FINDING THE WORDS ON MOTHER'S DAY w/ Lisa Lipkind Leibow

Today is Day 1 of my big Birthday Blog Extravaganza! As I've mentioned, to celebrate my birthday this week I wanted to bring some of my favorite writers to Cozy and give them the chance to share their thoughts of writing. Today fellow The Roses of Prose blogger, the awesome Lisa Lipkind Leibow gives a writing tribute to mothers. Take it away, Lisa:

We all play so many roles in life. In no particular order, I am a daughter, dog lover, wife, foodie, recovering-attorney, mother-of-three, writer, author of smart women’s fiction, skier, cyclist, yoga enthusiast, and more.

When Amber invited me to visit The Cozy Page on Mother’s Day of all days, it thrilled me! Of all of the facets that help to define who I am, two of my favorites are mother and writer. So, today, I’m going to share the fruits of the first time I discovered these two aspects of me could meld together to make a something special.

It happened when I was a young child of six – just learning to write, and looking at motherhood from a daughter’s point of view only. My mother provided unconditional love, plenty of hugs, bedtime stories, lullabies, play dough, crayons, and home-cooked meals. Mother’s Day arrived and I wanted to thank her in a special way. I climbed onto the desk-chair, tucked my feet under my tush, and grabbed paper and crayons. I set to work, writing my very first heartfelt poem. But how could I capture all of these complex emotions with a six-year-old’s vocabulary? Here’s what I came up with. DON’T LAUGH!

Mothers are nice.
Mothers are sweet.
Mothers don’t have smelly feet.

…okay, … LAUGH, but remember, I was only in first grade! I’ve come a long way baby!
Today, I’m a writer and many of my tales explore the complex interactions of mothers and daughters, families, friends, and more. I hope you enjoyed learning a new tidbit of where it all began.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Lisa Lipkind Leibow is an author of smart women’s fiction. Her novel Double Out and Back (Red Rose Publishing) takes the reader on the roller-coaster ride of infertility treatments as seen through the eyes of three women. Originally working as a lawyer, Lisa decided to trade the billable hour lifestyle for fiction writing. Lisa’s work has also appeared in Pisgah Review and Sanskrit Literary Arts Magazine. She lives and writes in Northern Virginia with her husband, three sons, a clumber spaniel, and two red-eared sliders. You can learn more about Lisa and her writing at http://www.LLLeibow.com

Lisa, I know you're a mom, too - both at home in Virginia and as Blog Mom at The Roses of Prose! Happy Mother's Day from one of your blogettes! And now a peek into Double Out and Back:

Who will find friends, family, and fertility?

Three women-s lives are intricately intertwined, as Amelia Schwartz and Summer Curtis struggle with the complex dynamics of intrafamily embryo adoption, and Chandy Markum strives to make her patients- dreams a reality.

After more than a decade, of mourning her parents- deaths, anal-retentive Amelia Schwartz decides to take control of her life, pursuing single motherhood via embryo adoption. While her fertility doctor, Chandy, is preoccupied with the destruction of the cosmopolitan Cape Town of her youth and her first love in apartheid-torn South Africa, believing all is lost, her niece, a young, married, overachieving attorney Summer Curtis, juggles zealous career ambitions, demanding bosses, and friction with her husband over family and fertility issues. They must confront the painful reality that, no matter what technology humans devise to manipulate reproduction, prolong life, and construct family units, they have not yet mastered control over their beginnings and endings.

Thrown all into this is one story that can make or break. Are you up to it?