Tag Archives: Molly

My Life as a Mule four 5 Star reviews

National Mule Day – October 26th

National Mule Day is on October 26th.

And what better way to celebrate than to purchase your own copy of My Life as a Mule  (click on the title or HERE to go directly to Amazon).

Not sure if it’s a good fit for you? Read Claire’s review below to get an idea of what’s in store when you meet Molly up close and personal.

I’ve just finished reading Sj Hylton LeHoven’s My Life As A Mule for the second time. It is superb. On the surface, it seems like such a straightforward story with adorable talking animals but there is so much more to it. I now see it as a coming of age allegory with family members and everyday joys and mishaps that we can all relate to. Back in my day, we would call it “deep.” There were plenty of times during the read that I had to stop and think about the deeper meaning of a passage.

Sj tells her story using animals just as Orwell did in Animal Farm but thankfully, there are revelations rather than revolutions, and compassion conquers tyranny. Molly the Mule’s teenage awakenings are not nearly as ominous as pigs on two legs. This is a sweet and sad, and often laugh out loud read and somewhere in the middle, I forgot all the characters were animals.

It’s tough to pin down with regard to “the” audience. I loved it but so did our 9 year old grandson. It’s entertaining and educational on a number of levels and for ages eight to 80. The book is beautifully illustrated by a very talented Jocelyne Shiner and you can even buy prints of her work. A delightful five stars all around.

Mahalo nui loa! xoxoxoxoxox

✫Sj✫

A Baptism

A Baptism

Trust Train cube

A Year Into It…

Riding the Trust Train

It’s been over a year now since I hopped aboard the Trust Train.

What’s it been like? What have I learned?

Well, there’s too much to tell in one video, but here’s a place to start:

Thank you for taking the time to sit and be with me.

Aloha,

✫Sj✫

 

Tracey, Sj and Jocelyne cropped (1 of 1)

1 Year Ago…

I met two friends from high school for dinner.

It was August 2017, and I had come to the mainland (from Kaua‘i) to write.

What was I going to write?

I had NO idea.

But I just knew that I had to write. I knew that it was time to rid myself of distractions. And make a commitment (to myself) to show up each and every day. Something was brewing within me, and I could feel that it needed to be shared with the world.

Yes, the world!

In time, I began to realize that it was simply a message of love. That you’re loved and perfect as you are.

Text from Tracey 8.15.2018

Written by Tracey, my beautiful friend on my right.

You can imagine how thrilled I was to receive this text and discover how deeply my expression of love (which revealed itself as my first book My Life as a Mule) touched my friend’s heart.

It still thrills me to the core of my being to know that something I wrote, OR more correctly, something that was written through me, brought joy to someone. A smile to their face.

Okay, Sj, that’s nice for you (you’re thinking), but what’s that got to do with ME?

I felt led to remind you that the world needs YOUR love as well! Yes, the WORLD!

No one but YOU can express the love that you are in the way that you do.

So, please, let your light shine! Show the world how very, very beautiful you are. We need you. Exactly as you ARE.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

✫ Sj ✫

And my beautiful friend on my LEFT is the illustrator of my book, Jocelyne Shiner!!!!!!

P.S. Wondering where you can order your copy?

Through Amazon.

Geoff's Review 6.28.2018 picture

My Life as a Mule – A Review by J. Geoffrey Jones

My Life as a Mule – A Review by J. Geoffrey Jones

I’ve been reading a book by a writer with the elegant name Sj Hylton LeHoven. The content of her book, as well as some of her other writings I’ve seen, make me feel a bit the way *Emerson must have felt when he wrote the letter Walt Whitman quoted on the back of the first edition of Leaves of Grass. It’s a great pleasure to be able to help in any way possible to bring good literature to its audience.

I’m finding My life as A Mule to be a remarkable group of stories. The writing concept is, by turns, reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice in Wonderland. It uses talking animals to tell human truths just as the above classics do. Through her human spirited characters she tells the story of the passage from childhood to adulthood of her main character, Molly, with many seemingly simple but actually much deeper insights. Young people will enjoy this book but adults will as well. It is well illustrated with drawings by Jocelyne C. Shiner.

