WELCOME TO MY SITE! I am proud to be on Writing Room, and would encourage anyone who is even thinking of doing some writing to just do it! :) I never really planned on being an author, but did do a bit of writing in grade school and high school, and my high school English teacher always encouraged me to do more. She offered her services to me before I left school. She said, "If you ever decide to do some serious writing, I would be honored to help you edit, or merely read your work and give constructive feedback." That was in 1964, and when I did my first draft, in 1994, of what eventually became my autobiography, "Accidentally Deliberate," I sent her a copy of the manuscript, which she read and sent back with comments on the contents of the book. When I finally decided to complete it (May 2007), I went back and read what she had written, which is why I ended up redoing the entire book. The gist of it was the same, but I had other information to include, and put it in different form and style due to her loving comments. When I finished my second book, "Siren's Call of the Caves," a children's fantasy(2009), once again I sent her a copy, but she had been battling cancer, and soon after I mailed the manuscript to her I found out she had passed away. It was returned with a note that said she was proud of me having become a published author, and for carrying on with my new found passion of writing. Betty was a wonderful and caring teacher who encouraged her students to be our best no matter what we did in life! She truly was loved by all the students she taught throughout her years because she genuinely cared about us.
As for me, I have been getting back into my first love, which is performing, doing some stage acting, TV commercials, and voice over work. This past year has been a tough whirl wind, for many reasons, which I won't go into, but I am slowly, but surely getting back into my writing and art work. The art work on the cover of my books is mine. I've dabbled in art most of my life, but seriously since my college years.
I have been retired almost five years now, due to a hip replacement, and not wanting to do the grueling work as a full time massage therapist that I'd been doing for 27 years, I just wanted to get to another phase of growth and joy. That ended up being writing. Putting pen to paper and letting it flow naturally. I rewrote my book in one month while recouping from my hip surgery. I am looking forward to spending more time finishing yet another book, and hopefully three more after that. :)
Good luck to all of you who are breaking into the world of writing and becoming a full fledged author!! See you in the pages! :) :) :)
Love and Light,
Jo