Arleen Williams's Blog

The leaves on the redbud outside my window slowly turn bright yellow before dropping to mulch the gardens below. Autumn holidays and winter calm lie ahead. Almost six months have passed since my last post.

The day after Christmas 2024, only a week after the publication of my last book, Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read, my husband and I learned said grandson, Jack, would be a big brother. 

Less than three weeks after the birth of our granddaughter in August, the offer we'd made on a condo in the town our family moved to exactly a year earlier was accepted. In three weeks we had the keys.   

A week later I was celebrating sisterhood in our new (second) home with my three sisters. My daughter and niece stopped by with Jack and his little sister, Joleen, to introduce her aunties to their namesake. Yes, all our names end in "-leen." 

A crazy joyous day (month, year)! 

After Pandemic Baby was released, I'd considered switching from memoir to a back-burner novel. But now, another memoir is calling me. Jack was born during the COVID pandemic shutdown and Trump's first term. Joleen arrived amid her family's adaptation to a new home and the turmoil of Trump's second term. What will their lives and world look like?

So once again I'm exploring memoir, both in prose and poetic forms. Not only by writing, but I am also teaching again. If you're in the Seattle area and have a story to get on the page, please join me for a free memoir writing workshop in the beautiful Fairwood Library just after Halloween. No costumes required!

Fairwood Library
Sunday, November 23:00 pm to 4:30 pm
17009 140th Avenue SERenton, WA 98058

The letter below appeared in my email and filled me with joy. Nothing inspires me more than to learn my work has touched someone. I am not including the sender's name out of respect for privacy, but I'm so grateful for the effort taken to reach out to me. 

"Hi, Arleen!

You might not rememberme; it HAS been a while! ... In the meantime, Ihave purchased and read all your books: the trilogy, "The 39thVictim", and just recently, "Pandemic Baby", and I've enjoyedall of them!!

I'm dropping you thisnote to tell you how much I've LOVED your 'journaling' about your life, thebirth of your grandson, and all the peripheral events around your time with himin the following several years!  

You have entertained mewith your activities, relationships with your daughter, your folks, husband,and especially, baby Jack.  I remember those years with my firstgrandchild and honor all the feelings you expressed about that, as well as thefun of being around him and his family, and especially, the way you loved him-- allowing him to explore, get dirty, express his excitement with new things,and just let him be an active, curious little boy, loved by his family. Iappreciate and enjoy your poetry in these regards also.  

The challenges andworrisome times of Covid you shared were appreciated because I had forgottensome of them. I wasn't around a child at that time but your fears (for Jack,his mother--especially during her pregnancy--and the world!), confusion aboutthe vaccinations, and general care for your family, the environment, andfor the world touched me, and I wanted to tell you that!  And, Iwanted to compliment you for sharing your experiences and thoughts in the wayyou did, in your 'Letters to My Grandson before He Could Read'!  I lovethat title too; it says a lot -- and set the stage for your concentrated carefor him at such a vulnerable stage.

Goodwork, Arleen!!  Your books have inspired me to write, and while I DOjournal, I've never published anything but YOU inspire me too; I might somedayyet."

I also want to take a moment to thank Librarian Zlatina Encheva for sharing the flyer above announcing the reading at Fairwood Library this Sunday. If you're interested in memoir writing and want to hear some passages from Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read, please join me. Books will be available for purchase at a discount. 

Fairwood Library 
17009 140th Avenue SE
Renton, WA 98058
3:00pm Sunday, May 4

For more information, click HERE.

 

Growing up on undeveloped woodland in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, my family was high on adventure and love for our few horses but low on cleared pastureland to feed our beloved four-legged friends. From a very young age, one of the chores my siblings and I were given was to lead the animals to the cleared right-of-way running under the Bonneville powerlines and stake them out to graze.

When I opened the bedroom curtains to a beautiful spring morning after being away from home for several days, the first thought that surfaced in my sleep-fogged brain was The horses will love all that lush, overgrown clover and grass. In quick succession came I need a horse.

But no, I do not need a horse though I do love my memories of childhood horses. I also find joy in my little, metal pony who now inhabits my garden.

My latest memoir, Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read, focuses on more recent memories of the birth of my first grandchild during the COVID pandemic and Trump’s first term. The story unfolds in a unique combination of journal entries, letters, and poetry. 

I’m happy to announce two upcoming events. I hope you can join me! For the first, I’ll be returning to the King County Public Libraries. 

