Writing
Lyrics, Memoirs & Essays
A Bit About My Writing:
It was after tending to, and losing, a family member to cancer that my writing bug took hold. Upon my loved one’s death, and out of nowhere, I began writing poetry. It just poured from me, taking on a life of its own. From there, I wrote lyrics. Eventually, I began work on a memoir for my little sister, Polly, who died too young; and whom (I discovered through my writing) I had never grieved.
It was during my first writing workshop that a teacher convinced me to write the story from my point of view instead of Polly’s. He said, because she was bedridden with limited exposure to our surroundings, it would be impossible to capture the full essence of our family’s environment and circumstances. It took several years but I finally completed my memoir and have also published articles & essays and enjoyed work as a columnist.
“Everyone’s story is important—always interesting—and sharing it can bring unexpected blessings.”
My Published Work
The Magic of Memoir:
Inspiration for the Writing Journey
By the Grace of God, I Write Memoir is the title of my essay in this beautiful anthology of 38 writers. We each share about our own journeys and what inspired us to write memoir.
The Magic of Memoir is a memoirist’s companion for when the going gets tough. I am one of 38 writers who share hard-won wisdom, stories, and writing tips. Editors Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner have taught and coached hundreds of memoirists to the completion of their memoirs, and they know that the journey is fraught with belittling messages from both the inner critic and naysayers, voices that make it hard to stay on course with the writing and completion of a book.
Included are Myers’s and Warner’s interviews with best-selling and widely renown memoirists Mary Karr, Elizabeth Gilbert, Dr. Azar Nafisi, Dani Shapiro, Margo Jefferson, Raquel Cepeda, Jessica Valenti, Daisy Hernández, Mark Matousek, and Sue William Silverman. For a complete list of contributors as well as full bios go here.
This collection has something for anyone who’s on the journey or about to embark on it. If you’re looking for inspiration, The Magic of Memoir will be a valuable companion.
“Through the early inspiration of my sister’s story, I was able to find my own voice and tell a story from my point of view.”
The Eight Aspects of God:
A Pathway to Bliss
The Eight Aspects of God: A Pathway to Bliss, a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards is a treatise on spiritual living encapsulated into a short and easy-to-read volume. Each sentence is full of wisdom and practical information you can apply to your life today, right this second.
In the book, I explain how your energy is affected when you’re not living in alignment with the eight aspects introduced in this book. Any issue that shows up physically, mentally, or in relationship can be traced back to an energy center and ultimately a missing aspect in your life.
The Eight Aspects of God offers an authentic and effective strategy for intuitive self-healing while at the same time exploring a new course toward spiritual and personal development.
“What brings us closer together is seeing our differences without wanting to change each other….. recognizing we each follow our own path toward our own unique expression of God.”
“True healing is removing the ignorance covering the splendor of our soul which is our True Self.”
- Yogiraj Siddhanath
My Unpublished Works
Glowing Houses: A Memoir
Glowing Houses: A Memoir, is my coming-of-age story and won an award in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest in the nonfiction/memoir category. My manuscript is complete (~88,000 words). I have a full proposal, which includes the following: table of contents; chapter-by-chapter outline; synopsis; competitive titles; marketing plan; bio; and three sample chapters.
“It was like we were separated—the people in the glowing houses and those who didn’t live in town—not just physically but by a system; one they controlled. We could see each other but we didn’t understand each other. To cross over would have been like going to a foreign land, another culture, where you wouldn’t know the ways; where you would feel even more ignorant, more out of place.”
“Opening your mind is the only way to diagnose and then cure yourself from the disease of ignorance. But overcoming the disease of ignorance is a complicated paradox: you’ve got to know you have it in order to treat it.”
It’s Not About You
It’s Not About You: How to Stop Taking Things Personally is a work in progress. The book is a hybrid, blending memoir and self-help. I have a full proposal and my manuscript is 60% complete.
In It’s Not About You, I share stories about how taking things personally negatively affects our health and well-being and offer solutions to avoid this trap. (speaking from personal experience!)
It is in inevitable that you will take something personally. If you put yourself out there you will encounter difficult relationships and situations. These are important opportunities to notice when you are taking “it” (the other person’s behavior) personally. Finding the “it” (trigger) is part of what I tackle in the book.
We can’t control how someone treats us (or not), but we can control our reaction or response. It’s not about me. It’s all on me.
“When we live in reaction to how other people treat us, or how we perceive they are treating us, we stop being ourselves.”
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain
Lyrics
All content copyrighted Ruth Stender, 2025 | All Rights Reserved ©
My intention for sharing these “demo” songs is to connect with artists who are looking for new material.
Lyrics are written by me (with one song* in collaboration with two writing friends). Tunes and vocals are in collaboration with an AI music generator.
All but one** are from old poems I’d written many years (decades) ago.
Downloading, copying, sharing or using this work in any way without my written permission is prohibited.
Please use the “contact” page here on my website to reach me for permission and to request a download link.
Stronger Than Bricks & Stone
Love Away the Pain
Changed the Lock*
Thank You, Jesus, for Loving Me**
Pounding Heart
My Sweet Ache’s Cure
Journals, Magazines & Articles:
Essay Writing
My essay, There’s No One Story of the Opioid Epidemic in America, was published by On Being with Krista Tippett September 22, 2017. This piece shares how the drug crisis ravaged my brother’s life and looks to compassion as a strategy for healing.
Regular Column
I am former writer for New Spirit Journal where my column “Musings of Memoir” offered tips, tools and inspiration for others who want to write their story. For a peek, here’s the first article, Musings of Memoir: What’s Your Story? published in January, 2019.
Monthly Article
I am a former columnist for the online magazine Contemplative Journal. These monthly articles provide information on the benefits of meditation and contemplation as explained in my book The Eight Aspects of God, A Pathway to Bliss.
Monthly Column
As a columnist for New Spirit Journal (November 2011 through July 2013), I wrote a monthly column titled “Chakra Talk” where I offered readers self-healing strategies based on the principles of yoga, meditation, and energy medicine.
“It’s true that everyone has a story to tell — sharing it can be transformative,
even miraculous.”
Editing & Teaching
Blending my twenty-three-year career in engineering (which included technical writing) with my fifteen years of experience writing personal essay and memoir, I help others who want to tell their story. In addition, I work as a ghostwriter and freelance technical editor/writer.
“The reason God gave you your story is so you could tell it.”
~Rev. Ed Bacon
Are you ready to take the next steps in your writing journey?
I’d love to help!