A Woman Writing

In these wonderfully wise writings, Mary Lou Sanelli once again relies on her literary voice and candid sense of humor to explore all the realities true to anyone who has thought of making writing a part of her or his life. In a conversational style that entirely reflects her nature, she relates the comedy and the heartbreak of the writing life: how little it has to do with literary circles and clout and how much it has to do with limitless uncertainty, publishing anxiety, finding a way to make the process of writing, of life, one's joy, rather than relying on any outcome and the importance of viewing each let-down along the way as a triumph. Most compelling is how these writings, chronologically collected, grow and twine on the page right in front of the reader, allowing us to relish each piece like a long conversation with a trusted friend.
Sanelli writes about themes as varied as marriage, politics, friendship, aging, nature, her distrust of too much technology (“no one wins like the guys who make the software”), what it feels like for an East Coast transplant to find herself living in the belly of Seattle, the challenges for a daughter to be caring for her elderly mother, and what went wrong at an Obama party once―all with spot-on insight, all through the eyes of a woman, a woman writing. And she compels us to find ourselves, and perhaps our own writing voice, in the process. She notices everything and she’s very funny.