Meet Our Writers Week 29 On Mindsinger

 Tell us about yourself  

 I am an author of several books, an artist, woodcarver and columnist.  I live in Indiana with my husband of 56 years.  Enjoy my children, grandchildren and great grandchild.  My husband, John, has been disabled since 1974 after being struck by Transverse Myelitis. 

Tell me about your blog(s), name(s), what does it mean to you? 

 MINDSINGER was the first having been online for several years.  It presents poetry, prose, photos and graphic art.  Mindsinger also serves as a launch platform for sub titles. 

     

AECHOES from the Heartland was second and acts as a platform for my newspaper column, Country Roads.  Granny Tales is the latest and is an outlet for my children's  news paper column .

When have you started blogging? 

Around 2008.  I did not add the other two until about 2011.

What's the theme(s) of your blog(s)? What do you write most? poetry, fiction or novel, or  short stories?

  The general theme of my blogs is communication.  Although I've written a dozen or so books, I still reach out to more readers.  My blogs are family oriented and have posted nothing I would be ashamed to have my grandchildren read.  My writing is pretty evenly spread over prose and poetry.  I have also shared excerpts from my books. 

What are the inspirations of your writing? 

 Life mostly.  Beauty, nature, the big questions such as "Why are we here?  Is there a God?  If so, how does He interact with us?  Sometimes the work of other poets I read here.

You are involved with Bluebell Books Short Story Slam writing challenge? How do you feel about it so far? What's the benefits of it?  

I would rather we be given a general theme about which to write instead of just words.  I've done that but do feel hemmed in by it at times.  I've been rather remiss in writing for both this blog and the Jingle Poetry blogs lately.  My husband and I both have had medical problems and I'm becoming more and more a caregiver for John.  It is very hard to watch  him lose more and more mobility and it takes over my concentration.

Sorry about your husband’s health condition, hope that everything improves soon.

Now, Do you have a favorite blogging friend(s) to share? Tell us about his/her blog link and the writing in it!  

I especially enjoy Author's Den having been one of the first to join that community.  Matt Miller has done a tremendous job with it and it has become great platform for showcasing an author's work.  He even has a book store through which an author can sell books.

Do you have a favorite book or author?  

The Bible is a given.  But I've also enjoyed C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien Frank Peretti, Max Lucado among many others.

What's your writing plans in the near future? 

I am working right now on publishing the second volume of The Chronicles of Windfallow, a double trilogy written for young adults and up.  It has been a challenging and very enjoyable project that has been going on since 2000.  I am publishing with Create Space and find them easy to work with and reasonably priced.  Since I create my own covers, the fees are small.  Right now the weekly newspaper columns keep me writing.  I don't have a new novel in mind, but will be working on publishing my autobiography, With Heart Divided.  It is written, but I must learn how to embed graphics before I begin struggling to get it into a pdf format that conforms to Create Space's requirements. 

Thanks for contacting me.

Donna Swanson