A lot of the writing, it appears, was scoped out during the bravely ambitious traveling Sj has been doing in her custom camper ( ala John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with A Donkey). She considers herself “Riding the Trust Train,” a rare wording in these times. Her adventurous inquisitiveness has paid off both in new friendships as well as new self-realizations.

I am glad she found a copy of The Reader as she passed through Murfreesboro (Tennessee) and wrote mehttp://www.rutherfordreader.com/ an enthusiastic note at the time. ( I had just published an article about the full solar eclipse that week) From then on I followed up on her Odyssey. Which has led me to this book. I’m glad to have learned of Sj’s creative journey. And to share the news with you. Find a copy of this well written group of stories. You’ll be glad you did. J. Geoffrey Jones, The Rutherford Reader ld_byron37086@yahoo.com

Published June 28, 2018 in The Rutherford Reader.

My Life as a Mule is available at Amazon. Click on the title for the link to purchase your own copy. : )

*Curious about the story about Whitman and Emerson? Click here to learn more. And click here to read Whitman’s letter dated August 1656.

Jocelyne drawing Molly

How to Order Your Copy of “My Life as a Mule” ???

It’s simple.

Click on the title, My Life as a Mule.

It will take you directly to Amazon and where you can order your own copy.

Want to get one from me personally?

Come to Flagstaff, Arizona on Sunday, August 26th (2018) to meet both the illustrator, Jocelyne Champagne Shiner, and myself, Sj Hylton LeHoven.

Her original drawings will be on display; I’ll do a reading and then book signing.

Where & When?

That’s to be determined. Stay tuned to this Bat channel for updates. Or, subscribe and you’ll automatically be notified.

In the meantime:

May each day fill you with peace and joy.

Even in the midst of hardship, may you remember

that everything you’re seeking

resides deep inside Yourself.

Peace is found

by being still

and going

inside.

<3

✫Sj ✫

My Life as a Mule cover

KKCR’s Taj Juré Interviews LeHoven June 24

Tune in tomorrow at KKCR.org.

Interview to take place at noon Hawaii Standard Time (6 p.m. EST)

Sj Hylton LeHoven has published her first work of fiction, My Life As A Mule. The unusual title is a precursor to a troupe of refreshingly innovative characters who deliver philosophical truisms about the complexities of life and living, seeded with delightful humor and unexpected simplicity.

What makes LeHoven’s (she prefers the familiar “Sj”) story so readable are the human qualities she assigns to her carefully curated family of animals as they interact, discuss, and examine different challenges.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined,” said Henry David Thoreau. LeHoven’s main character, a Mule named Molly, epitomizes the essence of that wisdom.

My Life as a Mule is Sj’s first published work of fiction but she has been writing informally for decades starting with journals as a young girl. For more than two decades, she wrote hundreds of scripts for the video production company that she co-owned and operated throughout the Hawaiian islands. Hollywood producers also tagged that company as their first choice for filming and production of trailers and promotional footage.

Sj’s first independent step onto the public stage was a radio play she wrote, Now Who Are You? produced in 2014 by Kaua‘i’s Women in Theatre.

In a recent review of My Life As A Mule, J. Geoffrey Jones of The Rutherford Reader in Murfreesboro, TN, praised LeHoven’s work, comparing it to some of the best known and most distinguished literary masterpieces.

“I’m finding My Life as A Mule to be a remarkable group of stories,” Jones writes. “The writing concept is, by turns, reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web, Aesop’s Fables and Alice in Wonderland. It uses talking animals to tell human truths just as [those] classics do.”

Jones, whose column is called “Days Gone By” continues, “Through LeHoven’s human spirited characters, she tells the story of the passage from childhood to adulthood of her main character, Molly, with many seemingly simple but actually much deeper insights. Young people will enjoy this book but adults will as well. It is well illustrated with drawings by Jocelyne C. Shiner.”

