new book Four Ticket Ride dedicated to blogging friends Ann, Annie, Luanne, Rachel, and Susanne…and of course, to Pretty

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Sheila Morris

How did I come up with the title for my latest book Four Ticket Ride?

Spoiler Alert: Preface

My friend Esther Isom told me this story one day as I rested in her salon chair for a pedicure which was always a guarantee for entertainment in addition to spa treatment on my feet. She swore the story was true.

Esther sat one morning in a doctor’s waiting area that was empty except for her and a petite elderly lady who had been in the room when she arrived. They waited and waited together without speaking, occasionally smiling at each other, but Esther decided to break the awkward silence by asking the older woman how she was doing that day.

“Honey, life’s a four ticket ride,” the older woman said with a smile – a reference to the State Fair’s being in town that week.

For the uninitiated in State Fair amusement rides, the more dangerous the ride the more tickets required to jump aboard. The four ticket rides were among the most adventurous with a mixture of highs and lows at dizzying speeds designed to take the thrill seeker’s breath away.

The following stories are my version of a few of life’s four ticket rides as seen through the eyes of a woman past 70 who bought and paid for enough tickets to ride all the rides in life…and some of them more than once.

Enjoy these rides with me. Buckle up, sit back, and hold on.

####

My new book is short since most of us now expect major ideas to be conveyed through tweets which have reduced our attention spans to the length of a Geico commercial – readable in an hour in a single setting or a month of daily individual chapter doses like my 30 Days to Success Journal mentioned in chapter 1.

Here’s an overview of the major topics of flash nonfiction in Four Ticket Ride:

(1) I Have this Great Idea for a Book

(2) Life with Pretty

(3) The Magic of Sports

(4) What’s Happening with Us?

(5) Wouldn’t Take Anything for my Journey Now

Finally, this book is dedicated to a group of women I have never met in person but who have become loyal supporters of my writing over many moons in cyberspace and always appear on my blog roll. Ann, the Wayside Artist in Pennsylvania; Annie of Animal Couriers in France; Luanne of The Family Kalamazoo and Writer Site in Arizona; Rachel of The Cricket Pages in New York; and Susanne of Wuthering Bites in Canada. Writing is a solitary business and blogging is no exception; but these women take time to read, comment on my efforts and offer genuine encouragement in the process. I am deeply grateful to each of them for their own inspirational work and their support of mine.

And of course, every book I write is dedicated to Pretty. Without her love and support every day of my life, there would be nothing left to say. The End.

Stay tuned.

 

About Sheila Morris

Sheila Morris is a personal historian, essayist with humorist tendencies, lesbian activist, truth seeker and speaker in the tradition of other female Texas storytellers including her paternal grandmother. In December, 2017, the University of South Carolina Press published her collection of first-person accounts of a few of the people primarily responsible for the development of LGBTQ organizations in South Carolina. Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home will resonate with everyone interested in LGBTQ history in the South during the tumultuous times from the AIDS pandemic to marriage equality. She has published five nonfiction books including two memoirs, an essay compilation and two collections of her favorite blogs from I'll Call It Like I See It. Her first book, Deep in the Heart: A Memoir of Love and Longing received a Golden Crown Literary Society Award in 2008. Her writings have been included in various anthologies - most recently the 2017 Saints and Sinners Literary Magazine. Her latest book, Four Ticket Ride, was released in January, 2019. She is a displaced Texan living in South Carolina with her wife Teresa Williams and their dogs Spike, Charly and Carl. She is also Naynay to her two granddaughters Ella and Molly James who light up her life for real. Born in rural Grimes County, Texas in 1946 her Texas roots still run wide and deep.
This entry was posted in Humor, Lesbian Literary, Life, Personal, politics, racism, Reflections, Slice of Life, sports, The Way Life Is and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

28 Responses to new book Four Ticket Ride dedicated to blogging friends Ann, Annie, Luanne, Rachel, and Susanne…and of course, to Pretty

  1. Animalcouriers says:
    January 31, 2019 at 5:27 am

    Deeply touched Sheila. But, where can we get it? The link from the cover image doesn’t go anywhere 😦 Yours in antici………………… xAx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Wayside Artist says:
    January 31, 2019 at 5:38 am

    Here I am to thank you for including me in the dedication for this book with the best title ever! I’m beyond flattered. It’s been such a pleasure to be your friend over the years and to extend that friendship with your much loved family. Congratulations on publishing a new book. I can’t wait to read it.
    (WordPress astonishes me! Again!! I can comment! I’m back in favor!!) 😂😘💕

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. rachelmankowitz says:
    January 31, 2019 at 9:58 am

    You are an inspiration!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Polysyllabic Profundities says:
    January 31, 2019 at 3:00 pm

    Where can one purchase a copy of this book?? 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Luanne says:
    January 31, 2019 at 10:26 pm

    Oh, that makes me so happy! I just bought myself a Kindle version! Congrats on the book, thank you for being such an inspiring and good “virtual” friend, and a big XO to you and T.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Susanne says:
    February 9, 2019 at 5:53 pm

    Oh my gosh, Sheila. I’ve been such a sporadic blogger of late that I missed this post. Now that’s embarrassing, especially after the dedication. Argh. Looking forward to reading your stories and being inspired by your writing – as always.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Pingback: This and That | Luanne Castle's Writer Site

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