[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Up-Hill
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?/ Yes, to the very end./ Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?/ From morn to night, my friend.
Christina Rossetti, Up-Hill
This makes me think of Sisyphus. This makes me think of the refrigerator magnet I used to have that said it is possible to move mountains by carrying small stones. This makes me think about the bridge where I used to run in Miami. Local runners call the bridge “Goliath.”
There are a million ways to think about up-hill. There is the challenge accepted, I got this, just watch me version of up-hill. There is also the standing at the bottom, looking up at the top, sighing-while-weighing all options version of up hill. I have clearly experienced moments in my life where I experienced up-hill from both sides and everything in between.
The fact that the journey up-hill will take the entire day is comforting to me. Let me explain. It means I can take my time to get up-hill as long as I keep moving. It makes me think about measuring progress in small amounts that seem doable for me. It creates a hopeful kinship with other up-hill seekers and travelers, as we all make our way.
About Katie
From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
