LITERATURE + LECTURES

Blue Willow Bookshop presents a book signing and discussion by Louise Parsley and Susan Abel Lieberman.    Authors Susan Abel Lieberman (The Mother In Law’s Manual) and Louise Parsley (Revelations in the Rearview Mirror) will discuss all things motherhood and sign their books.

Celebrate Houstonian Louise Parsley and her new book, Revelations in the Rearview Mirror: One Mother's Hard-Won and Hilarious Epiphanies on the Road to the Empty Nest. Insightful and poignantly funny, this look-over-your shoulder, laugh-out-loud collection of essays pulls the facade off family life, revealing the true and unvarnished journey of coming to grips with motherhood.

Showing that not all mother's instincts kick in automatically, the narratives create camaraderie among fellow moms who fear they have been endowed with the maternal warmth of Leona Helmsley. Covering all the years between play groups and prom, this odyssey of motherhood illustrates that by the time moms actually have a handle on raising kids, they're sending them off to college.

This delightful series of reflections is sure to warm a mother's heart. A portion of the sale of this book will be donated to The Children's Art Project at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Louise Parsley began writing about family life in community newspapers and magazines when her three children were young and she realized she needed an outlet to preserve her sanity. Fans of her columns and conversations count on her to pull the fade off family life and reveal how meaningful, and even marvelous, the truth can be--if you're willing to leaven it with a laugh. In Revelations in the Rearview Mirror: One Mother's Hard-won and Hilarious Epiphanies on the Road to the Empty Nest (Bright Sky Press, May 2009), she has collected the crowd-pleasing columns that cover the career life of a mother. Looking over her shoulder in the rear-view mirror, she can tell you just what worked, and more about what didn't. Only as her last child prepares to leave the nest does Louise realize that she finally feels like a real Mother. But now that she has a handle on how to raise her children, she's worked herself out of a job. Reflecting on the stages of her journey, she knows now what she might not have been able to do then even if she had known she was supposed to.

Louise Parsley graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor Arts in Political Science. She has previously been the editor for West U Magazine and contributes a column to the Examiner. Through her humorous style and wit she has won the Best Original Column from the Texas Community Newspaper Association and garnered a Houston Press Club Excellence in Journalism Award for Best Commentary/Criticism.

Susan Abel Lieberman, Ph.D. (pictured) has written five books, including New Traditions: Redefining Celebrations for Today's Family. She attended Vassar College and the University of California as an undergraduate, holds a master's in city planning from Berkeley, and a Ph. D. in public policy from the University of Pittsburgh. She is ordained as an interfaith minister. She has been married for forty years to Michael W. Lieberman, M.D. a poet who is chairman of pathology and head of the Research Institute at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. With children and grandchildren on both coasts, she is well-versed in the challenges presented by every stage of family life.

Drawing on real-life personal experiences as well as sage advice from other mother-in-law veterans, The Mother In Law’s Manual outlines proven strategies for creating and maintaining healthy relationships with married children. Key tips include how to manage expectations from the outset, how to reduce conflict and increase contentment by realizing love does not have to be competitive, how to speak authentically without hurting feelings, how to effectively employ humor, and learning to realign focus on the happiness of the whole family. This insightful manual will help any mother-in-law find fulfillment while gracefully transitioning into this role.