When you pick up that small blue ribbon buried in the sewing box, does it take you back to the day you had that small beautiful boy? Do you ever want to write about the first time your child was very ill and how you felt through that harrowing experience? Or, the first time you saw your little daughter walking down the hall in your high heels? Do you cheerfully blog about life as a mom (clean house or not)? Do you just want to write down some memories, but think you can't write? Are you a published writer looking for more strategic ways to write creative nonfiction?

If any of the above brings a gleam to your eye or even slightly intrigues you, then you will be most interested in USE YOUR WORDS -- A WRITING GUIDE FOR MOTHERS by this award winning and very talented writer and instructor at the Loft Literary Center. Kate Hopper truly knows how to pull out the budding writer in each person and how to help hone the skills of those further down the writing path. Her method is not to force a particular format on everyone, but rather to help a person see how to make the ordinary the extra- ordinary and to shift perspectives to make their stories shine.

Every chapter covers a different topic from using humour as a tool to how to put it together (structure), writing about painful subjects, and considerations when writing about family members. Hopper gives amazing writing samples, heartfelt vignettes, exercises, tools, resources and lots of encouragement, compassion and strategies for getting your story written and more tips to make it come to life for your readers.

Hopper has a wonderful style of writing. Her book is well organized and structured while still intriguing to read as she writes with humour, tears, compassion and from her own experiences of Motherhood. I would strongly recommend this book for all women who want to write about their children and family experiences, regardless if writing for blogs, publications or their own private memory books. While the information in Hopper's book is focused on mothers, the writing tips are universal for anyone wanting to write creative nonfiction. It is truly a terrific writing resource!