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Dear Heart
Before computers, we wrote letters. My mother's letters were like little novellas, several pages long. Her family members and friends loved to get her "books." Letters from mom were heartfelt and brought tears of love. As her pen moved passionately across the pages, sometimes her clear, blue eyes would well up. Letters were her release. They were her way of expressing herself in ways she could not voice. Occasionally, she would write letters to people out of anger and then tear them up. These could have been to politicians, relatives, and those are the ones I knew about. She would express her heart's desire, open up her soul, and pour out her thoughts.
While I did not have the beautiful penmanship of my mother, I learned that the pen was my power. Some of my letters were releases which I destroyed. At age 15, I even wrote one about the need for a doctor in our little town. The letter and story was published in the newspaper.
As a writer and a poet, I write as if my words are letters to the world, perhaps to express the desires of my heart. Other times I write to simply write.
When we do express our desires within our heart this has a way of stirring up thoughts and even action plans to make things happen. They could be acceptances of things that can't be changed, but often are steps toward courage to make something happen.
I posed this question and requested to others: What is the desire in your heart? This is my challenge to you. I would like to read about the desires in your heart in the "Dear Heart" anthology of letters, poetry, art, photography, and whatever ways helps you express your passion.
There was a caveat to this. In honor of my mother, the expressions were to be sent to me via good old fashioned snail mail.
Now, it is my pleasure to bring to you these beautiful heartfelt responses via Dear Heart.
Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld
Contributors: Alice Taylor, Chyrel J. Jackson, Danielle Martin, Jia-Li Yang, Jill Sharon Kimmelman, Jodi Lynn Nehring, Karen Monteith, Max H. Tomey, Nanci Arvizu, Pratibha Savani, Rebecca Herz, Richa Dinesh Sharma, Robin Klammer, Sarah Ryan, Shiela Denise Scott, Steve Anc, Terri Michels, Zaneta Varnado Johns,
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Sam H. Arnold
As an editor, Lisa is a true professional and has an eye for all the small details. She even noticed when speech marks had been reversed. She gave my manuscript a full edit as well as suggesting where phrases could be improved and clarified. Since finishing my manuscript she has helped me by suggesting publishing routes and providing contact details for these connections. It is her passion for my work that makes her stand out from other editors I have worked with. She shows real enthusiasm for a project and gave me a lot of confidence and encouragement. It is her support that has made me excited to start searching for a publisher. I will definitely be using her again for future projects. I would recommend her for all your editing needs.
Rachel Brockway
Lisa helped me on a few writing projects. I wrote my first draft and didn't worry about errors then would have family look it over. Then I would have Lisa do the FINAL draft and she did it effortlessly and beautifully! She captures what you really mean when sometimes you have a difficult time putting it in words. She also keeps up to date on grammar rules. The papers and my writing projects always turned out polished and professional sounding. I highly recommend her.
Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
Lisa helped polish and improve my book proposal with edits and suggestions that were of a keen eye and a very strong literary sensibility. I would happily work with her again.