Here is a nice promotional letter I was sent the other day to help stir up interest in the new Creative Writing program starting this August at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, NC - my home town. yours truly will be teaching Self-Publishing 101 as a workshop in the spring of 2010. My hope is that there will be enough interest so I can teach it as a class in the fall of 2010 - that’s how I originally proposed it. I feel like there’s so much to cover that a 5-hour workshop just won’t hit it all. Plus, people need time to reflect and work and think and plan…and a workshop doesn’t give you that chance. That said, I plan to make the workshop as helpful and practical as possible. Whether you want to publish a personal memoir for friends and family or to start a small publishing company, like I have, the class should get you started on your road to publishing success.

Vroom! Vroom!

The FANTASTIC classes being offered through this new creative writing program at CCCC should get you started on writing success. First, they’re super affordable, which is great, because I’ve taken a bunch of creative writing classes locally and the cost is usually 3 or 4 times higher. The people teaching the classes are really wonderful, too - since I have close personal connections with one of the board members (my mom is on the board!) I know that there were many, many qualified applicants for the few classes they were able to offer. And finally, the classes are in Pittsboro, which is a great place to hang out. Seriously. We have fantastic places to have a cuppa. Or a beer. Or a cocktail (that’s a recent addition). Go PBO!

So, without much more ado - here’s the invitation! I hope you can come!

Dear fellow writers and students:

I am pleased to announce the new Creative Writing Program at CCCC, Central Carolina Community College. This new program will offer classes and workshops in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and creative inspiration starting in the 2009-2010 academic year.

Writing is a wonderful form of expression we have all dabbled in at some point in our lives. We all know someone who has kept a journal, submitted a piece of writing to a contest, or even chose to pursue “the writing life”. North Carolina has a strong literary history and long list of authors and poets who have called this wonderful place home. In keeping with this tradition, CCCC has developed the new Creative Writing Program with a variety of tools and topics to help you hone your skills, explore new writing genres, and get motivated to bring your works to completion.

The first class will start on August 26, so, if you live in Chatham please watch for the new Fall Continuing Education catalog in mid-July. Descriptions for courses and workshops are listed here (soon to be on the CCCC website!). All classes meet on the Pittsboro campus and are eligible for Continuing Education Unit credits (CEUs) for your professional development. Beginning and experienced writers are encouraged. Please join us in this exciting new program, and share the flyer with all your friends! We expect our website to go live at www.CCCC.edu sometime in July. Watch for that, too.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Ehlert-Bashista, DRT Press / Idea Girl

My husband remarked this afternoon that I seem much more relaxed than usual.

You think?

Tomorrow is my first day in months sans kids, sans husband, sans Day Job.

Someone pinch me.

I must be dreaming.

Oh, Idea Girl! You’ve been so neglected! Not one post for June.

So sad.

But here I am, Day Job done for at least 2 months, ready to refocus once again on my life.

With that in mind, here’s a wonderful link to a list of review sources: Book Review Submission Guidelinesfor Top 21 Book Reviewers, by Paul Krupin. It’s a good list, but as he says in the post, there are many more possibilities for reviews. And since I do children’s books, my list would be a little different. Plus, as I’m sure Paul would agree, you must always consider your niche. 

I’m too tired to give them much thought. Just trying to get through to the end of the Day Job, which thankfully provides me with a 2 month unpaid vacation.

I am looking forward to June 15, my first day off with NO CHILDREN and hopefully NO HUSBAND in the house. Not that I don’t love them but, like Greta Garbo, I vant to be alone.

Here’s a nice little article from the N&O that ran a couple of weeks ago about women who were in business and who are now running businesses of their own. I love reading stories like this! They’re very inspirational. I don’t particularly love the term ‘mompreneur’ (largely because I think it’s a bit condescending), but I think the intent is good. ‘Mompreneur’ generally implies a woman, previously professionally employed, who starts a business either inspired by something in her role as a mother or by the lack of flexibility of her former employment. Throw in a little bit of passion, some dreams, hard work - and voila - you have a mompreneur.

The only problem with this article is that they didn’t interview me!

But it has nothing to do with this one…or does it?

It’s about Home Performance, which basically means how a home’s systems work to create a comfortable, safe, and energy efficient home. Which has nothing to do with writing or children’s book publishing, obviously, but I’m writing it to help publicize my husband’s business, Home Performance NC.

Here’s the link to the blog: http://www.homeperformancenc.com/blog/

In a way, though, it is connected to this blog. One, because my role in our family business is marketing director, I am thinking about ways to get publicity for said business. Which is making me thinking about ways to get publicity for my business.

Two, because helping him out is eating up my time, which means I’m not posting on this blog and my own business, which doesn’t get as much time as it should, is feeling the impact.

And three - and this is the most exciting, important part - if I can help get his business up and rolling and doing well then there will be plenty of time for me to work on my business, if you get my drift. Work/life balance will be a little more balanced.

I’ll keep you posted.

