About a month ago, I posted the first paragraph of the first chapter of my newly-published memoir. For those of you who haven’t read it yet, Here’s the quote which foretells the story:
“Sweet are the uses of adversity, which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Without further ado, here’s the next paragraph (see Teaser for the first):
I was working at a small business-to-business ad agency, running the Research and Database Marketing group. My job was to manage the efforts of this team, ensure the studies were done correctly and on time, then present the results to our clients. Being a left-brained, analytical, by-nature curious type, helping our clients solve their business challenges was a great deal of fun for me. After years of holding down marketing communications roles, I’d finally found my specialty, and I loved the work. Although their dilemmas might not have been as compelling as a good murder whodunit, we usually uncovered some surprises.
Hopefully, this will pique your interest enough to make you visit Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sibling-Revelries-Finding-Family-After-ebook/dp/B07B7B43WD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521120573&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+jo+latham-martin.
#memoir #family #findingfamily #Marinecorps #strongwomen #onlychild#USNavy #WWII
Stories from Real Life 
Mary Jo, I discovered you today on LinkedIn and was fascinated enough to read a lot by you and about you. I, too, was a full-time consultant (financial and strategic) until age caught up and I began writing. i am now working simultaneously on my memoirs and my first fiction novel. There have been three prior books about building companies, each around 100,000 words, but since they are business books, despite all my fantastic marketing prowess sales have been so-so. Following your lead I am joining the Houston Writers Guild and hope to meet you there and pick your brain some.
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Thanks for your kind words, Michael. Writing a memoir and fiction is certainly different than business writing. It took me five years to complete and publish my memoir. And I had a lot of help along the way. I am a member of a Critique Circle. Those folks, who are more experienced – and better writers – than I, have been invaluable assets. I’d urge you to consider joining one. If not physically, there are online groups.
Would love to meet you sometime. Perhaps we can pick each other’s brains!
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