Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Getting started


Welcome to my blog! It's high time I got started with this, since, as an author, I should have started a while back. I don't know why it took me so long, but I'm always a little behind (not that mine is little, mind you!).

Let me introduce myself. I am a red headed woman of a certain age living in Vacaville, California. That's about half way between Sacramento and San Francisco. I retired after 30 years from the State of California where I worked in the Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Motor Vehicles, and the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Much of my career was in personnel, providing career coaching to state employees, and investigating grievances. But I also served 13 years as a disaster medical specilalist, helping the state plan for major disasters such as earthquakes and terrorist attacks.

The kids (two sons) are grown and gone with families of their own, so it would seem that I should have a lot of time on my hands. I don't. I am the busiest retiree I know. I work part time for a newspaper, write books for mid-grade and teen readers, run a professional resume writing business, and am an avid horse enthusiast with a Morgan mare who needs my constant attention. Oh, and there's hubby in there somewhere, too.

Professionally, I belong to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Writers Resource Center of Solano County, and the Northern California Publishers and Authors. My first book, Desperado Moon, was published in December and recently won an award from the Northern California Publishers and Authors for best young adult novel. People keep asking me about my second novel (I've been working on it since 2008). Geez. I don't have enough hours in the day to work on it at a steady pace, but it is coming along.

My goal is to post a couple of times a week. I'm not entirely sure what I will write about, but I will probably, more than likely, write about horses, dogs, cats, writing, and things that just plain tick me off. I will probably also write about the challenges of finding gainful employment, resume writing, and job coaching. Educationally, I studied the environment, mainly centering in forestry and wildlife. I am a member of several animal defense/rescue groups and the ASPCA. I donate to horse rescue groups and the Humane Society. I am an advocate against horse slaughter and removing the Mustangs from government lands. Politically, I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I empower myself by espousing neither party, choosing instead to be an Independent (in thinking, voting, and acting) as I think both parties need to wake up and smell the decomp, as our country is in serious trouble.

So, there you have it. Me in a nutshell. Next post? Look for me sometime this week.