A Sugary Frosting: A Memoir of a Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage

By Denis Ledoux and Martha Blowen

A Sugary Frosting / A Memoir of A Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage and How I Survived Being a Preacher's Kid This memoir reveals an underside of being the preacher's kid, a public role that is rife with challenges of supporting your minister father and your minister's-wife mother and of becoming yourself, a person they may not have expected to come out of their household. Relationships in this memoir are portrayed honestly and sometimes not flatteringly. A Sugary Frosting, a phrase derived from the late Martha Blowen's journals, is a memoir of surviving religious idealism and inherited belief to undertake to become one’s self. WHAT YOU'LL ENJOY A Sugary Frosting is a step through the 1950s and 1960s that will bring the life of those years to the fore—at least as it was lived in a parsonage. In its pages, you will observe: • the viciousness of the "White Church" whose members sent hate notes to the minister. • the minister's little girl showing her rosebud petticoat to the church ladies. • women going to church wearing gloves—even in summer. • the minister's daughter smoking pot and telling her parents it was incense. • what it can feel like to be a superior lyric soprano and not wanting to sing. • going to an elite private school and hating it. • being bullied by a high school teacher. • living a life where everything had to be nice-nice. • her parents' anti-war protests that lead to being dismissed from a pulpit These—and more—stories, told artfully and insightfully, will keep you reading long past when you should be asleep. In A Sugary Frosting / A Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage, the hero comes to the realization that the religious beliefs she has inherited do not fit comfortably. From early on, she wonders "What does it mean 'to love Jesus?'" She struggles to make belief and experience mesh but as she writes, "I was too young to understand, but I knew my own experience and not belief had to be my guide."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Denis Ledoux
• Release date: Jul 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9780974277332

Denis Ledoux

YOU CAN LEARN TO WRITE FROM THE INSIDE OUTI believe in the power of telling our personal and family stories. These are our hero's journeys, and by telling them we honor ourselves and the people we have come from. An important early task for the writer is go inside and find the story that is worth telling. The story is not about "nice" words; it is about honest words, visceral words.LIFESTORIES FEED USStories have always played an important role in my life. I grew up in a three-generation home with paternal grandparents who lived upstairs. I heard tales of my extended family and their history recounted by the family storyteller, my grandmother Ledoux. These stories were a food for my soul. I could not get enough of them, and her gift to me was that she was a voluble, entertaining storyteller.I began writing as a short-story writer, drawing on family characters, settings, and stories for my fiction. In 1989, I won the Maine Fiction Award for Mountain Dance & Other Stories. My other titles include What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America (1988), and Lives in Translation: An Anthology of Contemporary Franco-American Writings (which I edited in 1990). In 1992, I published (and it is still in print) Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories; in 1996, The Photo Scribe / How to Tell the Stories Behind Your Photos; in 2009, The Consumer's Guide to Ghostwriting, in 2013, a memoir—We Were Not Spoiled. E-publication includes the books listed here in Smashwords as well as others.MAKING THE LEAP TO BECOMING A MEMOIR PROFESSIONALIt was a natural leap from my own family stories to helping others to record their stories in well-written accounts that apply all the techniques of fiction writing to autobiography, family reminiscence, and scrapbooking.In 1996, I was honored as Lifewriting Professional of the Year by the Association of Personal Historians.THE MEMOIR NETWORKToday, I continue to work as a writer, educator, teacher, autobiography co-author, memoir-writing coach, editor and publisher. I direct The Memoir Network, an international group of lifestory writing teachers who use my method and materials to lead the popular Turning Memories® and Photo Scribe® workshops and programs.My Memoir Network offers Memoir Professional Packages for individuals wishing to do what we call memoir work in their communities. [http://thememoirnetwork.com/memoir-professional-packages/] Please inquire if you are interested in becoming a Memoir Professional.BUILD YOUR MEMOIR-WRITING LIBRARYYou will find a number of my memoir-writing e-books on Smashwords. Begin to purchase them now so as to develop your memoir-writing library. These are the best memoir-writing books available anywhere at any price.BEYOND THE BOOKSIf you need more than these great books, give me call at 207-353-5454 for a free consultation to determine whether coaching, editing, or ghostwriting is a good fit for you. When you're ready, we can also do book production for you.Keep writing and stay in the memoir conversation.

Book preview

Reviews for A Sugary Frosting

[kathleen.pooler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In writing Sugary Frosting: A Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage, Denis Ledoux has honored the life of his late wife, Martha Blowen. Through her own words, he has not only crafted a story of her life as a “preacher’s kid” but has revealed the story of another generation. We, the readers, are invited in vivid detail into Martha’s life and the times in which she lived. This memoir is a labor of love.Through Martha’s voice which is strong, clear and honest, I experienced the challenges and confinement of a young girl whose reflections leave no doubt as to the rigors of a staged life shaped by the expectations of others. Martha portrays her parents’ strengths and flaws in a believable way that helped me understand her girlhood views and resultant rebellious behaviors.Social and cultural history are illuminated so that anyone from the 50s,60s and 70s can relate ( I remember when white gloves and a hat were a must for women when they went to church). Anyone younger can have a better understanding of another time. The story also explores the parent-child dynamic and connects the reader to their own parent –child relationship.The writing is engaging and the story flows seamlessly. I read this in two sittings and was anxious to get back it. I highly recommend this and look forward to reading more about Martha’s life.