Whooo Are You (who who, who who?)

Well, well, well… how in the world are you all doing today? I’m good! The weather is FABulous, plus I just got in from cutting the lawn, which now looks magNIFicent. (Wink)  

I wanted to share with all of you what a great couple of days I’ve been having. First, I want to tell you about two brand new up-and-coming writing projects I’ve been working on. The first one is hopefully (fingers crossed) coming out later this fall. I’ve been taking my Creative Writing class/going to writing critique groups since the fall of 2009. In that time I wrote my book, “Five Fingers, Ten Toes…” and continue to ‘get word out’ about that; but I’ve also written many other things as well. I’ve been putting my finishing touches on many of those yet-to-be-seen pieces, and expect to release a fun compilation of my work. Much of it will be humorous, mixed in with a few more serious pieces; but it will all be  very ‘Katie’s View’ – through and through. // The other project I’ve been working on is very important to me. I seriously can’t wait for you all to read it. I’ve been conducting one-on-one interviews, and although I’m keeping it somewhat under wraps for now, my goal is to have the work done in 2016. Wow, what a feeling – having so many exciting irons in the fire, and feeling like I’m doing exactly what I should…  (That box in the picture is stuffed full, by the way)

…which brings me to what I’ve been doing the past couple of days…

Throughout the summer I’ve been meeting with a group of women who all share my love for writing. I didn’t sign up for my normal class because our first grandchild was due in July. I didn’t know exactly when, or for how long, Todd and I would need to go out and stay in Connecticut. So almost every week a group of us would hang out and haunt the workers at the Hartland Public Library. Just by being ourselves, we caught the attention of one of the librarians, and she asked if our group might like to be part of a Writer’s Panel. We’d present a short program; talk about our writing styles, inspirations and motivations – whatever we wanted – and the library would advertise to the community and get word out. We all helped with that as well.

Andrea, Denise, Rosemary, Me, Cat, Christine (Brenda is not pictured)

As a group, we’re all at different places in our writing lives. We have a poet or two, we have fiction writers, non-fiction and memoir. Some of us are published while some are working toward that goal, while others have won contests, but aren’t sure of their next formal move. We figured it might be a lot of fun to brainstorm and see what type of program we could present. We accepted her invitation, viewed it as an opportunity, and got busy.

As the date (Wednesday, August 26) drew closer, we practiced in front of each other, using a podium, and timed the presentation so it didn’t get too long. Now, as some of you know, I’ve been doing a fair amount of public speaking, and am pretty confident in my speech. I talk about our story, giving birth to Tony, having no knowledge of our situation, the Lucky Fin Project, bracelets, etc. But as the women critiqued me on our practice day, they told me something I had never heard before. ‘It’s really good, Katie, we love the information, but for THIS we want you to talk about YOU…’

Me… me…? They want to hear more about ME? You need to understand that’s not something I hear very often. I’m generally the listener. Can I talk? Oh, ya, I love to talk! But most often, in public, I tend to ask questions and then listen. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy blogging so much – it’s like I can talk talk talk and people either read or they don’t; but my voice is heard through my written word. So hearing them say to me that I should revamp my talk, and tell the listeners about WHY I wrote the book, HOW I write, what motivates ME, and what’s MY style – well – it felt foreign to me. I had to go home and think about that. For the program, I’d only have eight minutes in which to speak, plus do a short reading. What in the world should I say about me???

All I can say is Thank Goodness for Microsoft Word. I brainstormed with myself; (Is that possible?) and ordered the computer to remove large chunks of my usual spiel, replacing the material with some that was a bit more personal. I still talked about Tony (a little) and his birth (some); but also about my own writing process, how it feels, what’s next for me, things like that. As always, people came up to me afterward and shared with me their own special stories - let me know where their own thoughts took them as I spoke. Maybe for the first time, they knew a little bit more about me, the author, than ever before. I’m not sure… One thing I do know is that our whole group enjoyed giving the presentation, and would love to do more of this!

I guess it’s an interesting twist to this new profession that I find myself in. My story is my story is my story, BUT each listening group has their own agenda. Sometimes I talk in a classroom, so I highlight things that students need to know; sometimes at a church, where I highlight certain faith-filled aspects of our journey; I’ve attended book groups, where they dissect the story and delve through study questions; and now to a group of readers/writers who want to know more about the author. (Smile) Well, how about that…?

A few days ago I spoke at one of my favorite stores, Faith & Giggles in Hartford, Wis. The owners, Jason and Wendy, are super people – so supportive of community and so giving. I called Todd as I drove out there, and as we hung up he said, “Have fun – or whatever you call it when you’re going to work…” I got to thinking about that comment, and I must tell you… This writer’s life I’m living, it really is fun for me. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what’s next, or to find the motivation to put my fingers to the keys. But I feel very blessed to be able to share stories of my family, of my experiences (both the good and the hard); and yes, now being asked to share more and more of myself as well.

Thank you, ladies, for giving me the confidence to move in that direction.

Until next time… 

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, visit her website at www.katiekolbergmemmel.com