Review and Winner of MY RUBY SLIPPERS: THE ROAD BACK TO KANSAS

In MY RUBY SLIPPERS, Tracy Seeley faces her mortality as she chronicles her physical and emotional journey from her adult home in San Francisco to Kansas, where she mostly grew up as a child. By visiting the many places she lived during her formative years, she rekindles memories, discovers family secrets and experiences the liberating power of forgiveness. In the process she finds the meaning of home.

At the age of eighteen, Tracy left for college in Texas, where she worked at “shucking Kansas off like the skin of a cicada.” Years later, after graduate school and teaching at Yale, her children grown, she lives in San Francisco, where she has “joined the land of the lotus eaters, intoxicated by pleasure, forgetful of our pasts in other lands.”

Then her parents, long divorced, die two weeks apart. In her grief, Tracy pulls out her baby book with a list of thirteen addresses recorded by her mother--places where her family lived before Tracy turned nine. For her, those thirteen addresses take “on the power of a spell” to carry her back to Kansas. More than two years later, after completing radiation treatments for cancer and being abandoned by her significant other, she grabs her thirteen addresses and takes off on the road towards Kansas.

Reading Seeley’s memoir is like stepping back in time and getting to know a young girl, her family, their dreams, and the Kansas of her childhood home. MY RUBY SLIPPERS: THE ROAD BACK TO KANSAS is an elegantly written story, filled with warmth and wisdom. Seeley's thoughtful and thought-provoking memoir is part of the American Lives Series, published by the University of Nebraska Press, edited by Tobias Wolff. A lovely book and a wonderful story.

MY RUBY SLIPPERS: THE ROAD BACK TO KANSAS

Tracy Seeley

University of Nebraska Press

ISBN: 978-0-8032-3010-1

$15.95

www.bisonbooks.com

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It was such an honor to have Tracy Seeley as my guest blogger earlier this week, as part of the WOW! Women on Writing Guest Author program. I thank Tracy for generously sharing her time and wisdom with everyone who visited during her post. I also thank all those who left a comment or a question for Tracy.

When I e-mailed Tracy yesterday and asked her to select the name of a winner of her memoir, she lamented that she could only pick one name. So, just beneath my review above, I've added some information about where visitors can purchase a copy of MY RUBY SLIPPERS. Another option is to check with your local library. If they don't have one on hand, ask them to order a copy. You'll be glad you did!

Now, for the name of the winner. The name selected by Tracy to win a copy of MY RUBY SLIPPERS is

CLARA GILLOW CLARK

Clara, please e-mail Tracy your mailing address at seeleyt (at) usfca.edu and remind her you were the winner she selected to win a copy of her memoir on Donna's Book Pub.

Thanks again to Tracy and all my faithful visitors who once again prove how generous and encouraging writers are.

Guest Blogger - Tracy Seeley on Finding the Best Publisher for Your Book

I’m pleased to welcome Tracy Seeley to Donna’s Book Pub as my guest blogger today as part of the WOW! Women on Writing Author’s tour.

Tracy moved a lot when she was young, but she grew up mostly in Witchita, Kansas, before heading for Austin, Texas, where she was awarded a Ph.D in British Lit. She taught at Yale for five years before moving west for San Francisco. Since 1993 she has been teaching literature and creative nonfiction at the University of San Francisco. Click here to read Tracy's bio on her website.
You can also find Tracy here:
twitter: @tracy_seeley
website: www.tracyseeley.com
Facebook at My Ruby Slippers: the Road Back to Kansas
blog: www.myrubyslippersthebook.wordpress.com

One lucky visitor who posts a comment or a question for Tracy will win a copy of her memoir, My Ruby Slippers: The Road Back to Kansas.

In her post today Tracy will discuss: finding the Best Press for Your Book: How My Ruby Slippers found a University Press By Tracy Seeley (@tracy_seeley)


Your Book is Done! Not Yet.

After years of staying glued to your desk chair, shaping sentences, crafting chapters, reorganizing, revising, editing and polishing, you finally have a tidy stack of 300 freshly-printed pages on your desk. Congratulations! Your book is done.

Wrong. Because it’s not a book yet. It lacks a great cover with your name on the front, blurbs and an ISBN on the back. It might be wonderful, a real page-turner. But until you have a publisher (or publish it yourself), it’s a caterpillar, not a butterfly.

When I finished the manuscript for My Ruby Slippers, I knew what I had to do to turn it into a butterfly. I’d read everything I could about how to find an agent and dreamed of signing a contract with a major publisher. I thought, “New York, here I come.”

But I couldn’t get an agent. I quickly learned that a literary memoir by a debut writer would have a hard time. Especially since my book-to-be didn’t tell a story that involved a controversial, sensational, or Oprah-worthy topic.

Without an agent, my New York dreams keeled over in a coma. Now what?

Landing at a University Press

Once I set my mind to something, I’m pretty relentless. So instead of shopping for an agent, I went shopping for a press. One that not only would accept unsolicited manuscripts, but would be a good fit for My Ruby Slippers.

This meant entering the world of small and university presses. It’s a world I highly recommend. There, writers often find a better home for the book they’ve written than they could ever find at a big house. Small and university presses work on tight budgets, but because they have smaller lists than the big guys do, they can give all of their writers more attention. And they’re committed to publishing high quality work.

Happily, I landed at the University of Nebraska Press. A University Press may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to shopping for a press. But in addition to scholarly works, many university presses publish fiction and literary nonfiction, including memoir.

By doing my homework, I knew Nebraska would be a good home for My Ruby Slippers. They publish literary nonfiction, including the series “American Lives,” edited by the great memoirist Tobias Wolff. And they publish a lot of books with connections to the Plains and Midwest. Because Kansas sits at the heart of my book (and of me), it seemed a perfect fit.

After My Ruby Slippers went through a series of reviews by outside readers and revisions by me, Nebraska said “yes.”

Since then, the press has been nothing but a pleasure to work with. My editor worked closely with me during the review and revision process, the copy editor was meticulous and respectful of my intentions, the cover designer was brilliant (I love my cover), and given its limited resources, the marketing department has done a great job promoting the book.

Getting published is a great dream. But getting published by the right press for your book is even better. My Ruby Slippers emerged from its chrysalis four months ago, and it’s been a thrill watching it take wing.

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Thanks, Tracy, for letting us know how you found the right publisher for your book, which is a fascinating and intelligent memoir that chronicles your physical and emotional journey to your childhood homes.

Note to Visitors: Feel free to leave a comment or question.

As part of the WOW! Author's Book Tour, one lucky person who posts a question or a comment will win a copy of Tracy's thoughtful memoir, My Ruby Slippers: The Road Back to Kansas published by the University of Nebraska Press as part of the American Lives Series, edited by Tobias Wolff.

Winner's name will be announced on Friday, July 15.