xxxThe following writer has been kind enough
to share her story with us.
xxxIf you would like
to contribute your story and photo to me, email them to:
xxxrob@easywaytowrite.com
xxxThank you.
x Carol
I’ve always been a
storyteller-- and I suffer from terminal shyness. Not a
good combination. Fortunately, I’ve been driven by
the need to draw since childhood, especially horses. I
drew horses on everything; book margins, homework, even
the condensation on my grandma’s picture windows.
I became a people-watcher so I could tell stories with my
pictures. I specialized in children’s portraits and
wildlife drawings emphasizing bone structures and the
unique ways my subjects moved. Even at rest, certain
characteristics make them easily recognizable.
From years of people-watching I had boxes full of
sketches; speculating on stranger’s occupations and
intentions. These notes helped flesh out my subjects
making the paintings more real.
There was a fair demand from galleries wanting to display
my work, but I rarely had enough pieces for a decent
show. Most of my pieces were commissioned and sold before
I started them. In 2000, a freak accident while driving a
school bus left me with a broken back. I was disabled and
unable to work. On the bright side, I was confident that
I could support myself with my art. I had the time for
it.
About four years prior to the accident my sister got
bored one day and challenged me to write a story
involving a child actor, a loopy robot, a talking cat and
killer bees. We used a plot machine. Then in 2001, I
began losing the use of my hands; it’s now too
painful to hold pen or brush. But I can’t stop
studying people and playing my game of ‘what
if.’
I’ve written a fantasy novel about a talking cat
entitled Chatterbox and the Rebooted Beebots. There
is a series in the works. In one, Chatt becomes emperor
of America. In another story he stows away on a moon
shuttle to help an escaped convict prove his innocence
and he even visits his dark side (Chatt's idea, not
mine) while rescuing a kidnapped child.
The mysteries took a bit longer. A writing instructor
once dared me to commit murder via e-mail so I wrote Death
by E-mail. A sequel to Death is nearly
finished and there are, of course, those horse stories
filed in my computer.
I’ve had many short stories published online and
essays printed in newspapers. I currently write for a
small town newspaper.
Now, with two fingers, and voice recognition software
which produces hilarious bloopers, I write.
