I’ve been writing furiously. I start my days with an ambitious to-do list, having budgeted a small chunk of time for writing; but by the end of the day, the to-do list has gone out the window and I will have written a new chapter.
The book is ostensibly my memoir of growing up in rural Southern California in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but what it really represents is a break in the cycle of restriction, control, and obligation.
Here is the official blurb:
My mother could clean silk and chiffon with the precision of a scientist. In 1940 she was offered a job on an ocean liner. Her father said no. You owe us your life he told her. She never forgot it. And neither did I.
Bribes of Pennies is not a gentle memoir. It is the story of what happens when control masquerades as love across three generations. Of survival that demanded ingenuity, critical thinking, and the stubborn refusal to stay fenced in. Of a girl who learned early that freedom is not given. It is outwitted, outclimbed, and occasionally outsung on a backyard glider in Chino, California.
Some cages are built with pennies. Getting out costs everything.
Stay tuned for chapter previews and more insights about the art of survival.
Always,
Aleta