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Article published Jun 28, 2009 Maryville author Nicki Richesin edits second book
By Linda Braden Albert of The Daily Times Staff
The bond between mother and daughter is strong. It's also just as varied and complex as the personalities of the women involved.
Andrea N. "Nicki" Richesin explores that bond in her new book, "Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond," published in April by Harlequin. The Maryville native edited the anthology, which contains essays written by established and best-selling authors as well as new voices in the publishing field who reveal personal, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, stories of the relationships between them, their mothers and their daughters.
"It's 34 women, and there are some really talented writers in this collection," Richesin explained via telephone interview. "It's been such an incredible journey, working with these women and having the incredible honor to read their personal stories."
Richesin's first anthology, "The May Queen," contained stories of women in their 30s so she had an established network of writers when she had the idea for "Because I Love Her." In January 2007, she reconnected with these women and put out a call for submissions. Four who participated in "The May Queen" also wrote for the new book.
The response from authors who wanted to be included in "Because I Love Her" was huge, Richesin said. "I would say within two to three months, I had the 34 already lined up and ready to go. It happened much quicker than my first anthology."
Transformation
Richesin had the idea for the book after the birth of her daughter.
"I had been thinking about creating a book about mothers and daughters and this fascinating, complicated relationship, and I think after her birth, I finally realized what it means to be a mother. A mother's love means devotion and selflessness and sacrifice, and of course, so much more. I thought I was aware of all these things and then I became a mom and it was very transformative. It kind of rocked my world."
Richesin started with the idea of, "What would you tell your mother if you could tell her anything?"
"I think for many of these writers, there are so many things they are not willing to say out loud or confess to themselves, so I think it was very freeing for them to finally express themselves. For some of the contributors, it was too late. Their mothers had already passed away, so they really missed their chance. Writing their essays was really their opportunity to finally express how they felt about their mothers."
Richesin wrote the introduction and only a little bit about her mom, Debbie Richesin, of Maryville.
"With both my anthologies and even the new one I'm doing now, I like to remain like Switzerland, very neutral," Richesin said. "I want to remain more objective and I think it helps me balance the content and all the different writers and what they want to reveal in their own way."
A question she heard was, "But what if I don't love my mom?"
"There's a side where there's this complicated rivalry between them, there's tension, there's competition, these more negative feelings about their mothers," Richesin said. "So for these women, it was a little painful, but they bravely exposed their stories of mothers who were maybe not the perfect mother, but how they came to forgive them in spite of these things."
Essays that were hurtful or vindictive did not make it into the book, she said.
Reading July 1 in Knoxville
Richesin said the book has been well-received. Local readers will have a chance to meet her and hear one of the essays when she visits Carpe Librum in Knoxville on July 1.
Richesin, a 1990 graduate of Maryville High School and a 1994 graduate of the University of Tennessee in psychology and English, is the daughter of Debbie and Don Richeson, of Maryville and the granddaughter of Orson and Yvonne Burlingame and Jack and Ruth Richesin. She now lives in California with her husband, Joel Warwick, and daughter Lily Warwick, now 5 years old.
Richesin has begun work on an anthology based on the father-daughter relationship, also for Harlequin's nonfiction imprint. It is set for publication in 2010.