To mark the last day of the 2021 Authors Showcase, I am featuring four extra contributions for you. Three of them are from authors who had already been featured in September, but asked if I could include another of their life-changing events. They are all so good, I had to share them with you. The final one is an extract from my late father's memoir, Exclusive Pedigree, which has a very special place in my heart.

You can read all four of these bonus stories by clicking the titles below:

GRACIOUSLY DELIVERED by Tina Wagner Mattern

A Sea Change by Valerie Poore

A Nasty Birthday Surprise by Sue Bavey 

Long, Dark Tunnel by John L. Fear


Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this year's showcase. It has been a very special one.

As the 2021 Authors Showcase draws to a close, I am pleased to be able to feature a life-changing story from Mitos Suson.

You can read her contribution Excerpts from Shards of Time: A Memoir here.

Mitos Suson has lived in Europe, South America, and the United States. “A Doorbell, A Dictator, A Dad” is her debut Memoir and a healing journey that reflects her tumultuous   childhood, the impact of her father’s arrest as a political detainee, and the disintegration of her sheltered and privileged family life during the Martial Law era in the Philippines. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in History. After many decades of living abroad, Mitos has returned to her roots in Cebu and during the pandemic, she produced her second book, a creative non-fiction Memoir based on true events, “Shards of Time.”

Check my website: mitossuson.com
Follow me on FB: https://www.facebook.com/martiallawchild
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On the penultimate day of this year's showcase, it is a pleasure to feature a regular supporter of ours, Mary Mae Lewis, with her first contribution this year.

You can read her story Scrabble by clicking here.

Mary Mae has recently released a new memoir, Don’t Stop the Fiesta. You can find out more about it in her guest blog here. There's also a chance to win a signed copy.

Mary Mae is author of the novel Where There’s a Will, There’s a Woman and the memoir Don’t Stop the Fiesta. She has had success with short stories; she came runner-up in North Staffordshire’s TOO WRITE adult fiction competition in 2017 and was highly commended in THE POTTERIES PRIZE for flash fiction in 2018. She contributed to Robert Fear’s Travel Stories and Highlights 2019 and his Memorable Stories Anthology 2020 and Inspirational Stories 2021.

She’s also been published in the Telegraph and is a published poet.

A retired teacher, Mary came late to becoming a writer and her work is based on true life experiences.

She has been married for over 50 years has 3 sons and 4 grand children.

She has travelled extensively, including living in Grand Cayman for four years and Malawi for five.

She now spends half the year in Spain, where she does most of her writing, and half in Newcastle-u-Lyme, Staffordshire UK.

 She blogs on her Face Book page Where There’s a Will, There’s a Woman.

Besides reading and writing Mary Mae enjoys going to local history talks, buying and selling antiques, gardening and swimming.

Mary Mae Lewis: www. author-marymaelewis.co.uk
marymaelewis@mail.com
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It is amazing to be receiving so many last-minute contributions to the 2021 Authors Showcase, and a lot of them are from newcomers to the writing features on Fred's Blog.

Our latest life-changing event is from Donna O’Donnell Figurski and you can read her  story Cricket Magic by clicking here.

Donna O’Donnell Figurski is a wife, mother, granny, retired teacher, writer, playwright, actor, director, stage manager, photographer, former picture-book reviewer, and caregiver for her husband and best friend, David. Pheww!
 
Donna is the author of her three-time-award-winning memoir, Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale, a heart-wrenching love story. She is working on another book about brain injury (Conversations) with a coauthor who is a survivor of brain injury. Donna can’t wait to share her love of teaching, complete with anecdotes from her career–in which she taught first and third grades–and tips for teachers, in her new manuscript, If I Ran the School: Making Learning Fun, which is next up for submission. She implores you to cross your fingers for her!
 
Donna hosts a twice-monthly, 80-minute, international radio show, “Another Fork in the Road,” on the Brain Injury Radio Network. She is also the creator and writer for an award-winning blog, Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury. In addition, she is a frequent contributor to both print and online journals and magazines, including Hope Magazine, The Mighty, and BrainLine, and her work has been published in several anthologies.
 
Donna’s forever-dream is to publish her picture-book manuscripts in this lifetime. Again, please cross your fingers for her!
 
Donna is happiest when spending time with her husband, David, and her ‘lil pup, Cricket, either in the desert or at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. And, of course, when she is writing.
 
To learn more about Donna, please visit …
her book, Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale.
her website at donnafigurski.com.
her personal blog at donnafigurski.com/bookity-blog.
 
Google Donna O’Donnell Figurski to learn more about her than you ever wanted to know.
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With four days left in the 2021 Authors Showcase, this latest contribution  is the first this year from Dolores Banerd.

Read Dolores' refreshingly honest life-changing event, I Behave Badly. Yes, Really. by clicking here.