Author EventFairwood Library 
17009 140th Avenue SE
Renton, WA 98058
3:00pm Sunday, May 4
More Information HERE
Registration recommended but not required

I’m also pleased to invite you to the It’s About Time Reading Series. This month it will be a tribute to longtime Seattle area poet Millie Renfrow. Her daughter, Barb Renfrow-Baker, and poet Miriam Bassuk will read some of Millie's poems. There will also be four featured readers: Griffith H. Williams, Katy E. Ellis, Sybil James and me.

It's About Time Reading Series
Ballard Library
5614 22nd Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
6:00pm Thursday, May 8More Information at the It’s About Time events page on Facebook. You may also be interested in this article on HistoryLink.  

Do you use your public library? In Seattle and the surrounding areas, we are fortunate to have wonderful neighborhood and small-town libraries. As a schoolgirl the Issaquah Library was a common place for parental after-school pickups. Later as a mother with a young daughter, we frequented the West Seattle Library on a regular basis. Now, one of my grandson’s favorite rainy-day outings is a visit to the wonderful children’s room at the Bellingham Public Library, and I continue to visit my local library to pick up to request books or download audio and eBooks from home. These services are privileges I do not underestimate.

As a writer, libraries serve another purpose. My biggest challenge – and I am not alone here – is getting my work into readers’ hands. I am uncomfortable asking people to purchase my books or to write reviews – I do it, but I don’t like doing it. I didn’t become a writer to become rich and famous. I’m too much of a realist for that. Still, having readers is important to me.

I was reading an email from a niece the other day when a thought came to me. I suggested she request my new book – in fact all my books – from her own local library. Libraries exist to serve the reading public, and they want to know what you want to read. Using our libraries and letting our librarians know what we’d like them to shelf helps keep our libraries viable, especially in difficult times. My niece generously offered to take her sons to the library – one of their favorite spots – and make the request.

Would you be willing to do the same? To visit your local library and ask for a copy of Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read? 

Or, there might be an easier way. Perhaps you’d be willing to check your library collection online and see if any of my books are listed. If not, there should be a link on the website to allow patrons to request specific books be added to their collection.

Here are the links in my area:

The Seattle Public Library https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/suggest-a-title 

King County Library System https://kcls.org/faq/interlibrary-loan-suggest-a-purchase/#suggest-a-purchase

Sno-Isle Libraries https://www.sno-isle.org/suggest-a-purchase-ill/#suggest 

Bellingham Public Library https://bellinghampubliclibrary.org/ask/request-an-item

You will likely need an active library card as well as the ISBN and publication date of any book you’d like to request. Below is a list of my books with the required information. For other books you can’t find in your library, you can find ISBN and publication date on Amazon.

Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read (ISBN 979-8304136532, December 19, 2024)

The Ex-Mexican Wives Club: A Memoir (ISBN 978-1701090576, October 19, 2019)

Mom’s Last Move: A Memoir (ISBN 978-1730764233, November 2, 2018)

The Thirty-Ninth Victim: A Memoir (ISBN 978-1717582072, April 29, 2018)

Walking Home (The Alki Trilogy) (ISBN 978-1974165742, April 20, 2015)

Biking Uphill (The Alki Trilogy) (ISBN 978-1974164738, May 6, 2014)

Running Secrets (The Alki Trilogy) (ISBN 978-1974128150, December 30, 2013)

Thank you using your public library and for considering this request. If you decide to give it a try and suggest your library purchase a title, would you please let me know how it goes? 

Shortly before the recent publication of my latest memoir, I received an interesting email – a series of probing questions really – from a friend. These questions prompted me to dig deep to find some answers.

During the five years of writing, you questioned when to end the book... when the crisis is "over"? At the vaccination release? And here we are - just entering Round 2 of who knows what fresh hell awaits and the book is ready to be released. A key point is the crisis ISN'T over. It seems like it will never be over. So what do we do with that? Is your book a caution? A reminder of how bad it was so we maybe don't repeat the same mistakes? A warning that we can't just check out because we are weary of crises? The timing of the release of PB right after Trump 2.0 begins seems like something to take note of - a significant coincidence? Perfect timing? And to hopefully achieve what?

Needless to say, this friend has become a bit of a muse – a muse I have learned not to ignore. So how do I answer that stream of questions?

