Learning How to be a Writer and a Saleswoman

I sold a few books the other night at Camden County Community College in New Jersey during the Resource Fair for Special Needs Children.  I am a writer and a part of a resource anthology entitled Easy to Love but Hard to Raise.  This book is about children with “invisible” disabilities [ADHD, PBD, SPD, OCD, PDD, etc.] and the parents and guardians and doctors who assist with their upbringing.

I also contribute blog posts about my experiences raising a daughter with ADHD and learning disabilities.  My most recent post is about Driver's Education.  You can read it at http://www.easytolovebut.com/.

Okay, so I write.  But this saleswoman hat seems a bit big.  It covers my eyes and ears.  I sit.  I smile.  I play with bookmarks and post cards.  I try to pull parents and guests to my table with my sappy spiel.  Most times, I just looked ridiculous in my oversized saleswoman hat.

            Toward the end of the night, I did engage other parents in discussion about our special needs children.  We compared notes.  We shared experiences, but I only sold a few books.  Any suggestions for next time I need to sell books?  I need to get better if I’m going to publish a memoir and become a saleswoman for that book. 

Learning Illuminates Life

Changed my mind.  I don't want to go to school.

Life itself is a journey.  Recording life’s adventures is different from writing about them. 

I’ve been recording my family’s adventures for years.  Now I wish to write about my journey.  This is memoir.  This is what I hope to learn.   

            I think we all learn something new each day.  I know I do.  Whether I substitute teach in grammar school or high school, I’m learning how to control each mix of students, how Mrs. Jones performs the daily tasks, or how to present geometry word problems to the class.  Life is a learning journey.

 

I’ve been writing about my adventures in substitute teaching where I have to ad lib intelligence in all disciplines.  It’s like being on stage without a script.  I still expect to share a few humorous anecdotes while substituting, but I’d like to share my education journey through college as a non-traditional student—as a Mom with five children in tow. 

 

I’d also like to share my experiences in learning how to write memoir using these college adventures as the foundation for a book.  I’m signed up for a course, “Write Your Memoir in Six Months.”  It begins in January.  And I’m just as scared as I was when I began college as a non-traditional student.  My twins, my babies, were in second grade at that time, my son was in fifth grade, another daughter was in seventh and my oldest, who has learning disabilities, was in eighth. 

 

Come; join me on my journey into writing memoir.  Please offer your advice and support.  Pray I have the courage to complete the task in front of me.  Thanks for stopping by my new Adventures in Writing blog.  Please stop by again.  ~ Victoria Marie Lees