Chilling. Terrifying. Hopeful.

Elaine Stock takes readers on a journey that reveals how far parents will go to protect their family. When We Disappeared is a story of survival and risk for the Jews and Gypsies hiding in plain sight and for the allies providing shelter in Nazi occupied territory. It’s a death sentence for both if discovered. Danger lurks and the threat of betrayal is real at every point of the final book of the Resilient Women of WWII Trilogy.

Eileen Harrison Sanchez, Author, Freedom Lessons - A Novel

How do you find your way back home after unimaginable loss?

Josie and Vic by Debra Thomas

This is a story grounded in love, hope and the search for home. With tenderness and empathy Debra Thomas weaves decades of family secrets, betrayals, and tragedy as her characters struggle with the question, how do you find your way back home after unimaginable loss? But when home is a person, you feel secure and safe, no matter where in the world you are. Siblings Josie and Vic are that sanctuary for each other. They find peace by helping others find safety, security and that home is where the heart is – sometimes with the joy found in music or the solace in the unconditional love of an animal. Josie and Vic are complex characters you will admire as they reveal the impact each had on the other during their young and adult lives. Highly recommended for all readers. Also, author and social justice advocate Debra Thomas, once again provides insight on the dangers of migrant crossings at the Mexican border and the impact of two social justice programs: the Sanctuary movement and the Water Stations Project.

Eileen Harrison Sanchez, Freedom Lessons – A Novel

How Dolls Helped Win Brown v. Board of Education

credit for this story ERIN BLAKEMORE JAN 11, 2022 & MARCH 27, 2018

https://www.history.com/.../brown-v-board-of-education...

This headline and story caught my eye. Dolls are for kids. So why were they in front of the most esteemed judges in the United States? The Justices were considering the impact of this experiment in 1953-54 around the same time I received my Black baby doll. Her name was Amosandra, and she was the first mass-produced rubber doll with black skin.

The doll which was a promotional product for “Amos’ n’ Andy”, a popular radio series that featured white actors portraying African American characters. The program employed racial stereotyping and exaggerated dialect, and the actors wore blackface when posing for publicity photos. I’ll never know what wisdom was gifted to my mother when she bought me that doll. It left an impact on me and I included that memory in my book FREEDOM LESSONS – A NOVEL.

It is also an example of Lesson #3 from my book: Family provides security, identity, and values.

The article by Erin Blakemore explained that the Clarks had to paint a white baby doll for the tests since Black baby dolls weren’t manufactured at the time. That surprised me since I, a four-year-old white girl, had a Black baby doll. I searched to find that The Sun Rubber Co. of Barberton announced the birth of Amosandra in 1949 that changed the complexion of the U.S. toy industry.

In the Clark’s research, the children were asked which doll they wanted to play with, which one looked white, “colored”, “good” or “bad” and finally, which looked most like them. Most children preferred the white doll and some cried when asked to choose the one that looked like them. The results upset the Clarks so much that they delayed publishing their conclusions.

Historians debate the importance of the Clark’s work and testimony. But here’s one woman that is glad to know the resistance didn’t stop Thurgood Marshall. Yet, we are still moving too slowly, fifty years after I had my Amosandra Baby doll, I wanted to buy our first granddaughter, who is biracial, the family tradition of Bitty Baby, A Madame Alexander doll, I had to search hard for a dark-skinned version. I was traveling when I did find one in a toy shop in New Orleans. I live in NJ.

She’s seventeen now so maybe some things have finally changed. The internet helped me to find this version which has hair like she had. I wanted to get her a baby doll that looked like her. This would be my choice.

Supreme Court Justices contemplated oral arguments and pored over case transcripts. But they also considered baby dolls—unexpected weapons in the plaintiffs’ fight against racial discrimination. I like to say that we need laws to protect our civil rights, but laws don’t change people’s opinions, people do. Be the change you want to see.

