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(This piece originally appeared in Sharon Short's "Literary Life" column in the Dayton Daily News March 8. Reposted by permission of the author. For information about the performances and tickets, click here.)

Tickets are on sale for "The God Box, A Daughter's Story," a critically acclaimed one-woman show by writer/performer Mary Lou Quinlan.

Performances will be held on March 30-31, each night at 7, at the University of Dayton's Boll Theatre. The shows benefit the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop endowment fund.

A "talk-back" follows each performance. On March 30, locally based writers Katrina Kittle, Joanne Huist Smith, Mary Jo McCarty and yours truly will join Mary Lou on stage to discuss "Writing Your Heart Out." On March 31, WHIO-TV (NewsCenter 7) anchor Cheryl McHenry will emcee a discussion with Betsy Bombeck and Mary Lou.

"My mother was my best friend and role model, a true light in my family's life. She was the first person I called with any news, personal or professional," says Mary Lou. "Losing her in May, 2006, made everything seem somehow less valuable."

"As a writer with a career spent in advertising," Mary Lou adds, "I was used to writing and talking about various aspects of life. I wanted to use my writing skills to somehow process the loss of my dear mother."

Mary Lou, who lives and works in New York, eventually discovered her mother's "God Box."

"The box, it turned out, was mom's way of both keeping and releasing her concerns, hopes and wishes for her family and friends," Mary Lou explains. "She'd write a little note to God, capturing a prayer, and tuck it in the box. For example, she might encounter a friend at the grocery who was facing a medical issue, and nervous about the outcome of an upcoming exam. So mom would write a note - 'Dear God, help Sarah with her medical test … ' and so on. Her notes in the God Box were written just the way you'd write a letter to a friend - direct, honest, even funny."

Mary Lou first wrote of her discovery, and the role it played in her mourning and healing process, in an article for Real Simple magazine, in 2010.

"The article more or less took on a life of its own," Mary Lou says. "It generated such a huge response. So, I expanded the article into a book, which is in many ways a universal story, and a love letter to mothers everywhere."

Mary Lou is also the author of three other books, including one on marketing to women. The God Box is her first foray into book-length personal writing.

Mary Lou has retired from her marketing career and now spends much of her time performing her show as a fundraiser for charities. She's performed the show more than 80 times, at venues around the world.

"I heard a lot of great comments about the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop from friends," Mary Lou says. "I planned to attend in 2010, but sadly my father passed away and I was unable to come. However, I attended the workshop in 2012 as a keynoter. I loved hanging out with the smartest, funniest bunch of women I'd ever met at the workshop."

"Mom was a huge fan of Erma Bombeck. I grew up hearing my mother read aloud or talk about Erma's pieces, and whenever mom had an awkward moment, she'd just say, 'Erma Bombeck!' And that somehow seemed to explain it all."

So, Mary Lou says, when the idea arose for her to give her "God Box, Daughter's Story" performance as a fundraiser for the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, the response seemed easy and obvious. "Of course I said yes!"

All proceeds from the tickets and well as from the sale of Mary Lou's book at the performances will go to support the workshop's endowment fund.

Learn more about Mary Lou and her work online at www.marylouq.com.

Learn more about "The God Box, A Daughter's Story" at www.thegodboxproject.com.

For more event details and ticket information, visit http://humorwriters.org/ or click here.

- Sharon Short

Sharon Short writes the weekly "Literary Life" column in the Dayton Daily News. She is the director of the Antioch Writers' Workshop and an accomplished writer. She has published two mystery series, a book of columns and the recent novel, My One Square Inch of Alaska. In 2014, she served as a finalist judge for the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition.