Happy May Day…Happy Mothers Day…My Mother’s Second Anniversary…We’ll be Stepping Out

Flora, Goddess of Flowers May first. May Day is a many-splendored thing with more official holiday designations than perhaps any other day of the year. I recall as a child weaving May Day wreaths from spirea branches cut from our bushes and hanging them on our neighbors door. I especially liked hanging my wreath on…

Creative Outing, Lake County California-style: John Frary and Nan’s Hopland Grade Journey to buy a copy of “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”—and to see what they could see

One of my greatest pleasures in being an author and having my book “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” out in the world is hearing from readers. This note and two beautiful photos of one of my homeplaces, Lake County, Northern California, arrived from John Frary recently. I was so touched that I wanted to share it.—JGR…

Janet Riehl guests on PIVR program “Marketing for Fun and Profit” hosted by Janet Elaine Smith…and other internet audio links to hear Riehl reading from and speaking about “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”

INTERNET RADIO At PIVR click on the March 31, 2008 archive recording where my name and my book’s title appears. March 31, 2008 Janet Elaine Smith PIVR (Passionate Internet Voices Radio) “Marketing for Fun and Profit spoke with me and I read my poem “Crocus.” (Which you can read on the sidebar of Riehlife under…

Flying on Julia’s 65th birthday, up there in the sky together—I’m writing thank you notes: this one’s for you.

For me, family dates are engraved on my heart. March 13th will ever be Julia’s day. Will ever be my sister’s birthday. She lives within us, and curiously, seems to age right along with us. On this birthday, and every birthday, she lives beyond her death day. In 2005 on the first birthday after Julia’s…

Riehl’s poem “TREASURE CHEST” from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” tells father’s life of service…in the service [World War II] and back home

Janet Grace Riehl and Erwin A. Thompson, father-daughter writing team TREASURE CHEST by Janet Grace Riehl from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” He labors in the grove of service. Remembers flat tires, repaired. Loans proffered for crises. Then his somber face glows with the light of a thousand-watt angel. Memories of good turns returned is a…

Writers in the Sky February Newsletter presents Riehl’s poem “Window Frame” from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”

Yvonne Perry of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services asked me to send her a poem for her February newsletter. Click here to read the entire newsletter. I sent an excerpt from WINDOW FRAME originally published in “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” and dedicated to my mother Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson (January 4, 1916-May 1,…

Riehlife Back of the Envelope Book Marketing Plan for “Pen to Print” Panel at SCN National Memoir Conference, Austin, Texas

In 2006 I published my book “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”with iUniverse. While my first-line audience was friends and family, I quickly found there were second-third-and-fourth-line audiences rippling out there who were interested in my book, my topic, and by extension, in me and what I thought and had to say. I marketed “Sightlines” by every…

Publishing Strategies Examined in Redwood Coast Review article by Daniel Barth, “Staying Afloat: The poor devil author in the 21st century”…”Sightlines” author Riehl interviewed along with Bruce Patterson & Hal Zina Bennett

Click here to read Redwood Coast Review’s lead article by Daniel Barth, “Staying Afloat: The poor devil author in the 21st century,” online in pdf form. Daniel Barth’s article is well-researched and chockfull of information about Big Picture Publishing and how three authors in his region, Northern California, have responded in three distinctive ways to…

Writers in the Sky Podcast features author Velda Brotherton

Writers in the Sky, “a 3-Fold, Production (Blog, Podcast and Newsletter) filled with information about writing, publishing and book publicity” has the gracious and competent Yvonne Perry at the helm of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing and Editing Services. Velda Brotherton, author, “Fly with the Mourning Dove” “Yvonne has uploaded another show to Writers…