Meet other authors

In the past month I've had opportunity to interview two published authors. And I've learned something I always knew but maybe didn't quite put into concrete thought. It goes back to a mom-ism that I remember from my youth: "You're judged by the people you run around with."

Well, I'm looking at it from a theme perspective. If I want to write well, get published, I need to commune with other writers who know more than I do. The flip side of that is that I owe it to those who follow in my footsteps to do the same for them. That's just the right thing to do...Propagate it...pass it on, as a friend...perhaps a soul mate...once told me. The pay back is not that I will see the end result, but that I was responsible and passed on what was passed to me.

I spoke to Anita Bloom Ornoff several weeks ago and wrote a book review that can be found at www.bellaonline.com/articles/art40029.asp and an interview, www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50069.asp. Anita published an autobiography, Beyond Dancing, at age 83...and believe me, she is now a feisty and young 85, ready to begin work on the next book, her life before she became paraplegic.

Recently I received a request to review Carolyn Garriott's first release, Shadow of the Cross, which I will post at www.bellaonline.com/seniorliving on May 1. We just seemed to click the minute I posted to her about a review copy of her book. At age 70, Carolyn (also feisty and young) didn't just publish a book. She established a publishing house because her publisher was not working with her as she wanted.

I enjoy getting to know women like Nita and Carolyn because they don't let being a "woman" get in the way of achieving what they want to do. It's not about gender. It's about persistence. It's about self-fulfilling prophecy. It's about knowing who they are and what they want and forming their plan of how to get there, how to make things happen for them.

Having a supportive husband makes a difference, too. Hal Ornoff has been his wife's supporter and encourager. You need to read the interview to understand their relationship. And to understand Nita, you need to read her book. The goal of her book was for young people to read it and understand that they shouldn't give up easily on the things that they want. Hard work and persistence pay off.

Carolyn survived two bad marriages. Well, she thought the first marriage was a happy one until her husband came home and advised that a young women's libber had advised him that their marriage was not a happy one. He divorced Carolyn, married the younger woman who abandoned him later. All Carolyn ever wanted was to be a homemaker and mother. Life pushed her to other things. Somehow, though, she and her high school heart throb found each other at age 65 and life has been filled with joy ever since. Check in at Senior Living at Bella Online on May 1 to get the story and the encouragement you might, as a writer or a wife, be looking for. And for the review of Shadow of the Cross.

Now, it's time for me to be working. What are you writing today? Go! Go!