First, I write to understand, clarify, remember, create. I write because it calms my soul, allows my brain to stop and sleep. I am not a writer who writes to convince anyone or anything or even to entertain. I do not think of “audience” when I write. And I certainly don’t think I’ll ever clear a cent of profit from my writing. So why publish at all?

I have been journaling off and on for over fifty years. In 2002 I began writing what became my first book, published in 2008 and re-released in 2018. Why did I seek that first publication? Because The Thirty-Ninth Victim gave voice to a silenced past. Without publication, without voice, I believed – and still believe – I would have remained an incomplete woman.

Three memoirs and three novels later, I have written and published Pandemic Baby: Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read. What began as a coping tool of journals and letters during a dreadful pandemic gave voice to my political and social beliefs in a more direct manner than anything I had written prior. A clarifying of my beliefs. To publish was to give voice to those beliefs. And though I am no one famous or important – a retired ESL teacher, a cyclist, reader, gardener, wife, mother (always), and a new grandma – my beliefs matter. Just as yours do. 

So I published. I published on Amazon. I’d prefer my books be in every independent bookstore and library across this country. But I am an elderly white woman of average talent, with a limited writers’ network and minimal means. I have published with three small presses that all went out of business. No major agent or publisher has expressed interest in my work. Publishing on Amazon allows me to hold that work in book format and shares my voice with a small audience of devoted readers. For this I am grateful.

Why now? Why publish a story about the tragedies of Trump’s first term just after he’s been re-elected to a second term? Pandemic Baby was never intended as a cautionary tale; I wasn’t trying to convince anyone how to vote in the 2024 election. It is, however, an accurate description of the period from early 2020 when COVID hit the Seattle area to summer 2022 when my grandson could finally be vaccinated. The book opens with a letter to my grandson dated Fall 2023 which includes an overview of the Trump years prior to his birth in June 2020, the world into which he was born. It was a time unlike any other in the history of our democracy and because my grandson was born in June 2020, I wanted to document the world as I saw it and as he would inherit it. 

But Jack was only one of over three million babies born in the United States during the first year of the pandemic. The story I wrote for him goes beyond him and me. It is a story for all the pandemic babies, their parents and grandparents. It is a book I published to give voice to a unique yet universal story. The publication just after the Trump re-election was a coincidence, and yet if it serves as a reminder of what we have been through and what we need to prepare ourselves to endure once again. The timing may indeed be perfect. I hope you will read it and let me know what you think.

 Joy and fear intertwine in this grandmother’s journey through the time of Trump, Covid, social injustice, and climate change as she guides her privileged white grandson to be an antiracist prepared to inherit a changing world.

I'm excited to share my exciting news. Pandemic Baby - Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read was just released! 

This new memoir chronicles my journey into retirement and grandmotherhood during a deadly pandemic and the most profound socio-political upheaval of our times under a president unlike all who preceded him. Now we face four more years. As George Santayana stated in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

You can now order your eBook HERE at the special price of only 99 cents. If you prefer paperbacks as I do, yours is available HERE. And don’t forget – books make terrific holiday gifts!

In today’s world, reviews and chatter make or break the success of a book. Please help me spread the word about Pandemic Baby. Could you post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, or any other review site you use? Comments on social media are also helpful. And talking about books with friends and family is also wonderful. If you belong to a Seattle-area book club, I’m happy to visit to discuss my work. 

Have you ever procrastinated on a project for reasons youdon't fully understand at the time? That is the case with the publicationof Pandemic Baby - Letters to My Grandson Before He Could Read. Ifthe finished book is released by March 2025, and I hope it will be, it willhave taken five years to complete. 

Through the slow process of eight deep revisions, the storymorphed from a simple, often humorous, and always loving memoir about becominga grandmother during the COVID pandemic to a statement on the condition of theworld my grandson was born into during the first Trump presidency. Now Trumphas been re-elected.

Pandemic Baby takesus back to a time we may want to forget but never should. I do not want arepeat of the pandemic years or of the first Trump term. That is not the world I want my grandson or his generation to grow upin, to inherit as young adults. We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of denial oroversimplification, of ignoring the hardships we endured, of convincing ourselvesthat it's over. It's not. 

This memoir began as my mode of coping. Four years later, Istill write letters to Jack, letters he may never read, but writing stillhelped me find my center as we dealt with another turbulent election and now face another period of extreme discord. Perhaps that explains my procrastination,perhaps my fear of what lies ahead has slowed down my willingness to releasethis book. But we can't let fear stop us, can we?