The Last Blue by Isla Morley

Have a tissue ready for the ending. I won't spoil it for you - just warning you. Emotional, endearing, heartbreaking, heart-mending. When I finished the last line, I wanted to start reading The Last Blue over again. It's that good. The writing is evocative with the strong images and feelings that were so descriptive, so genuine I felt that I was part of the story. There were moments I recoiled at the scene, another that shocked me to shout "No", and the ending that brought tears of joy and relief. The Last Blue defies genre. Mainly American historical fiction, it is a tender love story, and a mystery with clues dropped from the first pages but not understood until the last page. It is a story for today's world asking the reader to understand the fear that deep prejudice comes from and the fear it creates. Truly a story to read to see beyond the color of one's skin. Brava! Isla Morley!

John and Mary Margaret by Susan Cushman

When was falling in love forbidden? In 1966 in a college town in Mississippi there were lines you didn’t cross but what if your heart had other plans? John, inspired by James Meredith, was one of a few Black students at Ole Miss. Mary Margaret, in turn, was inspired by her neighbor Eudora Welty, to question her privileged upbringing and her parents’ lack of concern for racial injustice and civil rights.  Finding a soulmate while studying for an exam on Faulkner and a love for literature was the beginning for John and Mary Margaret “to find the courage to disturb the status quo.” This love story is interrupted by the reality of a tumultuous time when interracial relationships were not accepted and even illegal in some states. This sensitive and well-written work of historical fiction explores the deleterious impact of racism on our basic human relationship. Luckily, sometimes we get a second chance.

Life and Other Shortcomings by Corie Adjmi

The cover and title of this book intrigued me from the first time I saw it. Then I learned that it is a short story collection. I love short stories. This collection is unique because the stories are connected. The first person narration from Callie reveals her hopes, fears and the shortcomings of the relationships in her life. Callie appears in most of the stories even if briefly mentioned in one as an old girlfriend. A surprise benefit was learning about Jewish traditions for women woven into the stories. it has been my goal to read books that reveal other cultures. My only disappointment was that I wanted Callie to appear in each story. I loved her perspective on Life and Other Shortcomings and hope to read more about her.

The Right to Have a Library Card

A Library CardCharles Schutz Published April 4, 1960

In 1969 I taught a second-grade class in a segregated Black school in the deep south. In my historical fiction/memoir, “Colleen” is the fictional name I gave to the character who told my story as a white northerner teaching in the deep south. “Colleen” took her Black second graders to the library causing raised eyebrows and fear among her students’ parents. I was not aware of the deep roots of the ‘Jim Crow South’ policies and practices. By the late 60’s, I naively thought things were better for everyone, isn’t that what the Civil Rights movement was supposed to accomplish?

The following scene from FREEDOM LESSONS – A NOVEL is based on an experience I had at the start of that school year. “Colleen” expected to be able to use the library to supplement the limited materials she had in her classroom. Applying for her own library card and to get applications for her students was met with resistance after it was revealed that she taught in the segregated Black school. 

The librarian walked into the back office. Finally, she returned with a stack of cards. 

“Can you explain why you’re doing this and not the parents of your students?” She pursed her lips, as if impersonating all the librarians who’d ever shushed Colleen and her giggling friends back in the high school library. 

“Where I taught in New Jersey, every student received a library card at the end of first grade. The teachers handed them out. My students are in second grade, and none of them have a card.” 

“That’s not our policy. We have to have parental permission for each of these cards. And if any books are not returned, there will be a fine, or even full payment, for the book. Do you understand that?” 

Colleen struggled with her rising anger but responded politely. “Of course. The children will be with me when they take out books, and I will help to return them.” 

“But West Hill is across town. Are you bringing them all here on a school-day field trip? We would have to make arrangements for such a large group.” 

“Only a few at a time, on Saturdays, as soon as they get their cards.” 

The librarian slapped the pile of application cards on the counter. She gave Colleen an amused look. “Well, bless your heart. You are just what we need in this library. You come back to me with those permission slips.” 

Colleen picked up the stack of applications and walked out of the library.  

As she left the building, she felt a set of piercing eyes follow her, and a chill traveled down her spine. 

