Her Beautiful Brain

“A daring and ambitious memoir that bestows unexpected rewards on the reader.” –Seattle Times

“Unflinching, tragic and compassionate.” –Shelf Awareness

I’ve lived with the loss of my mom, and the fear of Alzheimer’s, for a long time now. I understand that I am stuck with this particular fear; yours may be cancer or heart disease. But I also understand its value: which is to continually remind me that I have no idea what the next day or decade might hold. Now is the time for me to do all that I feel called most urgently to do.

I am my mother’s daughter. Like her, I would prefer to keep traveling under my own steam and enjoying the view along the way. Like her, I would rather my brain not get all wrapped up in a big tangle of ropes. But hers did, and mine might too.

CLASSES:
November 4, Hugo House, “Setting the Scene,” a three-hour seminar for writers of memoir and non-fiction. In-person.
November 2, 9 and 16, Hugo House, “More Questions Than Answers: When Memoir Writing Becomes the Story of the Search.” Three Thursday evenings from 5-7pm. In-person.
February 9-March 15, 2024, Introduction to Memoir Writing. Six Friday mornings. Virtual via Seattle Central College/Continuing Education.  Registration opens November 13. 
NEW WORK:
3rd Act Magazine, Summer 2023: “Shelly Parks Wants You to Get to Know Cohousing.”
3rd Act Magazine, Spring 2023: “Memoir Writing in the Time of the Pandemic.” 

Still

   The nectarine blush of evening on Mt. Rainier still makes me shake my head in wonder. A stroll through the Pike Place Market still cheers me up, no matter how crowded it is, because [...]

Uncanny

I have never written a ghost story. I’ve never wanted to write a ghost story. So what uncanny wind was it that blew through my brain and compelled me to sign up for a week-long [...]

Soft Target

Soft target. Am I a soft target? Are you? And what exactly is a soft target, as opposed to a hard target? Does a soft target mean someone who is not carrying a gun? Does [...]

English Class

One recent Tuesday morning, I held up two laminated photos: one of hot dogs, drizzled artfully with mustard and catsup; the other of pepperoni pizza. “Which do you like better?” I asked C, a new [...]

Sixty-six

“Good evening,” said a silver-haired woman in creamy linen, as she floated past me with her dapper husband towards the veranda of the El Mirador restaurant. They had a dinner reservation; several waiters hurried to [...]

Fallow

The trick, we both knew, was not to think too hard. My husband and I dropped our towels. We ran right in, like five-year-olds, and dunked under the waves, like clumsy grownups. We stumbled out, [...]