Should I do it?

Attended another great meeting yesterday with Saturday Writers. Talk about a fabulous organization - Writers Inspiring Writers. One of our guest speakers was the owner of Stonebrook Publishing and we listened to a wonderful presentation on turning memories into a memoir. She tag teamed with a man who self-published his own book and they are now re-working it together. His story was amazing and unbelievably sad at the same time. He had an abundance of courage to put his story out.

I keep going back and forth about whether or not to begin my own memoir. For those of you who do not know me, to look at someone my age (31) it would seem insane that I would even be ready to write a memoir. I mean, those are for old people, right!? But the more I read them, I keep finding that memoirs are really just about someone's personal story they need to tell, regardless of their age.

The longer I live and am impacted by my heart diseases, I keep feeling I need to reach out and share my own story. Maybe it would touch someone, help them, comfort them or make them feel they are not alone. When I was first diagnosed at the age of 23, all I felt was so unbelievably alone. If my story, even a piece of it, could help another woman - especially a mother struggling with heart disease, maybe it is time to get over my own issues and start writing it. Ah, the rantings of a confused woman! Welcome to my husband's world!

Keeping it up

I have to give credit to people who find the time to blog and write every day. I don't know how they do it. For one, I am pretty sure I don't have that many important things to share. Two, I just don't have time. Work has been kicking my tail lately. I hope I can find a way to better manage my schedule to get in more writing time. I am so envious of people who have the opportunity to write whenever they want and attend critique groups all throughout the week. That must be great for them and I can see the difference in their writing. I often wish I had the same time and flexibility. Back to the drawing board - any suggestions are welcome!

I did it!

Got an email a couple days ago - someone wants to publish a story I wrote. Amazing... absolutely amazing! It is not my own book, just  a story, but it is a step in the right direction and I will take it! I am still pretty new at all this. It has just been within the last year that I started to write formally. I am not sure what I expected but wow, is it an exhausting process. I work full time, in addition to being  wife and a mother, so finding time to write is often difficult. Getting that email was definitely the push I needed to keep it up and stay focused on the goal. For those of you like me, balancing a busy life and trying to break into writing, don't give up. We can do it!

Welcome to Karen's Bookland

Welcome to Karen's Bookland, a friendly place to discuss books, writing, and the mysteries of life. This is the blog of Karen Guccione-Englert, teacher, and wanna-be writer. Hope you enjoy your visit, and if you want, please leave a comment.