Dolores Banerd

Damn Covid19!  I’d rather be bushwalking in Australia or strolling the streets of Bangkok under a broiling sun or being badgered in Bali by mosquitos the size of corn nuts. Instead, like others, for over a year I have been armchair traveling but luckily my armchair is in Los Angeles, California, so I have not been suffering too much.  Another blessing is having more time to write—mostly about travel escapades and my misspent youth in Canada -- and to organize my dental floss collection. 

Our second contribution to the showcase today is from another newcomer to our writing features, Lynn C. Bilton. Thank you for getting involved Lynn.

You can read Lynn's story Greener Acres by clicking here.

Lynn C. Bilton

Lynn has always lived in Ontario, moving numerous times throughout the province. Each change of address has created an opportunity to meet a wonderful cast of new friends.

Her occupations have included nearly every aspect of the florist industry, as well as farming and social worker, and she has served as a church organist and a librarian. In the past few years, Lynn has added writer to that list.
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To date, she has had short stories published in two separate anthologies, and several articles (featuring her own photography) have appeared in Our Canada magazine. Lynn’s story “Grand Skating” was recently voted winner in the fiction category of the “Winning Words” literary competition. The contest was offered by Spirit of the Hills Arts Association, located in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, where she currently resides. 

It is a privilege today to feature author Sverrir Sigurdsson in the 2021 Authors Showcase, with an adapted excerpt from his memoir.

Enjoy reading Sverrir's contribution My Grandfather by clicking here.

Sverrir Sigurdsson grew up in Iceland and graduated as an architect from Finland in 1966. He pursued an international career that took him to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the U.S. His assignments focused on school construction and improving education in developing countries. He has worked for private companies as well as UNESCO and the World Bank. He is now retired and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and coauthor, Veronica Li. She was a journalist and author of three other publications. Their book Viking Voyager: An Icelandic Memoir is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDMRM66
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MDMRM66
Sverrir’s Facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/Sverrir-Sigurdsson-Author-101716425116920/

Sverrir Sigurdsson and his wife and co-author, Veronica Li

As we enter the last few days of the 2021 Authors Showcase, it is wonderful to be able to welcome another newcomer to our writing features, Sharon Hayhurst.

You can read Sharon's poignant contribution Life Lessons by clicking here.

Sharon Hayhurst

Sharon is a wife, mother, author and kindergarten teacher by day.  She lives on a rural property in the North Island of New Zealand with her husband, Geoffrey, and an assortment of animals.  Sharon has special talents: she can attract oddballs with an almost magnetic force, almost as great as her talent for acting the clown, attracting trouble and falling over her own feet. She manages to find the mundane things in life hilariously funny, with an ability to make fun of herself with her entertaining take on life.  Her curiosity feeds her desire to travel, seek adventure and share this with others, writing in a simple, joyful and casual style. 
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Links
Universal: www.smarturl.it/SHayhurst1
https://www.instagram.com/sharonhslm/
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It is wonderful to be able to welcome back  Liliana Amador-Marty with her first contribution to this year's showcase.  Liliana has been a regular contributor over the past couple of years, as she explains below.

You can read Liliana's touching life-changing story In Clearing by clicking here.

Liliana Amador-Marty is a Colombian-American writer. She has been journal writing since the age of ten honing her writing skills at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Liliana holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and continued post-graduate work in Memoir Writing at The New School in New York City, where she wrote her first story, In Caring for my Ficus later published in 40 Inspirational True Stories, 2021 Edition by Robert Fear. Currently living in London, United Kingdom,

Amador-Marty writes personal narratives, travel stories and poetry, meeting weekly with an international collective of women writers, Primrose Pens where she develops her work. Her travel story, Blood Memory was featured in Fred's Blog, 2019 Authors Showcase, fd81.net and selected for the anthology, 40 Memorable Life Experiences in 2020. Liliana's personal narrative, Gypsy Curse is published on the web at www.thecreativesoulcollective.com. Her latest travel story, Return Trip about her visit to Havana, Cuba will be featured in a new writing blog, https://www.unwrittenpoetry.com/. Liliana Amador-Marty is currently working on a Memoir. 

It is a pleasure today to welcome another newcomer to the 2021 Authors Showcase - well-known book blogger and writer Sue Bavey.

Sue's contribution is entitled Honeymoon Hiccups. You can read it by clicking here.

Sue Bavey is an English Mum of two, living in Massachusetts since 2003 with her husband, two kids, a cat named Midnight, a bunny named Nutmeg, a leopard gecko named Ziggy Stardust and occasional frogs and salamanders. Sue has a book blog called Sue’s Musings which can be found here www.suelbavey.wordpress.com and is in the process of preparing her grandad’s memoir ‘Lucky Jack’ for publication.