To offer a full account of the time that I lived and taught in Louisiana I did an extensive amount of research. I learned that public libraries were integrated before the public schools. However, the practice of integration was not always the policy. The challenge of using libraries and obtaining library cards for Colleen’s students is an important backstory for my book. We can thank Rosa Keller for her efforts. She was one of the few white people at the time who fought for racial change in New Orleans. Her husband was Jewish, and she became familiar with prejudice through his eyes. In 1953, Mrs. Keller was appointed to the Library Board by Mayor Chep Morrison. Morrison urged Keller to continue in her efforts to desegregate the library. By the end of 1955, all public libraries in the city were integrated. However, schools, water fountains and bathrooms remained segregated. 

At the recent memorial service for John Lewis, the audience was told the story of his attempt to obtain a library card. On November 16, 2016, Congressman Lewis told it himself during his acceptance speech for the prestigious National Book Award for his graphic memoir March: Book Three. Recounting how he grew up “very, very poor” in rural Alabama, Lewis said there were “very few books in our home”. “I had a wonderful teacher in elementary school who told me: ‘Read, my child, read’, and I tried to read everything. I love books,” said Lewis. “When I was 16 years old, some of my brothers and sisters and cousins [were] going down to the public library trying to get public library cards, and we were told the library was for whites only, not for coloreds. To come here and receive this award, this honor, is too much. Thank you.”

The travesty of his story highlighted a little-known practice limiting the rights of Black Americans. In 1953, Rosa Keller fought for integrated libraries in New Orleans. In 1956, as a16 year old, John Lewis was denied a library card. In 1969, I was challenged when asking for library card applications for my students. In December 2016 staff at the Fairfax County (VA) Library sent Congressman Lewis a new library card, welcoming him to stop by any of their branches—and encouraged other libraries to do the same. Sixty years later? Why does it have to take a prestigious book award and his story (which presumably embarrassed every librarian in the country) to shock the public? 

The denial of the right to have a library card symbolizes how deep the roots of prejudice can go. Imagine denying access to such a basic right to read a book for free. Library cards have always represented endless access to books, information, freedom, independence and the right to education. Even Linus knew that the library card gave him “citizenship in the land of knowledge”. 

Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages

I must write today. I am so discouraged. I’m trying to process the incredible events that started one week ago with a man’s unjustified death and has returned us to the riots of 1968. Messages from those who recall Martin Luther King Jr.’s words from that time are the ones I must listen to. “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” I suggest that first we must have respect for each individual. My historical fiction Freedom Lessons has five beliefs or lessons I have embedded in the book. Here is the first:

Treat others as you would like to be treated. Speak to others with respect. Listen with empathy. The simplicity of the Golden Rule is to help your neighbors. Treat your family with kindness. Imagine how others would want to be treated. Walk in their shoes. As members of the black community in this story Frank, Evelyn, and Annie Mae practiced this rule every day. Frank deferred to his mother’s expectations of him even as he wanted to strike out at the unfair consequences of the school integration. Annie Mae realized that Colleen didn’t understand that the library trips would be misunderstood. Evelyn agreed to enlighten this white teacher. “Do unto others” was embedded in Colleen’s upbringing yet practicing the Golden Rule clashed with the unwritten rules she wasn’t familiar with. 

I believe that what we learn as children or as students will impact how we interact with others throughout our lives. Gram’s Book Club was created to encourage books of diversity for readers, to create empathy, to understand “others”. WE MUST LEARN FROM THE PRESENT AND THE PAST. HERE IS AN AMAZING RESOURCE LIST! THANK YOU DR. NICOLE COOKE!

The Story Behind the Story

This first appeared on Cathy Zane’s Blog as a guest author and fellow @shewritespress sister Eileen Sanchez - Author Page writes about how real life experiences often "seed" fictional stories. http://bit.ly/2XiUs6S

The Story Behind the Story by Eileen Harrison Sanchez

 Nearly seven years ago I began to seriously write a novel. It started as a writing critique on an ordinary Monday morning. The multi-genre group had copies of my eight-page attempt at memoir. My essay told the story of the 1969 November day I moved into a trailer classroom on the back lawn of the white elementary school with my second grade class of thirty black students. The segregated black school I taught in had been suddenly closed at the end of the previous day. Why? The Civil Rights Law of 1964 mandated the integration of the public schools in the small rural Louisiana town I worked in. School boards had to comply or lose federal funds. 

