The truth about dreams

The reality is, my dream is and always has been to write.  When I chose the images for my high school ring, on one side I put visions and on the other side I put journalism.  One thing I keep in the back of my mind was what the professor said to Jo in the book Little Women, and that was of writing about things that you know.  I had written a lot of fantasy as a child, but as for reality, what could a girl in high school write about that was worthy of being read?  Now I'm almost 40, hitting that this coming summer, and life is better than ever.  I'm finally working on making my dream a reality!

I submitted my first piece to Glamour magazine and it was the story of what happened to me during surgery.  (See previous blog).  I actually got a personal email back thanking me for the story and was told it would be forwarded to the appropriate editor.  I guess that was a good start, even if it never makes it.

My major project is a novel based loosely on my experiences in Ecuador, S. America but is completely fictional.  I'm on chapter six right now but that will be a work in progress for quite some time.  I've written a short story that I'll be preparing to submit to a literary magazine but it needs some tweeking yet.  It's a parallel story of two young girls from different countries and their experience with a doll.  It deals with the disposable nature of life in a post industrial nation compared with a developing one.

I just finished reading a book called Tennyson by Lesley Blume.  It was written for young people but I really enjoyed it.  I loved the history element, the way she developed characters, and overall thought it was really well written.  I checked out her blog and discovered she is a huge success as a writer and journelist, and a lot of things she is interested in are things I am too, so I'll be checking out more of her books.  I've also been trudging my way through The Help, but I have to confess I liked the movie better.  Some things in the book just weren't believable and other parts just seemed to be thrown in as an after thought.