Sister Trip 2024

 

My sister and I have the wonderful tradition now of going on a Sister Trip on the anniversary of John's birthday/death. This year, we went to Mobile, Alabama. It was a fun-filled, frigid time. Since it was a few days after Mardi Gras, we could tell the parade route by the trees laden with necklaces. We visited the DAR House, the History Museum of Mobile, The USS Alabama and Drum, Fort Conde, the Mardi Gras Museum, Bellingrath Home and Gardens, two cemeteries, candy shop (perhaps more than once), and other places, too. Also tradition, we got cake pops to honor John's birthday. We stayed at the Malaga Inn, built in the 1860s and probably haunted. Ready for our next adventure!

Latest Upload to Amazon!

AN ASSORTMENT OF TRUTHS AND TALES compiles over twenty writings by award-winning author, Laura G. Cogdill. Follow a path through flash fiction, memoir, poetry, and inspirational words sprinkled with humor, hope, romance, and time travel. 

You may even uncover a few secrets about me!

AN ASSORTMENT is available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Assortment-Truths-Tales-Laura-Cogdill-ebook/dp/B0CCX1J2JV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BQKH9GUA9YJQ&keywords=laura+g+cogdill&qid=1691956744&sprefix=laura+g+%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1

Another Short Story on Amazon

 

"A Long Time Coming"    (click for link)

Troy and Caroline have been best friends as long as they can remember. When Troy moves away and finds his true love, where will his friendship with Caroline fit in?

More Stickies from John

I am still finding sticky notes left by John for me. Recently, I culled through more of his books, careful to check for messages by flipping the pages slowly. 

One day, John asked me the number you call when you need help. 

(He couldn't remember 911.) 

I wrote it on this card for him and he kept it by his chair.

Found it tucked in a book also.

Latest Short Story

How much fun could you stir up, locked in a department store all night?
Buck fears his acting career is unredeemable when he signs up to “rough it” in a century-old, struggling department store as a publicity stunt.
Grace forces a little fun on her sister, Estelle, by purposefully leaving her behind in a store after closing hours, to stumble upon her teenage, heartthrob crush. Will her daydreams come true?

https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Dream-Laura-Cogdill-ebook/dp/B073XDDQGX/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=laura+g+cogdill&qid=1596115439&sr=8-4

On Love, Language, and Loss

Liquidating Life was featured in a magazine article which asked the question, "How do we know what other people think, except through language?  How do we know them, if they cannot express what they think or feel?  Such are the predicaments that these writers address, as they explore how brain injury can affect a relationship, a life."

Four books were compared:  One Hundred Names for Love: A Memoir; To Love What Is:  A Marriage Transformed; Liquidating Life; Still Alice.

The author of the article, Joyce Meier, addresses results of a stroke, injuries sustained in a fall, a brain tumor, and Alzheimer's, and the affects on how communication changes and the frustrations and breakthroughs that come with it.

She also used her skills as a writing professor to critique the actual writing of the books, covering the styles of each author and how their word choices reflect their experiences.

It was an honor to be included in this group of authors who dared to show their walk through many tough days with their loved one.

"Fourth Genre:  Exploration in Nonfiction"
Volume 17, Number 2, Fall 2015;  pp. 189-196
Michigan State University Press

Liquidating Life: An Almost Daily Account of a Journey With Brain Cancer is available at amazon.com.

birthdays and anniversaries

To celebrate John's birthday each year, I usually get a cake pop from Starbucks.  This year, I was in Orlando visiting my sister and her family in February.  To commemorate his birthday, Sharon and I got a Mickey cake pop at Disney!  

************************************************

I have also started the tradition of getting a wind chime to mark the anniversary of John's passing.  Since I spent the weekend at Disney this February, I wanted one Disney-related.  Since I couldn't find one that hit me just right, I ordered the chime in the picture below.  It is "Cinderella blue," and has a butterfly (which played an important role in the live-action Cinderella movie).  

**************************************************

....and of course, here is a picture of Cinderella and me!

John would have gotten a kick out of me meeting her.

Relay for Life

The school where I teach held its first Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society in May, 2016.

This is my luminary in memory of John and my friend Vickie.

Camouflage: The Day After Tomorrow

My latest short story is now available on Amazon/kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A3JQUZQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_g351_i1_r?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1MSE1RSG0QMQVYVT8YYD&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop



Chaos. Everywhere. And now someone, or something, had discovered her hiding place. Could Cammie keep her cover much longer? With Grandfather missing, would her questions ever be answered? Will the turmoil in "Camouflage" be tomorrow's headlines?

Taylor County (FL) Friends of the Library

July 27, 2015
The Taylor County Friends of the Library were a gracious audience for my talk about "Liquidating Life", Voices Against Brain Cancer, and the publishing process.

John Strikes Again

Summer brings the major projects I've put off until I have the time, such as painting and moving furniture to clean.  Today I painted the hall which meant I had to take the pictures off the wall.  When I went to rehang the largest one, on the back I found another sticky note from John, as well as a photo.  He went through a phase of scanning leaves from the yard and making photographs of them.  (One particularly excellent one is enlarged and hanging in the living room.)  Just when months or a year passes and I'm not expecting to find another note from him, one appears.

..........and again today, June 17, 2015, while prepping to paint the bathroom, I took the picture off the wall, and stuck to the price tag still hanging on the back was this sticky from John:

which begs the question, how long HAS it been since I've deep cleaned???

Big Dog and Georgia Girl

My latest writing available on Amazon is "Big Dog and Georgia Girl:  A Montana Short Story".  It is approximately 30 pages and set in and around Glacier National Park Montana.

"After her husband's death, Amanda escapes to his family's cabin in Montana. As she ventures from her cocoon of solitude, she unknowingly wins the heart of the local sheriff. Will her fear of having to survive Montana winters keep her from a second chance at love?"



This is the link:
 http://www.amazon.com/Big-Dog-Georgia-Girl-Montana-ebook/dp/B00VL9N0ME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428805454&sr=8-1&keywords=big+dog+and+georgia+girl+ebook

Oddly enough, I wrote this before John was ever diagnosed with and passed away from brain cancer.  

My first assignment as the 

local ambassador 

for 

Voices Against Brain Cancer 

was this interview on WCTV (11/10/14):

http://www.wctv.tv/video?videoid=2973788