My essay was ready for critique from the group. After I finished reading, I looked up to see shocked faces and to hear surprised reactions from this group of white writers in a suburban NJ town. I was hoping to learn how to write a memoir. I was not prepared for the instructor, herself a published author, to say, “I think you have a novel.” This novel took five years of research; critique writing workshops, numerous edits, rewrites and revisions. During this time I gained confidence in my voice and my story. I became my own agent and found a publisher for a self-imposed deadline of 2019, which is the 50th anniversary year of the events that I have fictionalized in Freedom Lessons (She Writes Press). 

Always an avid reader, becoming a writer made me more interested in the writing and the “seed” of the stories I read. Here are some of my favorites. 

In 1999, author Heidi Daniele attended an event for a family friend in Ballinasloe, Ireland. Others at the event were discussing industrial schools, not knowing what they were, Heidi asked and discovered that they were similar to orphanages. The children that lived in these schools were placed, sometimes “sentenced” by judges. The schools were run by religious orders in separate facilities for boys and girls. Many of the children were illegitimate and all lived a harsh life of unpaid labor. The first line of this emotional story is "My birth was a sin and a crime." Heidi’s years of research led to locating women who lived in the industrial schools as children. She fictionalized the women’s stories into one story of Mary Margaret Joyce. Read The House Children, “An unassuming but riveting tale of the hardships and ultimate rewards of family.” (Kirkus Reviews) 

Janet Benton’s Lilli de Jong “began in the long days and nights of nursing and nurturing my baby. As I held her in my arms…a voice came now and then…the voice of an unwed mother from long ago.” After setting her own child down to sleep, Benton jotted the beginnings of her novel as she imagined this woman under the challenging circumstances of being pregnant and abandoned in late nineteenth-century Philadelphia. The character of Lilli emerged as an unwed mother, supporting herself and her child as a wet nurse. As a Quaker she would have been well educated and outspoken in the era of the legendary reformers of Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony. Ms. Benton’s extensive research brings the reader to recognizable Philadelphia landmarks as well as the importance of wet nurses and a story of women’s strength. 

The genesis of The Invention of Wings, by Sue Kidd Monk, was from a visit to the Brooklyn Museum.  She went to see Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party; a monumental piece of art celebrating women’s achievements. Thirty-nine place settings at a banquet table honor thirty-nine female guests and another 999 women’s names are inscribed upon a porcelain tiled floor. As Sue Kidd Monk read the names of the women, Sarah and Angelina Grimke stood out. They were sisters from Charleston, South Carolina. It was the same city in which she lived at the time. Her next novel, not started, was a vague notion of a story of two sisters. As she researched the Grimke sisters she “became passionately certain” that she had found the sisters she was to write about. She was most discouraged about her ignorance of these first female abolition leaders and major American feminist thinkers. The Invention of Wings follows thirty-five years of a complex relationship between Sarah and her ownership of Handful, as both women strive for lives of their own. 

Eileen Harrison Sanchez is now retired after a forty-year career in education. She started as a teacher and ended as a district administrator. A reader, a writer, and a perennial―a person with a no-age mindset―Sanchez considers family and friends to be the most important parts of her life, followed by traveling and bird watching from her gazebo. Freedom Lessons is her first published novel, available November 12, 2019. She blogs as Gram’s Book Club with recommendations for young readers and as A Perennial Writer’s Thoughts. Connect with her at www.eileensanchez.com, and eileenwrites@comcast.net

Freedom Lessons - A Novel - A Conversation with Eileen & Michelle Cameron Dec. 1st!

Congratulations to TWC novel student,Eileen Harrison Sanchez whose debut novel, Freedom Lessons, was published by She Writes Press on November 11. Her novel was named one of the best Autumn/Winter debuts by Library Journal. It was also was an finalist in the Fiction: Multicultural category of the American Book Fest's 2019 Best Book Awards and was selected as required reading at a Louisiana college.