LeHoven said she did not have a choice about writing or not writing the book. She describes the reason for putting words on paper as “an inexorable force.”

“I simply had to write what I was feeling. I didn’t know what it was going to be and was often surprised by what I saw my fingers typing.”

She dedicated close to a year for preparation and physical writing of the book, stepping away from her life on Kauai and deciding to travel around the country, camping and sometimes staying with friends.

“Traveling solo,” she added, “helped me to stay focused and write what I now describe as a fictionalized memoir or a memoir with a twist.”

“Most writers draw on their own life experiences, so of course there are nuances of my life in Molly’s stories, but in a completely different way. I never had a Pig as a teacher, or a Toad.”

My Life As A Mule will be available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

LeHoven’s interview with Taj Juré is scheduled for Sunday, June 24, 2018 from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM, Hawaii Standard Time.

Join Taj and listen to  “Transformational Tea with Taj – Ways to Inner Peace.” You can also listen to her program online at www.kkcr.org.

Update June 25, 2018: My Life as a Mule is now available at Amazon. Click on the title for the link to purchase your own copy. : )

Molly’s Out in the World!

Dear Friends,

Yes, Molly is now out in the world. She is literally out of my hands.

As of today, she is on her own and will be available through CreateSpace.com’s extensive distribution network.

What in the heck does that mean?

That in 3 to 5 days she’ll be available for purchase (under the title, My Life as a Mule) through Amazon in the United States and Europe (and I imagine, Canada, of course) AND from other book sellers.

In the new way of things, each book will be “printed on demand.” Gone is the day of waste with boxes and boxes of books growing mold in someone’s attic. When you purchase a copy of My  Life as a Mule, it will be printed especially for YOU! : )

Thanks for being on this journey with me Riding the Trust Train. I look forward to signing your copy of My Life as a Mule whenever our paths cross.

But in the meantime, tune into KKCR.org on Sunday, June 24th from noon to 1 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (3 p.m. PST and 6 p.m. EST) for a LIVE interview with Taj Juré in her radio program, Transformational Tea with Taj.

A hui hou!

✫ Sj ✫

Update June 25, 2018: My Life as a Mule is now available at Amazon. Click on the title for the link to purchase your own copy. : )

My life as a Mule proof cover

Almost pau (i.e. finished) with “My Life as a Mule”

Dear Friends,

Yes, I’m almost pau (finished) with my first work of fiction, My Life as a Mule.

I’m awaiting the third proof, and once I’m able to give it a quick look-see and hold it in my hands, I’ll hopefully be clicking “publish” in CreateSpace.com.

Meanwhile, how’s about a sample chapter?

Enjoy!

Sj

p.s. Kaua‘i friends, keep your eyes open for a press release in The Garden Island. : )

Excerpt from My Life as a Mule by Sj Hylton LeHoven, Illustrated by Jocelyne Champagne Shiner

Why Am I Kissing Him?

“Why am I kissing him?” Molly wondered. She was enjoying the playful romp in spite of herself. “I don’t even like him,” she mused as she felt his tongue reach further into her mouth. “And what will Betsy think?” she thought guiltily. “She’s been such a good friend for so long. How can I do this to her?”

Finding strength in the midst of her remorse, Molly pulled away.

“What’s wrong Molly?” asked Tommy, an adorable Horse Stallion.

“The cutest ever,” thought Molly. “And Betsy’s boyfriend. Not yours,” she told herself with force. And yet, she couldn’t bear the thought of him not liking her.

“Nothing, Tommy,” said Molly simply. “Nothing at all. You’re a great kisser. It’s just, it’s just…”

“What can I possibly say to get out of this mess?” she wondered.

“It’s just that I’ve got to be going. I promised my mom I’d be back in time to put out the garbage,” she lied.

“Lame!” she silently shouted to herself, “Lame! Molly, couldn’t you have thought of something else?”

