I love to read!!!
Growing up in Provincetown, MA, on the very tip of Cape Cod, I always had a book by my side.
When I was four and my mom got this idea from a women’s magazine to give her kids an anonymous quiz on what they thought about their parents, my complaint, written in my sister’s handwriting so no one would know which of us wrote what, was “Daddy doesn’t read me stories.”
Since my older sisters could read themselves, my lament was not anonymous at all.
Then I learned to read and began to devour the Little House on the Prairie books, complemented by the TV show which I was allowed to watch, even if breaking news made it start late and end past my bedtime.
I grew up with Judy Blume, beginning with SuperFudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. I weathered puberty with Are you There God? It’s Me Margaret and Then Again Maybe I Won’t. The latter teaching me far more about boy’s bodies than sex ed three years later ever could. (Thankfully I had my best friend with the much more open mom to fill me in on the parts that Ms. Blume may have glossed over.)
I never went on sleepovers without a book which was unpopular but seemed better than bringing my Mrs. Beasley doll for comfort if the sleepover didn’t go well. Once I finished Tiger Eyes and Forever, I figured I would be a writer and craft the magical stories that brilliant authors like Ms. Blume did.
I went off to college majoring in creative writing and realized that those stories take work. Dammit!
~ Fun and interesting stuff ~
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I switched my major to English, wound up working in the Criminal Justice System outside of Boston until I grew homesick and returned to Cape Cod, and started working as an office assistant for a periodontist. Then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was filled with sadness, fear and frustration.
I expected to feel the first two emotions and people told me it was ok if I felt angry but I didn’t feel anger. I felt frustrated. Everything about MS seemed too bizarre to believe. Life with a chronic illness was so strange I had to write about it to try to make sense of it all. I quickly learned that there was no sense to be had and so my writing started making fun of those frustrations. Surprisingly, I began to feel a bit better.
Turns out, when I was making fun of something so bad it felt like a big bully, I was beating up the bully! Those early writings turned into MS Madness! A “Giggle More, Cry Less” Story of Multiple Sclerosis. An agent was encouraging and suggested I write a blog. What could I possibly regularly write about in a blog? To my surprise and chagrin, MS offered A LOT of material. This blog developed into my website where I used humor to beat up on multiple sclerosis.
I still absolutely believe that giggles are good for you and are a valuable coping mechanism.
In the years since the release of my first book, I started telling another story. One of first love with a playful, funny person and life in my unique small town. These writing have turned into my second book, Shelter of the Monument: A Provincetown Love Story.
And here we are, with an updated website, a funny book about a serious illness and a serious book featuring a funny person. It is my great wish that you enjoy them both. And look at that, I’m an author with an author website.
Who knows what the future holds and what other stories I may be able to tell!