Eileen's official launch party is on December 1 at MONDO-Summit from 2-4pm - highly appropriate, as it is the site where the book began!

Guest Host Author - American Historical Fiction Group on Facebook and Goodreads!

Comment on the Facebook or Goodreads group to win a copy of Freedom Lessons and Book Club Swag!

Celebrate with me!! It’s official on November 12, 2019

November 11-15 – Goodreads Guest Author - American Historical Fiction Group
November 15 – Book Event, Princeton Retirees Group (Private home)
November 16 – Local Author Day – Barnes and Noble Menlo Park Mall, 4-6 pm November 20 - Private Event, Women's Club, Clark, NJ
November 22 – Book Talk, Ricochet Health Club South Plainfield 7 PM 
December 1 – Book Launch!! In Conversation with Michelle Cameron 
The Writers Circle - 426 Springfield Ave. Summit, NJ  2-4 PM

“Debut novelist Sanchez has crafted a moving and timely story, based on her own experiences, about school integration in the South in 1969 and the issues that still linger today. This powerful tale offers a beacon of hope that individuals can inspire change.”
 –Library Journal Premium Review
 
School desegregation is something we all learn about in history class; perhaps we even remember the striking image of Ruby Bridges being escorted to and from school by the U.S. Marshals. But for most of us in 2019, that’s near the extent of what we understand about that tumultuous time. Eileen Sanchez, the debut novelist behind Freedom Lessons (She Writes Press, November 12, 2019), draws on her own remarkable experience as a young, white teacher in the Jim Crow South during desegregation, to write her immersive work of fiction inspired by those events. The result is an unusually authentic exploration of a snapshot in history through the eyes of characters that are relatable and unmistakably human—living lives and navigating relationships against the backdrop of extreme societal upheaval. Sanchez has woven a beautiful story not just about desegregation as an abstract concept, but about the people who lived it—and asks us to question our assumptions about that time, and the issues it has left in its 50-year wake. 

Freedom Lessons begins in Louisiana 1969 as Colleen, a white northern teacher, enters into the unfamiliar culture of a small Southern town and its unwritten rules as the town surrenders to mandated school integration. She meets Frank, a black high school football player, who is protecting his family with a secret. And Evelyn, an experienced teacher and prominent member of the local black community, who must decide whether she’s willing to place trust in her new white colleague. Told alternately by Colleen, Frank, and Evelyn, Freedom Lessons is the story of how the lives of these three purportedly different people intersect in a time when our nation faced, as it does today, a crisis of race, unity, and identity. 

Freedom Lessons documents the 50th anniversary of Alexander v Holmes

Scottish journalist, Martin Hannan wrote an article printed in The National (Pagesuite Edition) on October 29, 2019 - the exact date of the 50th anniversary of a little known case - Alexander v Holmes. On that date, the US Supreme Court ordered the immediate end of desegregation – to terminate dual school systems at once. That decision is central for the story I tell in Freedom Lessons. It is a fictionalized version of events that others and I experienced in 1969, in a rural Louisiana town, during a period of overnight mandated school integration. Mr. Hannan notes the lack of commemoration and enthusiasm from the US about that ‘momentous achievement’ but my book is proof that some of us do remember and we are here to remind others.

What are the Freedom Lessons?

1.     Treat others as you would like to be treated. Speak to others with respect. Listen with empathy. The simplicity of the Golden Rule is to help your neighbors. Treat your family with kindness. Imagine how others would want to be treated. Walk in their shoes. As members of the black community in this story Frank, Evelyn, and Annie Mae practiced this rule every day.  “Do unto others” was embedded in Colleen’s upbringing yet practicing the Golden Rule clashed with the unwritten rules of Jim Crow she wasn’t familiar with. 

2.     Have courage to confront uncertainty, intimidation or danger. Colleen quickly realized that what she expected to be an adventure was full of uncertainty. Her marriage to a man with a Spanish surname and her willingness to teach in a black school was judged and placed her on the defensive. Frank’s courage was evident daily by his efforts to protect his family from the secret he kept hidden. Evelyn guarded her dignity and self-worth by refusing to comply with unjust decisions by white decision makers. 

