Grace FM: The Morning Rush with Sandra

If you're up and available around 8 AM tomorrow (Friday) morning,
please tune in to Grace FM to hear my interview about Rain Song.

On April 1, I was on The Morning Rush with Sandra around 8:40 AM to start the month of with Rain Song, the novel selected by Sandra as the April pick.

Tomorrow will be the follow-up interview. When you get to the station's website, click on the Streaming Audio button at the top of the page. There will be a short announcement and then you'll hear the show.

Hope you can join us!

Why is it hard going down the cereal aisle?

Everything screams difficult after the death of a child. The cereal aisle is no exception. Walking down the cereal aisle after a child has died can be painful. Memories lie with the boxes of Cocoa Puffs and Fruit Loops.

Down the Cereal Aisle is more than a cookbook. The pages contain not only recipes, but food-related memories and stories of children gone too soon. You can read the book and cry, as well as create one of the recipes and weep. And while you're doing it, it will make your heart feel good that you are remembering a child who did live, was loved and is missed every day. Learn to make Chicken Broccoli Casserole and Tommy's Chocolate Cake. Or just sit down with a cup of your favorite tea and read the poetry and stories in this tender book.

Down the Cereal Aisle was compiled by me, with the help of dozens of moms and dads who contributed to the cookbook.

James Cox of Midwest Book Review says, "Down The Cereal Aisle: A Basket Of Recipes And Remembrances is a unique and very special cookbook of favorite recipes of children who have since been lost to their parents. As much a testimony of grief and bereavement as it is a fond memory of cherished dining with their loved ones, Down The Cereal Aisle is a soulful, meditative, and sober compilation of easy-to-prepare dishes. From Aunt Vicki's Macaroni and Cheese Stuff (in memory of Michael Haskins, May 9, 1979--October 11, 1996) to 7 Layer Bars (in memory of Teresa Wesley Hough, April 25, 1968--October 2, 1993), Down The Cereal Aisle blends capsules memorial tributes with recipes from the heart's own memory."

Order a copy today at the discount price. Send $12.00 (that includes shipping and handling) per book to the address below.
Visit this page at my Writing the Heartache website to read more about the book.

Address check to Alice J. Wisler and send to:

201 Monticello Avenue
Durham, NC 27707

National Fiction Day

There seems to be a day for everything, so it doesn't
surprise me that there is a National Fiction Day.

I've been invited to come to the Lifeway Store on Walnut Street
in Cary for this year's National Fiction Day. On May 16th from
11 AM to 1 PM I'll be at the location signing books.

I'm thinking about wearing an apron and/or chef's hat (my son Daniel
wanted a tall white hat so I got him one) since my new novel,
How Sweet It Is is about a chef. I might chicken out though. We'll see.

I hope you can come out to Lifeway on Saturday, May 16. I'd love to
see you there!

A Shout Out To Fine Folk

Gratitude! I am truly feeling it. With the release of my newest novel,
How Sweet It Is, I am grateful for my audience of readers. Many old
friends and new came to my book reading at Cameron Village Library
yesterday. Thank you to each one of you!

I also want to thank these folks.

* Carly at Carlybird

* Nancy at Womankind

Easter

Easter was late that year, just like this year. Down in South Carolina, at Daniel's grandparents' home, the dogwood and azaleas were in vibrant bloom. Three-year-old Daniel was more interested in his Easter basket, an assortment of treats that he managed to eat without getting too much chocolate on his new Easter outfit.

We didn't know. No one, but God knows these things. Looking back, you see it all differently, putting emphasis on the curve of Daniel's smile, his genuine excitement, the awe his eyes portrayed as he and his older sister looked for dyed eggs.

Twelve years later, you view the scene through murky glasses with an odd rosy tint. You didn't know on that Easter, Easter 1996, that it would be the last one Daniel would ever find a colorful egg.

Yet, it was. Shortly after the chocolate was consumed, Daniel was diagnosed with a small blue cell tumor. I'd never heard of neuroblastoma before.

Daniel was a brave cookie. He thrived, much of the time, even though doctors insisted on filling his small body with radiation and chemo. The cancer had to die. In his hospital room, Daniel loved Toy Story, The Three Stooges and Little Foot and he really loved it when his parents brought him hotcakes from McDonalds.

Eight months worth of potent chemicals filled his body and worked to kill the poison in his neck. But in the end, those chemicals were what killed him, the little boy, that Brave Cookie.

I have four children. I hope that you will understand that while three of them continue to bring me joy here on Earth, one brings me hope in Heaven. He resides there now.

This Easter, once more, I am thankful that even cancer cannot destroy our souls. Death is swallowed up in victory. Daniel lives.

Hallelujah!

How Sweet It Is that today is the release date!

Today marks the release date for my second novel, How Sweet It Is.

Here's one of the first reviews from a recent issue of Library Journal.


"Atlanta chef Deena Livingston returns home to the North Carolina cabin she inherited from her grandfather to start a new life far from the heartbreak she suffered in Georgia. But instead of becoming isolated in self-pity, Deena finds her grandfather's will also stipulates that she work with local middle-school children. Written with a seasoning of Southern charm and populated with richly drawn characters, Wisler's second novel (after Rain Song) mixes romance, humor, and drama and tackles such issues such as child abuse and self-image. Sure to appeal to fans of Susan May Warren, Lisa Wingate, Angela Hunt, and Rene Gutteridge."