Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to Way Back Wednesday! With the end of the school year only 2 days away, I thought I'd share a memory from my professional, "real world" career.

 

In 2002, I finished my first year of teaching. At the time, the school was new and most of the teachers were as well. In all we had 5 teachers, 2 staff members and about 50 kids. Needless to say we were a lot like a family.

 

On the last day of school, the staff decided to go out for drinks. Most of went, including our super cool principal who, I think, bought us a round of drinks. We stayed, talked, patted each other on the back. We drank and drank....and drank some more. At one point, we glanced out the window in the restaurant and saw the traffic and decided to stay for dinner...and more drinks.

 

By the end of our night, the sky was dark and the staff at the restaurant had stopped coming to our table. Much of a hint?

 

It was a great time with great people and I'm so thankful I started my teaching career where I did. The following year things changed, the school grew and although it was still a great place to be, nothing could compare to that last day of our first year.

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome back for Way Back Wednesday!

 

In 2010, I quit my teaching job. I thought I was doing the right thing. I expected to be under employed for a while and then I thought I'd find the perfect place for me to be. I didn't intend to teach. I wasn't sure what I wanted.

 

I had a lot of "growing up" to do.

 

Yesterday I signed a contract to teach 6th grade English (my favorite grade) for the 2013-2014 school year. I'm officially a salaried employee again. Or at least I will be come August. To say I'm thrilled is an understatement. I'm pretty sure teaching is where I'm meant to be. I'm in an environment that is supportive with so much to look forward to.

 

Many people will say I was stupid to do what I did (quitting without a job to go to), but you know what? I don't. I needed that change. It was the right decision for me at the time with what I knew. Yes, I would quit again if I had a chance to relive the last 3 years, but I would plan better, though.

 

Now, I feel I'm come full circle. I'm smarter, in that I know so much more about myself now. My gutsy, crazy decision in the summer of 2010 has done a lot for me as a writer, a human and as a woman. And THAT is a treasure I wouldn't trade for the world.

 

 

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to Way Back Wednesday!

In 1984, I turned 13 years old. One of my favorite songs at this time was The Warrior by the band Scandal. Everytime I hear it as an adult, the same event comes to mind. I was at a roller skating rink and I think it was for someone's birthday. Or at least a bunch of us were there for the afternoon. I was never a very confident skater, but I wanted to be and I tried. This song came on at one point, I loved it and started singing it, and I was determined to skate around the rink.

As I said, I wasn't very good. In fact, I was horrible. (I almost broke my mom's arm once when she was trying to help me become a better skater, but that's a story for another day.) While the song played on, my feet flew out from under me, I fell backwards and banged my head on the wooden floor.

I never went skating again.

 

The Warrior by Scandal

Way Back Wednesday

Welcome to Way Back Wednesday!

 

Between 1993 and 1995, I lived and worked on the South rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. There, I did the partying I was supposed to do in college. During that partying, I met a woman who didn't like me (and I didn't like her much), but we ended up becoming really good friends.

 

One day this friend came rushing to my dorm room. She knew I was working on my very first novel. In her hands she had The Chieftain by Arnette Lamb. I wasn't a big fan of romance novels at this point, and I didn't realize what I was writing would turn out to be a romance. I remember my friend telling me I had to read this book. She knew I'd started reading more about Scotland and liked it, and she was sure I'd love this book. And I did.

 

Once I finished that book, I was hooked on Lamb's writing. I gathered whatever books of hers I could find. I ended up reading 9 of her 13 novels and I was scrambling for more when I heard she had passed away.

 

Ms. Lamb and The Chieftain (& my Grand Canyon friend), have a warm corner of my heart. That encouragement from my friend and those books pushed me on my route to writing romance and falling in love with Scotland. Granted, both things didn't happen until much later, but those two women helped me find my way.

 

Thank you, Arnette Lamb and Jennie. 

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to Way Back Wednesday! Today I'm bringing you a look at the year I was born, 1971.

US Leaders

President: Richard Nixon

Vice President: Spiro Agnew

Cost of Living

Average Cost of new house $25,250.00  
Average Income per year $10,600.00
Average Monthly Rent $150.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 40 cents   
United States postage Stamp 8 cents 
Movie Ticket $1.50

Popular Culture

• Led Zeppelin releases their untitled fourth album

• Jim Morrison of The Doors found dead in bath tub in Paris

Popular Films

• Love Story  
• The Andromeda Strain
• The French Connection

Popular Musicians and songs

• The Doors
• Bob Dylan
• Tony Orlando and Dawn with " Knock Three Times "
• Janis Joplin with " Me and Bobby Mcgee "
• The Who
• John Lennon
• The Jackson 5
• Ike and Tina Turner
• Marvin Gaye
• Rod Stewart with " Maggie Mae "
• The Osmonds

 Popular TV Programs

• All My Children
• Mary Tyler Moore
• McCloud
• The Odd Couple
• The Partridge Family

Technology 1971 

• Intel releases world's first microprocessor, the 4004.
• Texas Instruments releases the first pocket calculator
• The First Internet Chat rooms appear
• The First Cat Scanner Produced by EMI  
• Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.   
• First Soft Contact Lens became available commercially in the USA

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to Way Back Wednesday! I'm a busy lady, so today's post will be short.