3.     Family provides security, identity and values. Colleen, Frank and Evelyn each came from families that expected them to follow their moral compass. Colleen set off to live and work in Louisiana with her husband, with confidence in who she was, and a set of values gained from her upbringing. She believed that her students should have an equal education and she strived to offer it despite the lack of materials. Frank’s father left a legacy of perseverance as he operated his own auto repair shop part-time and worked a full-time job. After his father’s death, Frank’s mother made ends meet by taking in ironing after she cleaned houses for local white families at the same time, she raised four children. Evelyn returned home after college and her mother’s sudden death to teach and assist her father in his funeral home business. 

4.     Prejudice is taught and learned. Colleen was taught that everyone deserves equal rights and to be treated with respect. She knew that prejudice existed right in her own town back in New Jersey, but she didn’t believe that it would impact her. And she didn’t understand the deep resistance for her beliefs from her neighbors and colleagues in Louisiana. She was judged daily by the color of her skin, by her name, and by her decision to associate with people of other races. Walking in another’s shoes became a daily challenge to her integrity. The unfairness of the poorly planned black school closure and the integration into the white school is magnified by the unfair assignments for the black teachers as support staff when their school was closed. Most lost their own classrooms. High school students lost their leadership roles on Student Council, school sports teams, cheerleading squads because when the schools were combined those positions were already taken by the white students of the school. At the end of the school year, the black students were recommended to be kept back and repeat the grade they had just finished, including the high school seniors. The second-class status of all the black teachers and students was imposed by the past practices and the unwritten rules of prejudice. 

5.     Social Justice: It takes individual actions to create social change. Laws are necessary to protect our civil rights but laws don’t change people’s opinions. Be the Change we want to see in this world. (Ghandi). In 1954 & 1955 it was determined by the Supreme Court that separate schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson allowed the federal government to enforce desegregation. The little known Alexander v Holmes Supreme Court decision of October 29, 1969 marked the end of the five years states had to comply or loose federal funds. Fifty years later our country has made changes and progress but there are still public schools that operate as segregated schools. At the end of the book Colleen leads a class of students in an exercise designed to teach students about discrimination. The reader doesn’t learn the results of that experience. The author believes that it is the responsibility of each of us to insure equality in education.  

Build Empathy- Read Stories of “Others”

Reflect on the voices we're sharing, listening to and reading. Christina Torres (Edweek.org 8-14-19) encourages teachers to “build empathy by listening to and studying other people’s stories.” She reminds us that without intentional effort the cultures of our communities aren’t reflected in the books we read or the texts that teachers use in their classrooms . She recommended a favorite online source of mine We Need Diverse Books which provides resources and materials about the importance of diversifying the texts in classrooms. 

But what are you reading? Our society of today could use a good dose of empathy. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was one of my early choices. I learned about Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change through the story of a young boy. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi was my most recent. Starting in 18th century Ghana to Jazz Age Harlem the novel illuminates slavery’s troubled legacy. In between I’ve read memoirs, historical fiction, and cozy mysteries.

Please share books of diversity that you are reading and recommending. I believe we need to include voices from cultures that represent the diversity of the country we live in. Build empathy.

The Reluctant Writer

Writing is my preferred manner of communication. Yet, I share it reluctantly. My fear of revealing who I am goes back to events in high school. Social media in those days were notes passed between friends. I was writing poetry and penned one about a boy I had a crush on. Carolyn betrayed me by giving him the poem and of course it got handed around. I stopped writing poems. I didn’t trust that I could have kept them private in a journal. Another friend’s mother read her diary. As the eldest of five, it’s doubtful that my mother had the time or interest in doing that. But I couldn’t risk anyone reading my deepest feelings.

