After the Fire

That fire can cleanse as well as destroy is no mystery to J. A. Jance. Before she found fame as a best-selling mystery author, Judith Jance wrestled with the personal anguish of being married to an alcoholic. For years she composed poetry in secret and kept it locked away. Finally it was published as After the Fire in 1984, the year before her debut novel. After the Fire chronicled the death of a relationship as Jance's marriage to her first husband gradually collapsed under the weight of his addiction—aided and abetted by her own unwitting denial and co-dependence—while she struggled to find herself. "I will not be the price of your redemption," she wrote then. "I will not pay my life to ransom yours." Now this deeply personal work is available in a new annotated edition. In it, Jance offers unblinking insights into where she was and what was happening when each of these searing poems was written—remaking After the Fire as more than a collection of poetry. Now it is a portrait of addiction and the insidious ways in which it destroys relationships. As Jance now observes while reflecting on these poems, "I could remember that spring morning sitting at the Formica table in my Phoenix kitchen and writing 'The Collector' while bags of unpacked groceries waited on the table beside me. I recalled everything about that long, long New Year's Eve vigil at my dying former husband's bedside. I felt once again the velvet smoothness of 'Fog' as I walked through a Seattle September morning on my way to a new life. . . . My life is far richer because of this book. My hope is that others will find answers here as well—answers and their own share of strength and courage." A work of crushing defeat and ultimate triumph, After the Fire relates an emotional journey that will be readily recognizable to anyone who has seen love destroyed and then found the strength to go on. It will inspire others who are struggling with similar issues as it allows fans of Jance's mysteries to better know the mind—and heart—of a favorite author.

Biographies & Memoirs

Jance,J.A.

Community & Culture

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"Goodbye, Spidee Idee” is about a spider who appears in Carly’s bathtub drain (the narrator), and the lovely friendship that blossoms. As Spidee tries to prepare Carly for Spidee’s eventual demise, Carly must develop a way to accept and explain how to deal with the sadness of loss.

Goodbye, Spidee Idee

Tendick, Anita

Parenting & Relationships

We’ve all heard them – unexplained noises in the night. Some loud, some soft; some near, some further away in another part of the house, or even outside. They either awaken us, or they keep us awake, as we try to answer the proverbial question: “WHAT’S THAT NOISE???!!!”I call them Creakits, and I have written this story in their honor.The child in the story, Alex, is visiting his grandmother and hears scary, unfamiliar noises. Alex's wise grandmother (that would be me!), explains the concept of Creakits, and thus the story, “The Creakits,” was born.

The Creakits

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