DIY MFA Book Club Challenge, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard Blog Tour Begins Monday

Hello and welcome to the J.Q. Rose blog!

Are you writing today?

How are you doing with your writing goals? Don't lose your determination to get that story or book out of your head and onto the paper.

"Many writers struggle with finding time to write, maintaining their motivation, or keeping that pesky inner critic at bay," said Gabriella Pereira at DIY MFA. She has a plan for smacking down those obstacles by helping writers build writing momentum and bust through mental blocks that are getting in your way.  She is launching a new program called the DIY MFA Book Club Challenge.  Click here for more information about the Do-It-Yourself Master of Fine Arts Book Club.

I decided to be more proactive in my writing process and join the challenge. How about you? I'll be sharing some of my writing prompts Gabriela gives us during the month. Here's the first one.

DIY MFA Book Club

Prompt: How did you become a writer?

How did you become a writer?

Writing is a superpower and every superhero has an origin story. What’s yours? When did you realize that you wanted to write? What motivated you to get started?

I became a writer when I was in second grade in order to stay out of trouble. I was an innocent player in an unusual situation during my second grade year in my small town grade school. Our second and third grade classes were filled with more kids than usual, hence the term “baby boomers.” Not quite enough kids in each class to hire two teachers, so the school decided to have a combined class of second and third grades in one classroom. And who was the lucky teacher assigned to handle this double workload? My mother.

Yes, I had my mother as my second-grade teacher. Talk about a predicament for both of us. I was always aware of my "special standing" in the class.  Did the kids treat me differently because our teacher was my mother? Perhaps at times, but I never felt it caused a problem with friends.
Do I call mom Mrs.or just Mom? Actually, I didn't address her at all during school time. 
Could I hug her when leaving for recess? No, I didn't do that, but plenty of hugs after school. 
In fact, my mother and I had a special relationship which I cherish to this day. I don't know if being her student for nine months may have contributed to our closeness as I forged through my teens and beyond.

Many years later, after I was married and had my two daughters, Mom told me how difficult that year was for her. She never graded my tests, but instead opted for having the other second-grade teacher do it. She didn’t want anyone to think she was giving me A’s because I was her daughter. She was stricter with me than with the other kids in the classroom for fear of being accused of favoring me. She struggled all year to find a balance between being my mother and being my teacher. As a 7-year-old I had no idea.

I admit I was one of those kids who loved to talk to students sitting near me so I would get in trouble a lot for doing that. In order not to invoke the wrath of my mother on me, I learned I had to keep busy so I wouldn’t talk to my classmates when I finished my assignments. Since I was always done earlier than anyone else, I decided to write stories.

My writing pencil.

I remember scrawling those stories, mostly about animals, on a tablet (way before electronic tablets were available) using a #2 lead pencil. I wrote so many stories, I developed a “writer’s bump” on the middle finger of my right hand. I still have it. Not only did I love creating those tales using my 7-year-old-experiences as a starting point, I especially loved reading the stories to my class and watching them smile and laugh because of what I wrote. Seeing their enjoyment hooked me so I continued to make up stories and still do to this day!
 Are you a writer? When did you begin? How ARE you doing with those 2018 writing plans? 

Are you a reader? When did you fall in love with reading? 

Please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear your experiences.

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard Winter Warm-Up Blog Tour with J.Q. Rose

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard Winter Blog Tour
Join us for book giveaways, prizes, mysteries, and fun!

Excited to begin my Blog Tour for my newly-released paranormal mystery, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard. Author Sandra Cox kicks off the tour on Monday where I share tips on arranging cut flowers. (In case you didn't know, I was in the flower business with GT for 20 years.) Thank you, Sandra, for hosting my first stop!

Then I pop over to my critique buddy's amazing blog, Heartwood, on Wednesday where I answer questions Nan Pokerwinski has cooked up. Please join us. Just click on the blog name and go to have fun and win prizes!!

Sandra Cox Blog

Nan Pokerwinski Heartwood Blog - a blog about cultivating creativity, connection and contentment wherever you are.