. in beauty. “Is Iowa really that pretty?”

A view over the Mississippi at Dubuque, Iowa.

The Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

A lovely place to begin a new book. The backyard patio. July 2016. Rush Street, Dubuque, Iowa

Freshly picked snacks.

Inspiration from Norah Ephron the day before I began writing I am home.

I have gorgeous winter photos, too, but they are currently in storage in Iowa and I am in Barcelona.

A reader hosting her book club in Kansas next week with I am home. has known me since she was a toddler. When she sent me the club’s questions, she wrote, “You’re getting rave reviews. Someone in the book club asked me how you’re so positive after everything you’ve been through. She asked if Iowa is really that pretty. I told her it’s prettier than anyone gives it credit for. And I told her you have always seen beauty in everything and you make others appreciate things more, you have a gift. You have always been so good about living in the present and enjoying life.”

Available everywhere books are sold.

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August 25, 2023December 6, 2023

Things I saw at home.

Again from KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences. It was shocking, painful, and scary to watch the way some healthcare workers treated my parents and other elders. I love to see elderhood revered and cherished, while I know some older people still need to earn the status of mature elder. No matter our age, we deserve vital respectful healthcare, the kind that helps us stay fully alive while we are still here. Remember how being a senior in high school was cool? Let’s think about seniors in life that way, too. Seniors at living, soon-to-be graduates from the school of life. They know stuff and can teach us things. We are all at home, going home, and need help.

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You, too?

This one, too, is on KK’s list of Scintillating Sentences. I love it when I learn that someone loves a sentence I considered taking out and finally left in.

Available wherever books are sold.

I am home. at the piscina, near the handstand.

“Sometimes you have to flip things around,” this reader said when I told him I loved the handstand in the background of this shot.

I love hearing from readers who are reading near water, in the water, in between swims, doing and watching handstands. It fits the book so well.

“I just finished your I am home.,” he wrote earlier, “which I started last night in bed after years of ‘not’ reading books. It demands a lot of bravery to expose your soul this way! I liked your ‘not mentioning’ any names in this book so the focus is elsewhere. I am really astonished at what a great writer and storyteller you are! I will now surely go for your first, Lucy, go see…”

(see p.108 in the book to understand the full context of the nots in these comments)

Available wherever books are sold.

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