A writing assignment in my junior year of high school was to create a limerick. To remind you, a limerick should be a humorous poem of five lines that have a verbal rhythm that is easy to remember and fun to repeat. I could do that. I handed in my homework. The next day our teacher wanted to read the best poems from the assignment. He started reading, “There once was a girl from my township,” and I recognized it was mine. It met the required seven to ten syllables for the first line. I thought that would be all he’d read. I wrote three stanzas, not one as required, about this anonymous girl “who gave up toys”. He read the entire poem. “Boys” was the rhyming word further in the limerick and revealed my teenage self once more. It was humorous. “Poignant” was part of the feedback from my teacher. My classmates laughed but I felt it was a bit at my expense. My teacher and friends praised and encouraged me and for awhile I wrote again. But I was never confident because I knew that my writing revealed deeper parts of me that I didn’t openly share. After a disastrous English 101 class in college I stopped writing for pleasure again.

My career as teacher of students with disabilities, and then a supervisor of their teachers, required a lot of writing and i wrote detailed, informative evaluations of students and teachers. My supervisor would caution me about their length and said “every word doesn’t have to be a pearl”. But it did. “Pearls” required cautious writing with descriptive terms that delivered facts and nothing about me.

When I retired I wanted to write for myself. I HAD to write. I needed that outlet. I needed to find my voice, and let it reveal whatever was hidden in my message. I MUST write. Even this post is pushing me to write IT. I am comforted by the communities of writers I have found that understand what I mean. Now that I have written a novel based in part on my own experience as a young teacher I am preparing to deliver myself and my message at book talks and in interviews. It’s time to share my voice.

Finding joy in being my own agent

One year ago I signed my contract with my publisher, Brooke Warner, to achieve my goal and in four months I’ll have a published novel, Freedom Lessons (She Writes Press). I quickly learned that writing The End is NOT the end. Two years ago, I started the search for an agent. In that search I had some interest and a number of requests, some for the first five pages, or the first 50 pages, and even the entire manuscript. But no one believed in my story like I did until I submitted it to She Writes Press. That led to a phone conversation with Brooke and when she offered a Fall November 2019 Publication date I knew I was in the right place. That date is exactly the 50th anniversary of the events in my story. From the start, Brooke and the community of She Writes Press Authors have supported me in every aspect of this publishing journey and then I realized I was and I am my own agent. It is my job to get myself and my book out there. I know I can count on my family and friends. They have been there for me but my job is to find the next circle beyond them. Following the advice of another She Writes Press author, Belle Brett (https://deaddarlings.com/months-publication-tentative-tips-debut-novelist/) here are some of the many actions I’ve taken. I updated my website, got a professional headshot, hired a publicist, set up my book launch, continue taking webinars, upped my game on social media and I’m finding joy in the marketing process.

Joy is more than being happy. It comes from a deep place in me. It rises up and fills me with a glow. I typically reserve “joy” to describe the day I married my husband, the births of our daughters and our grandchildren. But last week I left a local library with a spring in my step and that feeling of joy rising up which carried me through the day. I have bundles of 50 bookmarks to promote my book and a plan to visit every local library around (I have enough for 50 libraries!).

It takes some effort to convince my introverted self to walk in to deliver my pitch and offer a librarian a bundle of bookmarks for patrons. But I’m doing it “bird by bird”. Every time I’ve given my pitch the librarian has been welcoming and receptive. Last week, a librarian who appeared to be twenty-something was VERY interested and asked to look at the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) in my hand. Here’s an example of the perennial mindset - we just chatted like girlfriends of the same age. She then encouraged me to contact her supervisor who schedules events in the main library and the two other branches. I did. Today, a librarian I met three months ago, before I had bookmarks or an ARC to offer sent me an invitation to her library for an event for my book. I said yes.

And, this morning before I had the idea to write this blog post, I spoke with a representative of a national technology company for school leaders. They offer free resources to support the professional development of educators. I’ll be doing a podcast! A first person perspective of mandated school integration in the era of Brown v. Board of Education which will share my story to a broader audience than I could have dreamed. My career path as an educator and an administrator is a good match but I didn’t do this alone wearing my '‘agent hat.” One of our daughters made this connection for me and I am grateful for family and friends who are helping me share my story. And thanks to Belle Brett, I’m going “to regularly remind myself that I wrote a novel, for heaven’s sake”, and someone wanted to publish it, and someone wants to help me “make the magic happen.” That magic is bubbling up as joy as I put myself out there.