As a British 🇬🇧 Physician/ Psychiatrist, one of the books that changed my outlook on my personal and professional life was the classic “Top 5 Regrets of the Dying”. I love the marble jars and blending philosophy and psychology with humour, not easy to do. Can we add H- Humour to your ABCDEFG?
Thank you Kristina for finding and sharing the work!! Amazing 🤩
I was meditating this morning and somehow your message came through Siri. There’s more to it than this but I sense I need to listen to the podcast and read more of your work. 🙏🏽
Thank you Kristina, for this thoughtful, generous post about me and my writing! I’m really touched. You asked such smart, grounded questions and made the whole conversation feel like a cozy, honest hangout… hammock mishaps and all.
I’m grateful for your kind words... and for helping me to get the word out about the power of mortality awareness. I truly believe mortality awareness is NOT morbid. It’s motivating. It creates urgency, which sparks action!
And just so you know.... I love reading all your posts, not just the ones that happen to include my name! I respect your sharp mind and the beautiful way you’re helping writers to live (and write) with more meaning!
Thank you again! And I’ll see you (and hopefully some brave new friends) in the Bootcamp - which sounds amazing! 💛
In 1995, my metro editor made me write obituaries for eight weeks before I could touch a crime story. ‘If you can’t get life and death facts right,’ he said, ‘you’ve got no business writing about murder.’
That lesson stayed with me. In the past three years, I’ve joined a trauma grief group in Princeton after a tsunami of losses—my mom, dad, stepmother, stepfather, my best friend from high school, my college roommate, and several friends from my recovery community. I’ve written enough obituaries to fill the seats of the planes that fell into the towers on 9/11.
It's never just a job. It’s someone’s mom. Someone’s brother. Someone’s son. A funeral home should never receive an obituary that looks like a cut-and-paste job. Families will remember that these few paragraphs were the last thing ever written about their soulmate.
One of those tributes I penned was for my brother-in-law, John McNulty—an Olympic marathon runner with an obsession for NY sports, Elton John, a Guinness habit, and a heart that could power the East River.
He was my best friend and the closest of my four brothers. An editor from The New York Times obituary section read it, framed it, and mailed it to my house. Said it was one of the best tributes she’d ever seen.
Writing an obituary doesn’t come to me like filling out a DMV form. It's humbling to take a panoramic camera shot of someone’s life and put it down from blood in the veins to ink on the paper.
Karen’s workshop feels like sacred ground for this kind of storytelling. I’d be honored to join the Online Writers community—even if I have to sprint there in sneakers from my grief group. 🙃 All the best Jeannette Quinton
First encounter with God. OMG. What a delight. Thank you for all of this ❤️
As a British 🇬🇧 Physician/ Psychiatrist, one of the books that changed my outlook on my personal and professional life was the classic “Top 5 Regrets of the Dying”. I love the marble jars and blending philosophy and psychology with humour, not easy to do. Can we add H- Humour to your ABCDEFG?
Thank you Kristina for finding and sharing the work!! Amazing 🤩
I was meditating this morning and somehow your message came through Siri. There’s more to it than this but I sense I need to listen to the podcast and read more of your work. 🙏🏽
I absolutely love Karen’s work and her entire vibe!! Just got my copy of her latest book getting ready to start reading it.
Adding the Chat thread for the deeper conversation: https://substack.com/chat/443311/post/0bd65d76-c471-40fc-bbff-483f61ff7858
What a wonderful interview! I learned so much from it. I have a couple of books I need to buy now. 👍☺️
Hey Car, you're in the pot!
Thank you Kristina, for this thoughtful, generous post about me and my writing! I’m really touched. You asked such smart, grounded questions and made the whole conversation feel like a cozy, honest hangout… hammock mishaps and all.
I’m grateful for your kind words... and for helping me to get the word out about the power of mortality awareness. I truly believe mortality awareness is NOT morbid. It’s motivating. It creates urgency, which sparks action!
And just so you know.... I love reading all your posts, not just the ones that happen to include my name! I respect your sharp mind and the beautiful way you’re helping writers to live (and write) with more meaning!
Thank you again! And I’ll see you (and hopefully some brave new friends) in the Bootcamp - which sounds amazing! 💛
Greetings Karen and Kristina:
In 1995, my metro editor made me write obituaries for eight weeks before I could touch a crime story. ‘If you can’t get life and death facts right,’ he said, ‘you’ve got no business writing about murder.’
That lesson stayed with me. In the past three years, I’ve joined a trauma grief group in Princeton after a tsunami of losses—my mom, dad, stepmother, stepfather, my best friend from high school, my college roommate, and several friends from my recovery community. I’ve written enough obituaries to fill the seats of the planes that fell into the towers on 9/11.
It's never just a job. It’s someone’s mom. Someone’s brother. Someone’s son. A funeral home should never receive an obituary that looks like a cut-and-paste job. Families will remember that these few paragraphs were the last thing ever written about their soulmate.
One of those tributes I penned was for my brother-in-law, John McNulty—an Olympic marathon runner with an obsession for NY sports, Elton John, a Guinness habit, and a heart that could power the East River.
He was my best friend and the closest of my four brothers. An editor from The New York Times obituary section read it, framed it, and mailed it to my house. Said it was one of the best tributes she’d ever seen.
Writing an obituary doesn’t come to me like filling out a DMV form. It's humbling to take a panoramic camera shot of someone’s life and put it down from blood in the veins to ink on the paper.
Karen’s workshop feels like sacred ground for this kind of storytelling. I’d be honored to join the Online Writers community—even if I have to sprint there in sneakers from my grief group. 🙃 All the best Jeannette Quinton
Good approach, similar to writing your senior credits as a HS frosh to motivate you to extra-curricular (or writing your university application).