Carol A. Elliott

Julie Celaya is a firecracker who breaks all the expectations of domestic life. She is unconventional, determined and outrageous, leaving a trail of absurd and unforgettable stories, repeatedly demonstrating the ancient precept of accepting who we are and working with and around that fact. Chiseling Memories, Chasing Sleep is the culmination of Julie’s strange encounters. With forty independent essays, the book leads readers through tales of an awkward sexual encounter in a high school art room, a marriage proposal in the sky while passengers were required to keep their seatbelts fastened, a trial run of getting into an expensive casket, and the assault of a psychiatrist in a large clinic in southern California. It is a book that works by a steady accumulation of detail, presented many times as snarky humor, manipulating turns, and secrets, rendering an underlying mystery. This eccentric collection unfolds like a true novel. With succinct verbiage and often coarse prose, author Carol A. Elliott builds layers of symbolism into this unique read. She employs five literary styles, yielding the unexpected. Is it her dialog that the audience appreciates, the roller coaster of wit or the unusual subjects? Elliott leaves readers appreciating the randomness of life and those blush-worthy moments that occur when least expected.