Welcome to
Writers4Higher
This issue, Writers4Higher features
Laura Cogdill
Hi, Laura. Welcome to the
Writers4Higher family!
Laura chose to answer the three questions in an essay. Thank you Laura!
Trying to separate my life into the three categories covered by
authors on this blog was like amputating limbs. The pieces that make my
life are so interwoven, it’s hard to disconnect them.
My journal question-of-the-day recently asked, “What are you called?”
I listed the obvious first: daughter, sister, aunt, writer, teacher, musician,
history buff, gardener...widow.
The last word is the hardest to embrace, but because of it, a new
realm of my life has begun. John died two years ago of a brain tumor.
His wild ride to the end is the making of my published book, “Liquidating
Life.” I included equipment we needed and when, medical terms, and
lots of levity in hopes it would be a guide for anyone journeying through brain
cancer or end-of-life issues.
As a Tallahassee native, I knew our town before we honored our
heritage with the restoration of old homes and the birth of many museums.
A story of my childhood romps on the porch of the Murat house ran in the
“Tallahassee Magazine” in 2010. My first solo driving jaunts took me past
the San Louis Mission when it was covered in vines and mostly hidden by
trees. Beyond Tallahassee’s history, I grew up traveling and enjoying
National Parks, monuments, and museums, which is why the novel sitting on my bookshelf
is an historical romance set in 1870’s California.
It must have been at Godby High when I fell in love with Russian
history. The closest I’ve gotten to my “bucket list” city of St.
Petersburg is Kiev, Ukraine. Soon I’ll go on my fourth mission trip there
to work in an orphanage school and learn heart lessons to bring back to my
first grade class. I’ll put together and distribute food packets to
widows and pensioners and clean their apartments. We also have the
opportunity to partake in Ukrainian culture through ballet and opera, which
feeds the musician in me. But most impacting is seeing WWII through the
eyes and stories of those who lived during their country's occupation.
I’ve written stories since I was very young. The Tallahassee
Writers Association has given me knowledge and confidence, and I now lead the
Havana Writers Group.
The best therapy through every up and down in life has been my
yard. My latest ongoing project is turning my backyard into a fruit
garden with limes, figs, bananas, blueberries, and a yet-to-be-identified
citrus tree.
I hope I continue to have the courage to walk through whatever
doors open next. I never know where they’ll lead and it makes for an exciting
life. I should write a book.
Would you like to find Laura?
Check out the links to this talented author:
Rhett
DeVane
Fiction
with a Southern Twist
I enjoy these posts about Tallahassee authors because I get to see the place where I grew up through new perspectives. Best of luck with the book, Laura. With your interest in the Ukraine, you might find some of author Marsha Skrypuch's Y/A novels interesting.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm