Blue Hydrangea Productions is the mother company and the imprint for Sue Fagalde Lick’s publishing, teaching, editing, writing and music activities. We chose the name for the blue flowers outside the front door which mirror the ones that cover the Azores islands in Portugal from which Sue’s mother’s family came.

Read on to see the books offered by Blue Hydrangea and find out how to order them.

Portuguese Americans

Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California

We all read in elementary school about the Portuguese explorers who came to California centuries ago. A few writers have told us about the men who settled there. But what about the women? Until now, no one asked. Stories Grandma Never Told shares the experiences of more than sixty immigrants and their daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters. These women provide an intimate and unforgettable view of what it means to be Portuguese-American women.

274 pages, paperback, 5.5 x 8.5, $18.95, Kindle ebook, $5.99 Purchase through Amazon, Ingram or Blue Hydrangea ISBN: 9781733685207

An excerpt:

Rita Da Silva was not the bride Frank Lewis was hoping for. When he left Faial for the United States, he had promised her sister Caroline that he would send for her as soon as he had enough money. Years passed without a word from Frank. Tired of waiting, Caroline emigrated on her own and married somebody else.

Unaware, Frank sent fifty dollars to pay his bride’s way to the United States. Word came back that she was married. The only one left was the sister they called “Fat Rita.” At 5 foot 10 inches tall and 200 pounds, the last unmarried sister was no beauty, but Frank had already sent the money, so he agreed that she should come.

The trip over was a horror for Rita. On the ship, she was constantly seasick and had trouble finding a private place to go to the bathroom. Her family had warned her not to eat the food on board because the ship was so dirty, so Rita lived on bits of bread and cheese she had brought from home. Rita spoke only Portuguese and had no one to talk to on her long journey. Her only company was a pocket-sized prayer book she had brought with her. . .

Surely her troubles would be over when she reached California, Rita thought, but she was in for another disappointment. This big, homely woman was met by a scrawny little man in a leather jacket. He was only 5 foot 6 and barely came up to her shoulder. He smoked and rode a motorcycle. She took one look at him and burst into tears. . .

Azorean Dreams: A Portuguese American Romance

Reporter/photographer Chelsea Faust spends most of her spare time in the darkroom. She’s working for a small weekly newspaper now, but hopes to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism someday. Enter Simão Freitas, an immigrant from the Azores. When they meet at a Portuguese festival, the attraction is instant, but their future together appears to be doomed as Simão battles memories of a painful loss while Chelsea pursues a news story headlong into a situation that could cost her life.

433 pages, paperback, 6 x 9, $14.95 Purchase through Amazon or Blue Hydrangea Productions Kindle ebook, $3.99 ISBN: 978-0-983389484

Chapter One:

Chelsea would never forget that hot June in San Jose. It was the month Aunt Julia died, the month she met Simão Freitas and the month she got the anonymous tip about San Jose City Councilman James Slater’s shenanigans. It was also the month she became Portuguese.

“They’re having this big Portuguese parade downtown on Sunday afternoon. I need you to cover it,” said Mel, her editor at the South Bay Weekly Times.

It was already Friday afternoon, and she had been looking forward to a weekend with no commitments.

“Why me? Because I once told you I was half Portuguese? I don’t see you covering the Jewish events just because your great-grandfather was a Polish Jew.”

“Hey, you know that’s not the reason. I heard the parade is a big deal and you’re the best photographer we have. I’ll give you comp time next week.”

“Sure you will.”

Childlessness

Childless by Marriage

First you marry a man who does not want children. He cheats and you divorce him. Then you marry the love of your life and find out he does not want to have children with you either. Although you always wanted to be a mother, you decide he is worth the sacrifice, expecting to have a long happy life together. But that’s not what happens. This is the story of a how a woman becomes childless by marriage and how it affects every aspect of her life.

299 pages, paperback, 6 x 9, $14.95, Kindle ebook, $5.99 Purchase through Amazon, Ingram or Blue Hydrangea ISBN: 978-0-983389460

Visit the Childless by Marriage blog

Introduction:

Baby Emily is the belle of the baby shower, her coming-out ball with the Valley Chorale. After a concert, we gather in the living room at Sherry and Ken’s house to meet the newcomer.

The women all want to hold her. June squeals and has to see her “precious little toes.” The altos sing “The Stripper” as she peels off Emily’s booties.

Nancy, who has four kids of her own, holds the baby with well-practiced arms and smiles as she rocks her from side to side. “I had forgotten how small they are at this age.”

Carol, childless like me, flops Emily around awkwardly but bravely. Sitting on the floor on the other side of the room, I’m grateful for my sprained left shoulder. Old enough to be a grandmother, I still don’t know how to hold a baby properly. They always cry and try to squirm away . . .

Love or Children: When You Can’t Have Both

It’s like this giant secret that is right in front of everyone. One in five women reach menopause without having children. For more than half of them, it was not by choice. At least not their own. They don’t have children because their partners were unable or unwilling to have children with them. This happens to men, too. Hooked up with a partner who a) never wanted children, b) already has kids from a previous relationship, c) never quite felt ready for parenthood, d) has had a vasectomy, or e) has fertility problems, they are forced to make a choice between this man or woman they love and the children they might have had. It’s an unfair choice, one nobody should have to make, but the readers of my previous book and my blog, both titled Childless by Marriage, have to make it.

Love or Children is a compilation of the best of more than 700 posts and comments from the Childless by Marriage blog. Think Dear Abby or Dear Sugar, except I ask the questions and the anonymous readers answer them, sharing their own experiences and advice. Love or Children unveils the secrets we don’t feel comfortable telling our families, friends, our partners, or even our therapists. Chapters tackle how childless relationships happen, whether to stay or look for someone else, how to deal with the grief of losing the chance to have children, how to cope with people’s clueless comments and questions, the joys and frustrations of stepchildren, how to prepare for old age, and more.

292 pages, paperback, 6 x 9, $14.95, Kindle ebook, $2.99 Purchase through Amazon, Ingram or Blue Hydrangea ISBN 978-1733685214

An Excerpt:

In your search for a mate, you think you have found THE ONE. After years of bad dates, maybe even bad marriages, this man or woman is a keeper. And then, one day, after you’ve given him or her your heart, they drop the bomb. They can’t or don’t want to have children with you. He tells you he’s had a vasectomy. She tells you of reproductive problems that will keep her from getting pregnant. He tells you he’s not ready for children. She shares that she never felt the urge to be a mother. He says the kids from his first marriage are more than enough. You realize that if you stay with this person, you might never have children. Now what do you do?

Life on the Oregon Coast

Up Beaver Creek, a novel

It’s bad enough that PD’s husband left her a childless widow at 42, but when she heads west from Montana to the Oregon coast to remake her life with a new name, a new look and a new determination to become a professional musician, things keep going wrong. Her cabin has a few problems, and the landlord has disappeared. She’s running out of money, and her first music gig is a disaster. Is she doomed to be penniless and pitiful? Not if she can help it.

284 pages, paperback, 6 x 9 $15.95 Purchase through Amazon, Ingram or direct from Blue Hydrangea Kindle ebook $5.99 ISBN: 978-0983389491

Chapter One

It’s hot in the hospital waiting room, and I hate employment forms.

Married, single, divorced or widowed? What business is it of theirs?

Age? Old enough to know better.

Sex? Not lately.

Does anybody really care about my previous jobs or where I went to high school? Do I tell them that I went to three different community colleges but didn’t graduate from any of them because my first husband was allergic to work and I had to keep dropping out to pay the bills—until he became allergic to me? Do I explain that I spent the past two years taking care of Tom and had to quit my job at the hospital in Missoula because I didn’t have time to work? . . .

References? They can’t call any of my references unless I give my real name, and I don’t want to do that.

New!

Seal Rock Sound

In this sequel to Up Beaver Creek, it looks like PD Soares is finally getting her life together, but keep your eyes on the ocean. A sneaker wave is coming. Order at Amazon.com or your favorite independent bookstore.

Shoes Full of Sand

Why would two otherwise sane people living in Silicon Valley with a house, good jobs, and friends and family nearby move to the Oregon Coast, where they don’t have a house, can’t find work and don’t know anyone? How much more does it have to rain before we start building an ark? What is that smell in the motorhome? What is that critter sticking out of the dog’s mouth? What the heck have we done? The answers to these and other burning questions can be found in the essays contained in Shoes Full of Sand.

299 pages, paperback, 5.5 x 8.5, $14.95, only available from Blue Hydrangea Kindle ebook, $2.99 ISBN: 978-0-983389401-5

Unleashed in Oregon

What is a Californigonian? What was waiting by the door that night? What possessed us to adopt two puppies at once? How is playing the piano like ice skating? Why stay in Oregon when it rains all the time and the family is still back in California? Find the answers to these and other questions in these posts selected from ten years of the Unleashed in Oregon blog. Chapters will look at the glamorous life of a writer and the equally glamorous life of a musician, true stories from a whiny traveler, being the sole human occupant of a house in the woods, and dogs, so much about dogs.

284 pages, paperback, 6 x 9, $14.95, Amazon & Blue Hydrangea Kindle ebook, $2.99 ISBN: 978-1977712196

Visit the Unleashed in Oregon blog

About the Author

Sue Fagalde Lick lives and works in South Beach on the beautiful Oregon Coast. She is available for talks, workshops, readings and book-signings. Visit https://www.suelick.com to read more about Sue and her work.

Orders

To order autographed paperback copies postage-free directly from Blue Hydrangea Productions, send check to 281 SE 97^th Ct., South Beach, Oregon, or use credit card at Square.com links provided below. Kindle ebooks are currently only available from Amazon.com.

Questions? Email suelick.bluehydrangea@gmail.com or text 541-961-4561

Order online and pay with credit or debit card:

* Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California, $18.95 https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9DMG4G88HTHT2/checkout/V7OFURIM3JCH7MFIMDEC23SL

* Azorean Dreams: A Portuguese-American Romance, $14.95 https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9DMG4G88HTHT2/checkout/K65XJJYE2N2KLIJ25T44US54

* Childless by Marriage, $14.95 https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9DMG4G88HTHT2/checkout/JKBFOHDTNCVD6X4IOXST4AWJ

* Love or Children: When You Can’t Have Both, $14.95 https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9DMG4G88HTHT2/checkout/FZ4YO6ULAJ4N7UXZJQDUPLWF

* Up Beaver Creek, $15.95 https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9DMG4G88HTHT2/checkout/YA3XY7WRMBXLZRNQPJFN5T55