I do not have a release date, but I do have a cover!Perhaps you remember this image from a prior post.

 

Summer cycling has ended. According to Mission Control, thetracking system on my Specialized e-assist bike – I covered almost 385 milesand climbed just over 20,000 feet during the month of August. Since buying thisbike last September, I’ve clocked 1,595 miles, and not including the times I forgot to hit “Record”.

Why? I realize that some may wonder why I cycle so much.It’s a valid question I find myself asking as well and I don’t always have asatisfying response.

I suppose on a bike, the breeze inmy face, on city streets, rural roads, or trails, I see the world around mein a manner different from either walking or driving. In an odd way, it’s a bitlike wandering the foothills of Issaquah Valley on the horses of my childhood.

I also enjoy the camaraderie of other women cyclists, women I ride with through sun and rain, goodtimes and not so good. Each ride is different and never quite what I expected.Case in point, I worried that we’d face high temperatures and possible forestfire smoke during my last organized ride of the summer, the 210-mile ride fromSeattle to Vancouver called RSVP. Instead, it rained non-stop, letting up as wecrossed into Canada.

I credit cycling for pulling meout of my pandemic slump, from the physical and emotional quagmire I allowedmyself to sink into for longer than a healthy lifestyle allows. I had to find away out, a route back to myself. I knew exercise, for me cycling, was theticket.

Ten years earlier I had trainedwith a former work colleague. She was an experienced cyclist, quite theopposite of my newbie status. We were turning sixty within a month of eachother and decided to do RSVP to commemorate the occasion. I met that goal headon and rejoiced by suggesting we do it again for our seventieth. “But nexttime,” I said, “We’ll do it on e-assist bikes.” That was 2014.

I continued to cycle, though notat the same level of intensity, through 2017 when I rode Obliteride, a 100-mileride to support Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research. Then I hit a wall. I wasphysically exhausted and simply couldn’t keep up with my friends. Holding themback, feeling like the weak link, was emotionally draining. I stopped cyclingbut for short neighborhood rides. Then COVID hit.

Jump forward to late 2023. I remembered mycomment to my cycling buddies about doing RSVP again, but on e-bikes. I’d beenthinking about the e-assist option for several years and finally made thedecision to try one, a decision more about admitting the physical limitationsof my age than about the expense. It turned out to be the best purchase of mylife allowing me to joyously re-enter the world of cycling. It’s a great placeto be. 

Fred Hutch Obliteride is a bike ride and 5Kwalk/run that connects and empowers people to help cure cancer faster byraising funds for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

Summer cycling season is almost here and with itcomes Obliteride. Ten years ago, I cycled the 100-mile route to help celebrate my60th birthday. That ride -- and all the wonderful family, friends, andreaders who supported the cause with their generous donations -- was such a rewardingexperience I’ve decided to do it again.

On August 10th I’ll be riding to commemorate my70th birthday, to acknowledge all those who have not been graced with my goodhealth, and to raise money for much needed on-going cancer research. If you’relike most of us, this insidious disease has touched your life.

You may likely find yourself bombarded daily, as I do,with donation requests during this election year. Still, I’m hoping you are ableto donate to cancer research!

This year I am riding on TEAM IRINA, our young warrior whosebattle with cancer inspires all of us on her team to train harder and do allwe can to fund the research she and so many others desperately need.

Please donate HERE:  

Obliteride2024: Mrs. Arleen Williams - Obliteride (fredhutch.org)

Just over two years after I retired from teaching, I received an unusual email from a documentary film maker named Cady Voge. In that email, she explained that she'd been filming a former student of mine and her family for over four years. 

In that email, Cady wrote, "...I captured many moments at home with them. One such moments was a verysweet (and very brief!) moment that I captured of Mirna at the end of a sessionon zoom in one of your English classes. You had a lovely interaction with herand her son, Joshua, it's very sweet." She asked if I'd be willing to sign a release form to allow her to use the brief audio clip in the documentary. As a staunch believer in the need for wider coverage of the challenges facing refugees, I gladly signed and sent the release form. 

To my surprise, I received another email from Cady Voge last week - an invitation to the premiere of All We Carry at the Seattle International Film Festival this weekend, Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. An invitation I'd like to share with all of you. 

The film will also be streamed from May 20 to 27 for those who are unable to attend the premiere here in Seattle. Please take a look at this amazing link Cady shared and join me this weekend at SIFF!