Look and Listen

Biography

I was born in Pocasset, MA, in 1941 and shared my arrival with my brother, Albert. My parents never expected twins. We have a sister and two other brothers. Our brother, Walter, died at eight-years old from Polio. My father, Albert L. Gramm, was a One Star Brigadier General and served in WWII as one of the commanding officers of the 26th Yankee Division. He fought in Europe in Lorraine, Metz and the Battle of the Bulge; to name a few. I'm the author of A Healing Heart (2006). PublishAmerica released her first book on November 6, 2006. Reader Views of Austin, Texas had nominated me with the Reviewers Choice Award 2008 Semi-Finalist. I'm an instructor for Beginning Writer’s Workshops titled “Bring Your Manuscript to Publication.” I'm writing my second memoir Please, God, Not Two. It's about my life living with and losing a husband and daughter from alcoholism. I love to wake up as the sun is bursting through the clouds and hear the birds. There's joy in watching the rabbits or deer that pass through the yard. There's something about being alone with your thoughts.

Inspiration

I had no intention of ever becoming a writer. It wasn't until my father got ill from cancer that I had felt there was a story to share with readers. I learned that we often wait too long to learn what a loved one is all about. When my father died, I realized that he took a wonderful military history with him. He wouldn't talk about the war. I decided to write what I knew to leave to my family, children, grandchildren, and hopefully, future generations. I took a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia to find peace with my loss. Since 1981, The Blessed Mother has been appearing to six children daily. My father wanted to make the trip but had become too weak. I traveled the distance for the both of us. On my return, I wanted to add the miracles that had happened to me into my book. Slowly, it became my memoir and I was putting query letters together. That was the beginning of A Healing Heart. In 1985 my husband died from alcoholism and I started to write a book about it. In 2006, my life turned into a whirlwind of pain and heartbreak when my daughter died from the same demon at thirty-nine. I'm adding her life with her father's in Please, God, Not Two. This change has me writing, instructing writer's workshops and speaking at AA organization, and hopefully, in schools. It's a direction in life that I never thought of entering.