Blog #3 When?
If you read Blog #2 you better understand my definition of myself as an author. Now remember with me “when” I decided to become an author!
This particular section I find ironic. When do we actually “decide” to be who we have always been in the process of “becoming?”
Becoming an author probably began at age 16 months! That’s when my mom shouted to the world that her daughter was “already talking in sentences.” (I’m sure there were times later on in life when she wished that weren’t true anymore, lol, as I could really “sass” terribly and she often referred to me as being able to “argue a black sheep white.”
Then why didn’t I become a lawyer? I believe it’s because I was always destined to be an author! I loved speaking. I loved writing. From as far back as I can remember I liked teaching. Ultimately my gifts of talking, writing and teaching landed me a position as adjunct professor at Pellissippi College where I had the opportunity to teach *and* entertain.
I followed my then son-in-law’s example (I’ll never forget his letting a turtle roam around in his classroom lol) and did some pretty crazy things to influence my students to listen to my words as I attempted to teach. One such “stunt” was when I dedicated an entire week to the chapter on homelessness. I did this every semester.
I was walking down the hallway. I was wearing two different types of shoes, two different types of socks, one with holes in it. I had a couple teeth blacked out. My hair was a mess. My face had black coal smudges on it. My clothes were terribly disheveled and mismatched. My department head walked up behind me and asked “Angie, are you okay?”
I explained to her that I was on my way to class and would she care to sit in? She said yes! Later I got a written accomodation of ‘how I turned my classroom into more than lectures, albeit unorthodox, my teaching method on homelessness was priceless!’
Walking into my classroom, Dr. Choka took a seat in the back. She never said one word. She watched as I walked in and laid down on the floor.
My students walked in and either stepped over me or walked around me. I lay there for about five minutes. Finally one of my students stated rather annoyingly “are we going to have class or not?”
That was my cue. I got up, went to the lecturn and pronounced. “Thank you for asking! We’ve been having class for about five minutes now.”
Someone asked? “What do you mean?” I explained to the class that how they treated me was much how most people treat the homeless population.
It was a wonderful week and my students exclaimed to me that my little stunt and explanation that followed helped them to pay more attention to the plight of the homeless.
As a professor, I actually taught my students how to write. Their summary answers were important tools for getting their messages across to the reader. I taught them the importance of highlighting what they deemed important early on.
I try to do this as an author. I also try to remember why I always received an A- and never an A+ on my college papers lol. I tended to be too verbose! Although I’ve gotten much better, I still have to watch that today, in my novels and their book jackets. Sometimes brevity is better.
Okay back to the subject at hand (or did I really stray)? It indeed is important to remember real life examples that brought you to where you are today. Today I am an author!
One more example was my college literature classes, especially Western literature, and my psychology classes. Writing about the way a character (person we were studying) made me feel was a real joy.
That’s what I try to do as an author. I like helping my readers to *feel.* And as they bond with the characters in my novels, both the primary and secondary characters; they do *feel.* I’ve enjoyed some wonderfully insightful feedback from my readers. Keep those emails coming!
So, the “when” has been all my life. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to look back over my life and realize the lessons I’ve been taught, by my husband Tom, my family, my co-workers, my patients (at the hospitals where I’ve worked), the clients I had the privilege of working with in my private practice, my children, my step-children, my grand-children, my step-grandchildren, my deceased husband, and even my ex-husbands!
Everyone with whom we come into contact influences our calling(s). It is up to us whether we will listen or not. If you listen carefully enough, you will see that where you are today began at birth. Ahhh life experiences!
Stay tuned for the next blog #4… “Where?”