Not So Ordinary: Women write book about life, relationships, experiences

The times Pat Antonopoulos spent in conversation with three other women at a Johnson County Library made up some of “the most important periods” of her life, she said.

The conversations started in a writing group for women, set up with the goal to create a book. Their gatherings turned into a support group.

“It just sort of cemented our idea that we wanted to publish because we realized how vital woman-to-woman communication was,” said Antonopoulos, of Parkville, Mo.

Over the course of four years, Pat, along with Patti Dickinson, Fairway, and Shawna Samuel and Jo Ann Stanley, both of Westwood, met at the Cedar Roe Library, 5120 Cedar, Roeland Park.  They met to talk, to write and to share their experiences.

A compilation of the works they created, titled “Four Ordinary Women: A Gathering at the Cedar Roe Library,” was released this summer.

Each gathering began with a promise of privacy. Then, they would share material with each other by reading aloud. All members agreed to write on the same topic for each meeting.

Somehow, by scheduling regular meetings and asking each other to share through writing, the soul searching got even deeper, Dickinson said.

“Women are curious; they are starved for conversations that go deeper than ‘Who mows your yard?’ or ‘How is your husband?’ We don’t take the time anymore to do that,” Dickinson said.

“We’d like to think as women we get together as friends, but too often life gets in the way… Pretty soon you have let some friendships lapse. Women need those friendships and need that camaraderie to be whole.”

The four women tackled topics including marriage, solitude, parenting and what keeps them awake at night. Each woman had a different perspective to bring to each topic, Dickinson said.

“The response we have gotten is that it is really a genuine, honest, sometimes gritty series of essays,” Dickinson said. “For us to have not taken that risk – to put it in writing, it would not have been the book it is. You can’t just write surface stuff and have it be well-received. I think people see through that.”

The topic of balance required a lot of self-reflection for Dickinson, she said.

“It was a particularly apropos topic for me because we have eight children and for two decades my life was completely out of balance raising eight little kids,” she said.

The authors hope the book will provide women with stories they can relate to and inspire them to start their own group, Antonopoulos said.

“I came to respect every one of those women,” Antonopoulos said. “I was so fortunate to be a part of the group because I learned the depth of people’s courage, the intensity of their beliefs.”

Writing does not have to be the central activity. It can be a walking group or a coffee group, any regular meeting place where women can begin to trust and have a sense of communication, Antonopoulos said.

“The willingness to share would be the best possible advice,” Antonopoulos said. “If it takes a long time to build that, that is fine. It takes what it takes, but it is just vital. Women need each other.”

FAST FACTS

The authors of ‘Four Ordinary Women’ will hold a book signing from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Barnes and Noble at Zona Rosa, 8625 NW Prairie View Road, Kansas City, Mo. Another signing is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at Stuff, 316 W. 63rd St., Kansas City Mo.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment