Monday, October 31, 2016

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A RED-HEADED, SOUTHERN GAL WITH A REVOLUTIONARY MINDSET WHO WIELDS A REFILLABLE INK PEN

Greetings Lit Loves!

Well, let me just say that I have completed author questionnaires and conducted phone interviews for several local newspapers recently and my tech guru husband handily pulled off a fascinating photo shoot of me for my publicity portfolio right in the clubhouse of our apartment complex!!  And what is all this hoopla for you might be asking?  Well, I, a non-famous yet sophisticated North Carolinian with a Midwestern accent just independently published my first book called Brave Soul Rising:  Tales From The Trenches of An Uncharmed Life.   I know, I know, what in the heebie-jeebies did I ever want to do a thing like that for at a time like this?  I thought I could add to the memoir genre as a writer from North Carolina who doesn't sugarcoat real life experiences and also forthrightly communicate some important life lessons other readers might find valuable as well.

It's like this:  I didn't grow up in a rich suburb and I very proudly claim to be from a small town.  I grew up with a set of parents who kept crayons, markers, pencils, pens, chalk, and all sorts of books right at my fingertips.  In elementary school, you could not pull me away from Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, or any book featuring Pippi Longstocking as the main character.  Upon arrival to middle school, low and behold I started reading O. Henry (pen name for William Sydney Porter).  O. Henry is from Greensboro, N.C. and he wrote short stories about people who were just average everyday Joes and Janes; many of his characters were extremely down on their luck.  I also discovered Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary.  To be honest, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe never interested me; however, I absolutely loved Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.  And I am most definitely not a Star Trek or Star Wars fan.  In high school, I thought Shakespeare was okay once I figured out what he was trying to say in his gussied up formal English.  Chaucer was definitely more my cup of tea.  Poetry was so short and open to interpretation I found myself sometimes taking my literature book, rereading a poem, and thinking, "Just plainly say what you mean already"!  I did find The Scarlet Letter quite fascinating and Edgar Allan Poe frankly just gave me the creeps.  Fortunately, I had started writing my own essays, thesis and research papers, and fairy tales by then so I became much more interested in fine-tuning my own writing style.

In college, I flew through most of my English classes.  I then decided to major in Middle Grades Education and specialize in Communications (aka Language Arts) and Social Studies (aka History).  And I did go on to explore the world of Education as a teacher's assistant and then a Middle Grades Language Arts and Social Studies teacher.  My first year of teaching was one hysterical scream after another and you will have to read Brave Soul Rising to discover why.  I survived my first year at an inner-city, middle school and then remained there another year as well.  I then taught in a private school which was a total 180 from teaching in a public, inner-city school.  All was right with the world there as I was mostly teaching grammar, literature, and writing.  Then the school administrators decided to assign me to teach a math class which was a quite foolish thing to do especially when I hated math, had no certification or degree in math, and in college thought any form of math should be banished from my degree curriculum.  Yes, that was a fun year.  And no, I did not choose to return to teaching following my year teaching in private school as my husband and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia for his work.   Learning to drive strategically in Georgia is an education in and of itself, let me tell you.  I did spend time tutoring some college students and editing thesis papers.  Due to the fact that I had by then been diagnosed with Uveitis, Uveitic Glaucoma, Meniere's Disease, and some unknown underlying autoimmune disorder requiring oral chemotherapy treatment, I took some time away from any form of teaching or tutoring.  When I read the memoir entitled Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, a fire was lit and I developed a passion for memoirs written not by celebrities but by everyday, regular people who had some extraordinary life experiences and lessons to share.  And that's when I also knew that I most likely had found my next potential venture in life:  writing, especially in the memoir category.

So for five years I wrote about pertinent and unusual life experiences I procured from my own existence and tried to communicate some seriously important life lessons.  I was determined to publish in the traditional manner at first which meant securing a literary agent and hopefully, a book deal with a big or small publishing house.  No dice.  It just didn't happen.  At the five year mark, I had written four manuscripts and decided upon my father's death to just take the bull by the horns and independently publish my first book via Amazon Publishing.  When I received the final version of the book, I literally sat in the floor of the living room and cried.  My dad had urged me once to take the new independent path to publication if necessary because it's not like New York and literary agents have the market cornered on the entire publishing process anymore.  On vacation with my mom and brother that same summer, my brother said, "You know, there are a lot of books that began as self-published works; it's a possibility, don't you think?" 

So there you have it.  I drafted the manuscript of Brave Soul Rising, hired a book cover designer who made my concept of the front and back cover come to fruition, and my husband assisted in the ebook version of Brave Soul Rising.  Now, I write about some tough issues.  My first marriage was at an incredibly young, naive age and was riddled with domestic violence.  I chose to leave that unhealthy relationship.  I put graduate school on hold and took a position as a receptionist/assistant in corporate America only to discover women can be and are treated in an often offensive manner there too.  I kept the faith and finally landed my first teaching position which is probably what ultimately saved me from giving up on life completely.  It certainly taught me the value of two key traits:  tenacity and perseverance.  And that is exactly what you will read about in my book, Brave Soul Rising:  Tales From The Trenches of An Uncharmed Life.  I write under the pen name, Grace Sutherlin.  And you will find my book available for order in paperback or ebook version online at Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble.  If you have a local independent bookstore and you request my book to be ordered, most stores will order it for you. I will go on record saying that many independent bookstores will not carry the actual book on their shelves because I published through Amazon Publishing.  I'm enjoying this revolutionary approach to publishing and will be keeping at it for some time to come.

Best,
Grace
(Amy)

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