Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

Using Fiction to Process Real-Life Tragedy and Family Secrets

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The emotional and creative journey behind In the Context of Love—a novel inspired by unspoken truths. How do we make sense of tragedy? We live every day knowing that bad things happen--on a global and personal level. Fires burn down houses, people are laid off, friends have tragic accidents, loved ones develop addictions and get diseases we've never even heard of. How do we carry on when … [Read more...]

One Woman, Three Selves, and a Second Chance at Becoming Whole

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The Past and Future Walk Into an Elevator… A thoughtful twist on the Scrooge effect, Just Emelia by Jennifer Oko offers a modern and introspective take on personal transformation that feels both familiar and refreshingly original. In place of Dickens’s cold-hearted miser reckoning with his mortality after ghostly visits from the past, present, and future, we meet Emilia, a 47-year-old woman in … [Read more...]

Imagination as a double-edged sword

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Oh, how we suffer in our minds "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." ~ Seneca Is there anything truer when it comes to worrying about the future, or beating ourselves up over past events? It absolutely reflects our tendency to create exaggerated scenarios of pain, failure, or loss. Imagination is one of our greatest strengths. It creates works of art and literature, … [Read more...]

How a Poet Wrote a Novel About Art, War, and Survival

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Five years and multiple messy drafts, a poet's patience is woven into a novelist's grit. The result is a haunting, layered story that spans decades, from Nazi-occupied France to the present day, unraveling the theft of beauty in a time of brutality. Karen Mulvahill and I met at a poetry retreat many years ago, enjoyed each other's company, and stayed connected through social media where I … [Read more...]

A Fresh Look for My Debut Novel’s Birthday

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Turning Ten with Style: I can't believe it's been ten years since Buddhapuss Ink, LLC published In the Context of Love. Happy birthday, book baby! Much has changed in graphics and style since its publication in 2015, so I decided to celebrate with a glow-up. My hope is that a new book cover will attract a different demographic that may have overlooked the original version as well as … [Read more...]