It is an honour today to feature a guest blog from Chris Cameron.

Find out more about Chris's fascinating life in his short bio below before reading his insightful essay:  S is for Short Story: What Ray Bradbury Taught Me about Writing and Life, by clicking here.​

Christopher Cameron enjoyed a long and successful career as a professional opera singer, performing on stages across Canada and abroad. He spent the final years of his singing career as a member of the Canadian Opera Company Chorus, retiring in 2009, thirty-three years after he first started with the company. Ten years ago he began his third career, as a freelance writer and editor.
 
As editor of Watershed magazine and co-host of Word on the Hills on Northumberland 89.7, Chris spends most of his days immersed in stories of the people, places, and events of Northumberland County.
 
Chris’s memoir of his singing years, Dr. Bartolo’s Umbrella (Seraphim Editions), was published in 2017. His second book, Thorneside Stories, will be published in 2022.

It is a real pleasure, at the start of this New Year, to feature a guest blog from well-known memoir author, Linda Strader. She shares with us the challenge of writing her second book, Uprooted: A New Life In The Arizona Sun, which was released last month. You can read her post by clicking here.

Linda Strader

​Originally from Syracuse, New York, Ms. Strader moved to Prescott, Arizona with her family in 1972. In 1976, she became one of the first women hired on a U.S. Forest Service fire crew.
 
Summers of Fire: A Memoir of Adventure, Love and Courage, was released on May 1st, 2018 by Bedazzled Ink Publishing. Her publishing history includes many web articles about writing memoir, her publishing and marketing experiences, and wildland firefighting. She has given talks on these topics to many clubs, including the American Association of University Women. Parade Magazine published an excerpt in 2018, and the PBS show Arizona Illustrated featured her segment “Wildland Firefighter,” in the fall of 2019.
 
The prequel to Summers of Fire, Uprooted: A New Life In The Arizona Sun, was released by Bedazzled Ink Publishing on December 1st, 2021.
 
Ms. Strader holds two degrees: a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, and a Masters in planning, from the University of Arizona. In addition to writing, she is a landscape architect, certified arborist, and watercolor artist. She currently lives in the same area where her Forest Service career began.

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
Join our mailing list!
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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.