I saw this quote and thought about how this writing journey of mine began. I was in the fifth grade and I was going to a snobby Christian school, my family was the one of the most poor families in the school, we were allowed to go at a discount because my dad did maintenance on the building, and drove the church van. The constant bullies were the rich girls who had dimaond earrings and frosted hairdos at ages 10 and 13? It was crazy to me. They would bully me on field trips because I didn't have trendy clothes, I didn't have diamonds. I looked at them like they were aliens and continued to read my books. Series books were my favorite because I knew the character I loved would be back. Little house on the praire, Nancy Drew of course. In high school the Sweet Valley High series, and Christopher Pike.
My absolute favorite was a series called Mandie; by Lois Gladys Leppard. It is a little known fact that she wrote her first Mandie; book the Secret tunnel, when she was just eleven years old. Her character was the same age as me and I felt like Mandie and I were best friends. So in response to the bullies whom I ignored. I retreated from people, and social interactions Instead of being negative I turned it into a positive. I volunteered in my English teachers class after school, and the library during school. I sat with little kids in the library and helped them pronounce words. I even sometime recommended stuff to moms. It was here in these two rooms that I discovered my love of reading and the want to write a story that meant something. My English teacher used to give us a word of the day then we would have to define it and write a paragraph about this word. I thrived in this environment I yearned for it. I was the most amazing experience I can remember. Knowledge defiantly has power. So even though I was picked on, I found something that I loved. Reading, and learning.
I have put this dream off for many years, but I have always written stories. I have never shown them to anyone outside family. So this next step will be a huge one for me. I am going to a critique class next week. We shall see what the group thinks of my first baby. I am including a link to the Mandie website if you have any girls looking for a great young girl series. Also Lois's biography. I will try an highlight a different author with each posting, and explain how they inspired me to my completed novel.
~Moral to this is sometimes when bad things happen, in my case bullies. You can chose to make it a positive and it will propel you forward into another direction entirely and it may become what you have always been looking for. =)
Thanks for stopping by! Jess
~Lois Gladys Leppard is the ever-popular and prolific writer of Mandie Books. She has also been a professional singer, actress, and playwright. Lois studied at the New York School of Music and the Voice Beautiful Institute in New York under Glenn Morris Starkie. Additionally, she and her two sisters, Sibyl and Louise, sang professionally as the Larke Sisters and appeared in the operetta Bohemian Girl and were presented at Carnegie Hall. As a drama student, she was in the group that organized The Little Theater in her home town. She has written several plays and was employed with Columbia Pictures.
She wrote the first Mandie book, Mandie and The Secret Tunnel, when she was eleven years old. However, the book was not published until many years later.
http://www.mandie.com
No comments:
Post a Comment