Roses Take Practice - Biewald, Connie

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Résumé :
I went to the kitchen, took off my coat. You'll find vat you need in the freezer, said the voice. Seven loaf cakes waited for me. I took them out to thaw. I covered a board with foil and prepared to mix an industrial sized batch of icing. Don't you be using shortening in that! In the refrigerator, I found pounds and pounds of butter. As I unwrapped each one, it softened in my hands, soft enough to mix with sugar. Shaping the cakes, gluing them together, listening to the voice in my head as I mixed colors I never knew existed and would never be able to recreate, I lost track of time. The butter cream, usually next to impossible to work with, held its shape better than any shortening. I lost myself in the cake, the last cake Sofie and I would make together. Praise for author Connie Biewald's Digging to Indochina 'Digging is an apt metaphor for Connie Biewald's writing, which probes and sifts the buried storage vaults of family relationships with an archaeologist's precision. Her work will appeal to those readers who love the fiction of Anne Tyler and Carol Shields. -Lois Lowry, author of Newbery Medal Award-winning books, Number the Stars and The Giver Visit Biewald's website at www.conniebiewald.com.

Biographie:
Connie Biewald has been writing stories in an effort to explore human relationships since she was five years old. She has been a teacher for more than 40 years, sharing her love of reading and writing with homeschoolers and hundreds of students in public and private schools in the US and Haiti. For the past thirty-five years she has been both a librarian and a Growth Education resource person at the Fayerweather Street School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In her Growth Ed role, Connie works with children, parents and other teachers exploring the essential topics of human development-self esteem, the use and misuse of power, altruism and community service, sexuality, appreciation and understanding of differences. This work is reflected in her writing. She is the grateful recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council artist grant, a PEN New England Discovery Award and numerous residencies. Visit her website at conniebiewald.com.