It all started many years ago when I was a kid.
I've always loved writing. As a child, I used to write silly stories. One dealt with magical paints, one was a poem about The Wandless Wizard written with the help of a good friend, one dealt with a magic dragon (no, not Puff), and one was a Harry Potter fan fiction about an alternate school (it was never finished).
I'm probably missing some others.
When I got to high school, I had some brilliant English teachers that helped lead me down my path to writing. They were kind and supportive, pushing me to work harder and helping me harness my tone and style. One, Mrs. Astheimer, even convinced me to write a Letter to the Editor of my local paper. It was later published. This all led me to study English in college.
Something steered me toward Journalism, but I'm not quite sure when it happened. I remember reading an article in Cosmopolitan magazine that dealt with women who were taking on major jobs often held by men. One included a war correspondent. I decided that's what I wanted to do.
Well, I never did make it to that point, but I did spend two years writing for a military installation newspaper. I had incredible mentors that were skilled in their craft. Many stories were handed back to me covered in red notations, what we call "bleeding." But it gave me my basics until I had to move on. I then continued to write for military spouse support sites, covering both fun and serious articles.
On the Facebook page for this website, the cover photo is an image of a typewriter. A message on the piece of paper in the typewriter reads, "it starts with one word."
I haven't felt very inspired lately to write about much of anything.
It may be because I have three children under four.
It may be because I haven't been working professionally for some time.
Or it may be because I no longer hold a consistent column.
Either way, I know I need to get back into it. The longer you step away from your profession, the more your skills decline and the harder it is to get back on the horse.
Today, I considered starting a blog about books. Friends of mine said I was limiting myself too much, that I had better ideas than simply books. I won't post their sweet comments here, but it was enough to get that final push. That push to write the first word.
So now it begins.
Here you'll find a little bit of everything: travel stories, parenting stories, book reviews (either good or bad), stories of military life, some perspectives on politics, and even snippets of my current work. It may be an odd journey through the numerous thoughts and ideas of my mind, but I hope you enjoy the trip.
After all, it starts with one word, and I've now written plenty
Let's get started.
I promise to keep it peachey.
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