four leaf clover

 

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING about postcards from the road

 

in postcards from the road, Christine Brooks pulls a moment from time, a simple moment along her road of life, and peers deeply into it. She peers so deeply, she feels its pulse, hears its heartbeat, and wraps her heart, beating to its rhythm, around it. She leaves no stone unturned, takes no passing stranger or lifelong family member for granted. Each story only takes a moment of your time, and in that, like a tear, of joy or sorrow, swelling and ready to drop, she fills your heart.

Diane Buccheri, Publisher, OCEAN Magazine

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postcards from the road invites the reader, in the first place, to share in the author’s personal insights, adventures and lessons. These experiences are offered with an immediately disarming openness and honesty, as if, as Brooks suggests in her introduction, the reader were “an old friend that has just pulled up a comfortable chair.”

Though, it is soon evident that the journey of this collection takes place in the realm of personal reflection, as each poignant glimpse into the author’s experience stimulates the reader’s own insights, memories, and spacious contemplation. Indeed, “postcards” is intended to invite participation, the blank pages separating each postcard welcoming a conversation not just between the author and reader, but also within the reader’s own consciousness.

Brooks has created a beautiful collection of experiences shared freely that glows with warmth and heart. It is certain both to entertain, with the varied subject matter, stories and moods, and also to inspire.

Simon Spire, Songwriter, Musician
www.simonspire.com

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Where did you learn the secrets of life? In postcards from the road, Christine Brooks answers, softly but certainly, with the voice of a dear friend. She has learned those secrets from the road—and from a few welcome detours and rest stops along the way. “I am the journey. This is my most certain truth” she writes.

These are not wish you were here, share the weather, and see you soon postcards. These anecdotes from the road—life’s road—share the bumps, the grit, and the billboards along the way, but also, these remind us of the fun that can be had when one stops at the occasional roadside attraction so often overlooked by travelers too busy to pay it much mind.

Memoires of chance meetings, spontaneous friendship, and family devotion merge with others of exotic travel, celebrity encounter, and some good and some not so good days of surf. Brooks shares, “I wondered if Norman Rockwell was Irish, or a surfer…” Like Rockwell’s paintings, her tales are perfect depictions of a life well spent—not necessarily a perfect life. But if life were perfect, what fun would there be?

postcards from the road isn’t just a book—confined to the space of its pages; it is a conversation—ongoing and unique to each reader. Blank pages welcome the reader’s response. “We are always being given another chance to listen and to be something more than ordinary.” Brooks acknowledges that writing is a reciprocal relationship—built on trust and respect between author and reader.

This is nostalgia at its best. As Brooks demonstrates, when memory is harnessed, it is a powerful tool. Brooks’ narrative voice looks forward but also reminds us to embrace the now. Brooks leaves the reader with thoughts of family, of memory, of thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving) but not before offering the reminder that we must always pay attention to the thin blue line stretching out always before us.

Carrie Ellen Campbell, English & Creative Writing Teacher, Broadway High School, Virginia

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I have read the chapter Free Hugs. It is really good, I liked it. The world is a wonderful place to live because people like you live in it.

Aashish Dongre, Pune, India

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Christine Brooks’ collection of personal essays is an intimate, philosophical exploration of the depths of human experience and the heights to which human determination can take us. The essays are loosely organized, so this is no conventional autobiography. But it has a center and the center is a singular consciousness that seeks and absorbs experiences, self-imposed challenges, and the many people who enter her world. What is important? Family certainly, but also virtual strangers, chance meetings with others. The ability to juggle a commitment to family with a genuine commitment to others is one of the most appealing aspects of this essay collection. What brings them together is the essayist, whose will is always on display – a will to make this life a purposeful, positive, and invigorating experience. And then, of course, this is also a book about the therapeutic and self-revealing dimensions of surfing. Even if one is a relative novice.

Chip Rhodes, author of Politics and Desire in the Hollywood Novel (University of Iowa Press, 1998) and Structures of the Jazz Age (Verso Books, 1999). He is also Chair of the English Department at Western New England College.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

 

“Chris worked with me to write a brief, professional biography for my life coaching business. She was able to capture the essence of my personality and my business in few short paragraphs. It was concise, personable, appropriate and had some humor thrown in to make it absolutely perfect. The end result was on my website within a day of acquiring Chris’ services.” December 29, 2009

Top qualities: Great Results , Personable , Good Value

Celina McMahon first hired Christine as a Writer/Editor in 2009

 

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“My experience with Christine goes far beyond working together at a company. I consider her a friend, and a colleague …. and above all a true visionary! Her dream of becoming a writer has come to fruition, and not only am I so proud, but I am impressed with her incredible work. She is inspirational, uplifting and positive. I recommend her work highly, and encourage you to explore her work, and experience the smile she brings! You won’t be disappointed.” September 15, 2009

Karin Duprey , Sales , LMA North America

 

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“Christine writes with heart and writes well, delivering her words effectively. She is an asset with her writing and a breeze to work with. Her mind is constantly at work, delving into new possibilities.”

Top qualities: Great Results , Good Value , High Integrity

Diane Buccheri first hired Christine as a Writer/Editor in 2007, and hired Christine more than once