“Oh, well, okay,” said Tommy, obviously disappointed. “Mules,” he thought. “They’re a moody bunch. You just can’t ever tell what they’re thinking. Mom was right, best to stick with my own kind.”

Just a few days before when learning who her son was dating, his mother had exploded. “Whatever are you thinking? A Rabbit for a girl friend? Nothing can come of it. Nothing!”

“We could adopt, Mom,” he’d replied, thinking of social studies class. “The teacher was telling us the other day about all the poor animals abandoned after floods and fires, and…”

“You are not adopting bunnies. Or dogs. Or…” she had said in a shrill voice, rising to a crescendo, “Cats! No son of mine, who I’ve poured my heart and soul and good upbringing into is going to marry outside of his species. No siree, Bob,” she had shouted with such force that Tommy had practically buckled to his knees.

“Mom, I’m Tommy. Not Bob,” he had meekly replied.

“Tommy, Bobby, whichever son of mine you are, you are not. Do you hear me? You are not marrying outside of our species,” she had said with such finality that Tommy hadn’t dared make a peep. Or a neigh. He’d been literally struck speechless.

“But Molly,” he thought now, coming out of his reverie, “well, she’s the same species, right? Why not give it another go?”

“Tommy!” yelled Molly, pushing him away after his sudden advance. “I’ve really got to go,” she called as she quickly trotted away. “See ya!”

“What was I thinking?” she thought as she dashed towards home. Bumping into trees. Dropping her books. Molly was a mess.

“Molly!” she suddenly shouted. “Get a hold of yourself!” So, she did. She stopped and took a deep breath. And then another. By the third, she was beginning to calm down.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Betsy,” she cried. “What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t,” the little voice inside her said.

“No, I guess I wasn’t. It was just, well, it was just, he gave me that look, and I couldn’t help myself.”

For as long as Molly could remember, she couldn’t stand not being noticed.

“When did it start?” she wondered as she slowly drifted along a forest trail that ran behind her neighborhood. “In grade school? With Miss Granger? No,” she said, shaking her head. “Definitely not. I tried my best not to be noticed.”

Completely oblivious of a flock of birds swarming the maple trees, she continued to review her personal database of memories, stopping at Sunday School. “No,” she thought. “That doesn’t seem right.”

And then it hit her. “It’s only when I’m around boys! It’s like a switch goes off. And I just have to have them see me. Notice me.”

It didn’t need to be grand. A simple smile would do. But somehow, some way, Molly needed to be noticed. Acknowledged.

“Wow,” she thought. “I’ve been like this my whole life. Or,” she mused, “as long as I can remember. But Betsy? How could I do this to her?”

Walking in circles, Molly was worrying herself sick. And then, as easy as pie, the solution came to her. “I’m just going to act like it never happened. Ignore it, and it’ll go away.”

And that’s what she did. For the next few weeks, she simply avoided Tommy. He came this way. She went that way. He entered the lunch room. She left by another door. “I don’t have to explain myself,” she thought. “Deal with it in any way.” And it would have been perfect, except for when Betsy began to complain. “He won’t even talk to me,” she told Molly. “I don’t know what happened. One minute we were talking about where we wanted to go eat before the dance, and the next, he’s acting like I don’t even exist.”

“I’m so sorry,” Molly told her friend. Of course, she didn’t say what she was really sorry for. That would have caused all kinds of problems that she wasn’t ready to face.

“But why did he dump her?” Molly wondered. “That makes no sense. It only happened those two times.”

Not sure what to do and feeling more remorse than she thought possible, Molly decided to crack open her piggy bank. “It won’t make what happened go away,” she thought. “But it can’t hurt.”

“Wow! Thanks, Molly!” cried Betsy after enjoying a big bite of her hot fudge sundae. “Ice cream’s my favorite. And ice skating too! Wow! You’re the best friend ever!”

Update June 25, 2018: My Life as a Mule is now available at Amazon. Click on the title for the link to purchase your own copy. : )