I am a writer, spiritual entrepreneur and armchair activist who happily resides in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California with my family and a menagerie of pets. My articles have been published locally, internationally and online. I am a winner of the Women’s Memoirs contest for a vignette from my memoir in the eBook Tales of Our Lives. A member of the National Association of Memoir Writers, I love travel, the outdoors, Jazzercise and music. My debut book, the memoir Nothing Like Normal—Surviving a Sibling’s Schizophrenia was published by Black Opal Books on November 14, 2015.
This blog features updates on my writing projects and it will serve as a voice for myself and others who have faced mental health issues in their families or in their own lives.
It will also feature my writing on a wide range of topics with original photos and posts. This is a new adventure for me so who knows what will appear! Join me on this journey and feel free to chime in.
Martha Graham-Waldon 
Martha … I hope to get to Crones Sunday … but live in Aromas and it’s 50-50. I run a writers Open Mike on second Tuesdays at 6pm in Old Capitol Books in Monterey across from Trader Joes … might you be interested in being a featured reader in July or August? phanson@csumb.edu
http://www.invisiblegrandparent.com
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Hi Pat,
So sorry it took so long to respond here. My WordPress site is being redesigned so I thought it would be safer to use email but I guess you never got that! The Crones talk went great! It was actually my first and it was followed by some lively discussion. I also received lots of encouragement from a great group of women. I would love to come to Monterey to speak. It would be all the better if I had the actual book on hand to promote but that won’t be till late fall. I would also like to network and learn about the bookstores and other venues there so I think it would be very worthwhile for me. I look forward to firming this up and talking some more. Thanks for the invite! marthagw@comcast.net
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Martha, thank you for “liking” my post today. I dropped in here to see what’s going on, and I find another armchair activist and memoirist. Love it when that happens. Congratulations on launching your memoir soon. We are a mental health/illness family with members attempting to cope with bipolarism, Asperger’s, and ADHD. Never a moment in the day I’m not praying that something will eventually change. Look forward to getting to know you as a fellow writer and armchair activist!
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Thanks, Sherrey! I’m glad to meet you as well! I have been enjoying your newsletter and posts. Glad to connect with a like-minded writer. Blessings to you and yours!
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Received a notice today that you have begun following my blog and I’m happy to have you among my community of followers. Beginning to work on my review schedule for 2016 and hope to have news for you soon about a review date. I wonder if in the future you might be willing to appear as a guest on my blog. Something to ponder.
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Hi Martha,
A colleague of yours suggested that I add your book to my new Monterey Bay Author’s blog.
With your permission, I’ll post a blog about your book along with your website link.
Here’s the blog:
https://montereyauthors.wordpress.com/
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Yes, that would be great! Let me know if you need anything else. I’m at marthagw@comcast.net
Thank you so much and Happy New Year!
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Hi Martha!
I popped on here to make sure you knew your book was up on “Monterey Authors” and I saw that you were contacted by its founder. I’m so glad that my referral of your memoir worked out! 🙂
I just read the December issue of Central Coast Writers “Scribbes” (I love that name) and saw that you’re speaking on Jan. 12th – good luck!
take care, keep in touch and happy (belated) New Year,
Dyane
p.s. thanks for actively following my blog – I really appreciate it!
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Pingback: Nothing Like Normal-Surviving a Sibling’s Schizophrenia by Martha Graham-Waldon | Monterey Authors
Hi Dyane! Thank you so much for the referral to Monterey Authors. I didn’t know who had done it, now the mystery is solved! I am appearing in Monterey on the 12th (gosh, I need to work on that speech!) I also wanted to thank you for your comment on the Women’s Memoirs site. It was one of the first and that opened up a whole new influx of comments. You are very supportive and the least I can do is follow you in return! I will even try re-tweeting when I am feeling brave! Best wishes to you and your family in the New Year!
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Hello dear Martha! If you go to the Monterey Authors “About” page you’ll see the exchange I had with the kind founder about *you* and your awesome book! I was happy to leave a comment at Women’s Memoirs – I can do that anytime, just let me know where. 🙂
No pressure to retweet – this gracious “thank you” comment you left made my day! Take care & I know you’ll do a fabulous job on your speech. Also, I promise to write a review for your book on Amazon; I’ve been slammed with a lingering cold/cough that flipped all my plans upside down, but it *will* happen.
Be well & enjoy this rain!
Dyane
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You are the best! Happy 2016!
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Pingback: Nothing Like Normal-Surviving a Sibling’s Schizophrenia by Martha Graham-Waldon | Monterey Writes
Hi Martha, thanks for “liking” my post on March Madness. I’m enjoying being back on WordPress where things are familiar. Hope you’ll choose to follow my blog as I’ll be stopping my newsletter in a few weeks.
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