books « Gloria Bowman

Imagine my surprise: Author Laura Carroll sent me an email requesting that I answer a few questions writing childfree fiction. To be sure, I was surprised and honored. Of course!

Her book Families of Two set Laura on the path to being one of the leading experts and voices on the childfree choice. A prolific author, she also wrote The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Minds From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create a Better World.

I wrote my book Human Slices when I was much younger and exploring my choice to be childfree — Was it really a choice, a pre-determined state of being, or something that just happened to me? I still don’t know the definitive answer to that. I do know, however, that it was the right choice for me.

When I first wrote my book, the idea of being “childfree by choice” wasn’t talked about much, if at all. It was almost taboo. It’s exciting to hear the discussions and ideas on that topic sparkle around the world through technology. Good for us and good for all.

Click here to access the interview on Laura’s site. Thanks, Laura!

I know a woman who sought asylum in the U.S. during the Bosnian war.

Although she was trained as a nurse in her country, when she came to the States, she decided to become a hair stylist. “My English was good but not that good,” she says. “What if I didn’t understand something? What if somebody didn’t understand me? At least if I cut hair, I can’t kill anyone.”

We laugh when she tells this story.

She is a non-stop talker. “In my country, nobody talks because they know someone is always listening to what they have to say. Here, in U.S., everybody talks, talks, talks, talks, talks, and nobody pays attention.”

Nonetheless, I am joining in and looking forward to what connections may happen.

After all, there’s so much to talk about.