I wanted to be a teacher since I was eleven years old. With that goal in mind I prepared and I
studied hard. My family and the girls around me made fun that I preferred books
to boys, but I had set my sights on a college education and a teaching degree,
two things that no one in my family had ever before achieved.
I forced my brother and sister to play school with me. I even coerced the neighborhood kids to pretend
along. I knew what I wanted out of life and I was rehearsing how it would fit.
I started looking into colleges when I was in the eighth grade
and applied to three or four by the end of my junior year. I got accepted by
all of them, but only two offered me a substantial scholarship, so I accepted
the one that paid more and I finished college in three and a half years.
I was an educator for thirty-seven years, twenty-five in the
classroom and twelve in an administrative position. In total, I had spent forty-four years of my
life pursuing one goal and I did well.
Now I am in pursuit of another goal.
I want to be an author, a published one. I don’t want to be
mediocre. I don’t want to be
forgettable. I want what I write to make
a difference and have an impact on the reader.
My family and my friends wonder why I don’t sit back and enjoy
my retirement. I understand their consternation. Writing well and being a successful published
author are difficult goals to achieve.
I study the market, agents, and acquisition editors. I force family and friends to read my
scribbles and encourage them to give me advice.
I coerce any and all to take a peek at my writing and give me feedback. I am rehearsing the writing life to see how
it fits and how it feels.
Wishful Thinking # 1 for 2014 – I will submit a finished
manuscript to an editor or an agent by December 2014.
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