Wild Strawberries ~ A Writer’s Journal
Welcome and thank you for visiting!
One of my earliest memories, from about third grade, is trying to explain to my family that I came here to this planet to be “like the secretary of the world — to watch and write down everything that happens to help people remember.” Eventually, I realized that what I meant was that I was born to be a writer, a storyteller, a documentarian through multiple media.
I started this online writer’s journal in 2011, when I embarked in earnest upon the full-time work of writing my novel, Fruit of the Devil. Because the novel is about strawberries, I decided to call my writer’s journal of meandering ramblings “Wild Strawberries.” The 1957 Swedish film “Wild Strawberries,” written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, has personal significance for me because my father was the son of Swedish immigrants. In a quest to understand my Nordic roots, one year as an undergraduate, I enrolled in a Bergman film festival and watched all of Bergman’s films. Not long after, my father died.
In the film “Wild Strawberries,” the protagonist tackles difficult questions about life, self-discovery and human existence. Although I won’t presume to dive as deeply into the nature of reality and existence as Bergman did, I have attempted in this journal to authentically share some of my experiences, observations, and questions about life, food, sustainability, social and environmental justice, and other themes of Fruit of the Devil, while documenting the years-long process of writing a novel.
In the years since I undertook to write Fruit of the Devil, I’ve learned so much, made so many discoveries, received such precious and astonishing gifts. I’ve come to think of these gifts, learnings, and discoveries—such as the barnacle latched onto a sand dollar pictured above—as metaphorical “wild strawberries.”
Thank you for visiting. I hope you’ll find your time here worthwhile and perhaps come across some wild strawberries of your own. Your comments are welcome.