At 27, Mississippi native and Colorado resident Megan O’Nan has done what many writers her age are trying to do — publish their own book.
Author of “Creating Your Own Heaven on Earth,” O’Nan visited Creekside Books & Coffee on Dec. 11 to speak during the Laura’s List Fireside Chat and to release the debut text.
For O’Nan, the book and its title came naturally.
“The title popped in my head,” she said. It came to her one evening while she was at a friend’s wedding reception. She saw children dancing to the music, essentially creating their own heaven, and the rest is history.
“It’s a life philosophy that people can relate to on different levels,” O’Nan said about the book.
An easy read, it’s about the author’s life experiences that others can share with her. Since she’s always shared her writing with others, penning the text was “no big surprise” to those who know her.
With her first book put to bed and available for sale, O’Nan is already hard at work on her second book with a goal to have one a year.
Being invited to join Laura’s List by the fire to release “Creating Your Own Heaven on Earth” was overwhelming, but also a good feeling, O’Nan said.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “There are no words.”
Much like O’Nan, Shannon Magari of Baldwinsville will offer readers a way to connect in an upcoming book. A Harvard graduate, author, divorce survivor, inspirational speaker and the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, Magari created the Web site smartdivorcegirl.com to help others survive. Now she’s put many of the ideas on the Internet in print.
Though Magari’s manuscript has not yet been published — she’s currently shopping publishers in New York City and plans for a mid-2009 release — she encourages women who are trying to make it through those tough times to visit her Web site and blog about those changes taking place.
“I post a question and readers answer,” Magari said.
How does one respond to the typical statements following a break up or divorce? There are no rituals for those stages in life, whereas there are hundreds for women who are getting married or in a new relationship.
Among other rites, she held a funeral for her divorce.
“I had a divorce party,” Magari said. “There are like 15,000 rituals for weddings. A divorce … there’s no body to mourn.”
There are more difficult things to tackle when a marriage ends, though, like sleeping single in your married bed. Like Magari, some sell the house and move into a new one.
Fireside chats are a way for national book reviewer and hostess Laura Ponticello to help empower women. To receive Laura’s List monthly newsletter, email [email protected].