Earlier today I found myself clicking on a link to an article on Oprah.com about Cathie Black, the president of Hearst magazines. Now, I have mixed feelings about old Oprah and even if I didn’t have to be at my Day Job when her show was on I probably wouldn’t watch it, mostly because I’m not interested in most of her topics. But if there’s one thing I lurve about old Oprah is her guests that promote empowerment of women. 

Right on, sister!

I also love reading success stories about women in business. In my Day Job I am not a woman in business. I work in the field of education, which has its own set of rules about success…namely, there is no top to rise to, there is no reward, financial or otherwise, for working hard, and conformity is valued way more than new ideas.

If you know me, then you know I don’t fit in here.

Anyhoo, Cathie Black has a new book coming out and so the interview on the website (and the guest appearance on old Oprah’s show) is promoting it. The interview itself is okay - it’s about ways you can succeed in business, etc. etc. I am willing to bet the book will be an enjoyable read (note to self: get it from the library). But the best part of the interview, for me, was its little preamble about taking risk. Here’s what she says:

Taking a risk is scary when you focus on what can go wrong and exciting when you consider the benefits if all goes well. The trick is to think about risk in the right way and use it to your advantage. Most people see taking risks as opening themselves up to unnecessary, even dangerous, chance. But the truth is, avoiding risk won’t keep you safe, nor will it guarantee a smooth ride.

In fact, the opposite is often true. It’s like the monkey parable: A monkey sees a nut in a hole and reaches in to grab it. Once he’s closed his fist around it, he can’t get his hand back out of the narrow opening. He can’t free himself unless he lets go of the nut, but because he’s afraid to lose it, he won’t let go.

Trying to avoid risk is like clinging to that nut. You may think you’re playing it safe by holding on to what you have, but in reality you’re just hindering your own progress.

I love this. I love how she says that not taking the risk can actually hold you back. In a way, not taking a risk is more risky than taking it, when you think of all you have to lose by playing it safe.

I getting excited for some risky business of my own.

I have been doing a lot of complaining recently. Complaining about work. Complaining about lack of time. Complaining about no vacation. Complaining about some 20-year old advice from someone who didn’t know me that well.

Wah. Wah. Wah.

You know, things are actually okay with me. I’m moving forward, albeit slowly. And although I’m still off-balance I see an end in sight.

I think it’s time I follow the special, treasured advice given to me by a dear friend in a previous time of crisis:

SUCK IT UP.

When I was a senior in college I had a meeting with my college advisor, who asked me what I was planning to do after I graduate.

I want to be a writer, I said.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Not her exact words, but close enough. This, from a professor who’d given me straight A’s in every literature class I took with her, who nominated me to Phi Beta Kappa, and who had told me time and time again that I was an excellent writer.

By “HAHAHAHAHA” she meant that I was crazy to even consider a career as a writer. No one makes a living writing.

My fallback is teaching, I explained. That’s how I’ll pay the bills.

She was obviously relieved. Another student she didn’t have to worry about. I was going to be a teacher. We talked about that for a while, and then I left her office. Career advice session over.

But that’s not what I said, I remember thinking. I said I wanted to be a writer. But I didn’t push it. My professor was right. Being a writer wasn’t a real career.

Bullshit, lady. And by “lady” I am talking to her and me. Because although I think she gave me bad advice, I am the one who followed it. I bear the majority of the blame in this.

Here’s what she could have said: What kind of thing do you want to write? Have you considered journalism school? I have a friend who is in publishing, would you like her name? Here are some former students’ names who are freelance writers. 

But she didn’t. And I’ve worked as a teacher or in schools ever since. And never been very satisfied doing this mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting work for which I’ve gotten paid about as much as if I were still a 17-year-old nanny.

That was some pretty bad advice. And after almost 20 years I’m about ready to ignore it.

A couple of weeks ago I read an article on the Oprah website by Martha Beck, who is a life coach and columnist in the O magazine, about getting rid of clutter and fat and improving your life 100% by fixing your thought system through use of affirmations. Personal mantras. I’ve written about this before, and I remain a skeptic but what the heck! It’s worth a try. Although perhaps the worth a try attitude negates the affirmations working. I don’t know. I’m on the fence, what can I say?

The specific affirmation in the article I liked was this: everything good is readily available. This is supposed to be used to convince your body it doesn’t need to hold on to its fat. The idea is that fat is caused by the hoarding tendencies in your brain. The same part of your brain that collects hen and rooster salt and pepper shakers is also collecting fat. 

Hmm. 

I don’t know if it will work on my fat at all - it seems to be pretty stubborn, complete with its own monkey mind located in the fat that bulges over my bra strap - but I think it’s a useful phrase nontheless. 

Everything good is readily available.

It’s true. It is. I am doing fine. I am stressed out, overworked, underpaid, and don’t have enough fun, BUT

I have a nice house. I have a nice husband. My children are healthy. I am healthy. My family is healthy. My parents live nearby. I have plenty to eat (hear that, fat? no need to hoard!). I have a way to make a living, as does my husband. I have great friends. I am educated, proactive, and resourceful. I have many pleasures in life.

Everything good is readily available.