 

In 1998 and 1999, I began blindly submitting my first romantic suspense book to agents and editors. The book was a 400 page contemporary story set in the Highlands of Scotland with 2 heroes and a heroine who couldn't really decide which one she wanted. (I knew who she ended up with, but I didn't make it clear in the story.) I had a lot of "telling" and not enough showing. One of the editors I sent it to was an editor for Harlequin American....which works with romances set in America.

 

Obviously that editor and the many other editors and agents I blindly submitted queries to rejected my story. Obviously I had no idea what I was doing. But I learned...sometimes the hard way. 

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to this week's edition of Way Back Wednesday!

 

I've been writing stories for as long as I can remember. I didn't always dream of being a published writer, but I did always find satisfaction in the writing process, unveiling plots and learning how characters dealt with adversity.

 

But it wasn't my stories that made a splash in my college years.

 

My best friend was the one who kept suggesting I work toward publication. She believed in me enough to keep at me, keep me working on stories and getting better. But when I was a senior in college, she was the one writing the stories.

 

One story in particular had me as the main character and I was a star singer (because that's what I really wanted to be) and writer. She'd write a chapter at a time and then send it to me at school. The dorm floor I was on had a few of my long-time friends and a few new friends who'd just started school that year. When I received a chapter in the mail, I'd read it and then share it with "the girls". Soon, my friend started adding my dorm friends into the story, and everyone waited eagerly for the next chapter. It got to a point where when I received the next chapter in the mail, I would let everyone know on the dorm floor and we'd make plans for them to all come down to my room. There, we'd all sit- on the floor, on the bed, in the chair, in the beanbag- and we'd enjoy the latest chapter of the story. They liked being included, I loved seeing their excitement.

 

I think this was one of the events that truly did steer me in the direction of working toward publication. I could see how excited the "readers" got with each new chapter. I could see their enthusiasm as they'd stop me on campus or in the halls and ask, "Did you get the new chapter yet?" I enjoyed watching their reactions to the events in the story. I can't say I really knew for sure I wanted to write, but these activities definitely had an impact. They brought me closer to my friends and helped shape my future.

Way Back Wednesday!

Welcome to another edition of Way Back Wednesday!

Today's story is about the very first writing contest I entered. I had been working like crazy on a 400-page romantic suspense novel set in modern-day Scotland. I'd slaved away at it, learning my craft and making changes as I learned more. In 2002 I decided to enter a writing contest to get some idea of how I was doing. The writer friends I had were doing that, so it felt like the right time for me too.

So I entered the Wisconsin Fab Five Contest. I was soooooooo excited and couldn't wait to hear what the judges had to say about my romantic suspense with two heroes and a heroine who wasn't sure who she wanted.

(Yep, you read that right. I was good at writing about suspense, but the romance aspects of my work still needed A LOT of work!)

Naturally, I didn't win, or even final, with that story. No surprise. But I was so excited to read the comments from the judges. I was ready to take another step in my education as a writer. When I opened the other papers in with my returned (and critiqued) stories, you know what I found? A letter that told me exactly where I placed in the contest. Guess where my 2-hero story and I were. We were 2 or 3 places FROM THE BOTTOM of the romantic suspense line. My first thought? At least I wasn't the worst writer in the group! My second thought? I'd rewrite that story when I was a better writer because there was so much good in it. (No, really! Even the judges pointed some positive stuff out!)

After a good 24 hours eating chocolate and complaining to any writer friends who would listen, I made a decision. I was going to be professional. The judges had been constructive critics. I had only one place to go- up. I would study the judges' comments, do more research and try again with a new story.

That new story unfolded throughout the next year and when it came time for the Wisconsin Fab Five Contest again in 2003, I decided to enter the new story just to see if I was on the right track. Guess what happened!

I WON THE ROMANTIC SUSPENSE CATEGORY!

That win did so much for me. I had more confidence in my writing, I knew I'd eventually get published if I stuck with it. Also, the editor who chose my story as #1 worked with me over the next 2 years and gave me so much guidance. (I ended up sending her a couple of manuscripts and she kept helping me see what wasn't working.)

It was after that 2003 win that I decided to make writing my 2nd career. I became much more professional in the way I wrote and spoke of writing. I was excited to get better every chance I had, and I kept taking the advice that helped me get to my first contract in 2011.

Oh, and my first contract? It had the heroine and ONE of the heroes from the original story along with many of those other ideas. (Her Highland Champion, if you want to know which book it became!)