I"m not just a writer, I'm an author!

How many times have you said to someone, 'You should write a book!"? I know we all know someone with a real story to tell about an experience , a life lived, or a career of note. About two years ago a good friend showed me a book she had published about her family history. She published it online with a site called CreateSpace.com. She offered a short course on publishing and it inspired me to write a book.

I should say that I "co-wrote" a book. My flamboyant mother had kept diaries and journals all her life and I inherited a large number of large journals, taking up space in my garage. What would happen to them when I am gone? So, I started organizing them, preparing them for publication. It took me 18 months, as I did not work steadily. (I've found writing can be tedious work at times!).

But , at long last, the book is published and ready for purchase. IF you would like a copy , go to Amazon Books and google in "Teena Rice~La Reina". Teena was known by her admirers in Key West as The Queen.

Eventually, Amazon will allow you to read a few pages online, so if you don't want to spend $15 bucks, wait a while. Meanwhile, give some thought to becoming a publisher/author yourself. It is a real challenge and a sure fire boost when it is published.

The photo is of Teena in her eighties, in one of her creations.

If you want to ask me how to publish, write to me at gracefulaging4U@comcast.net

A Rewarding Experience

Every year I am invited by the Education Foundation of Sarasota, Florida, to read

grant proposals, written by classroom teachers.

As a retired classroom teacher, I am vitally interested in anything that makes a teacher more effective.

When I was teaching, I had a visionary administrator who sent willing teachers to workshops to learn how to write grants.

I personally was the grateful recipient of several grants for my classroom, and helped write some for the school as a whole. I also wrote a booklet for the Accelerated Reader Newsletter on helping teachers to write effective grants.

I still have a vital interest in public education, having four grandchildren of school age. Along with about 150 volunteers, I go in once a year and read grant proposals sent in by Sarasota Teachers. There are lots of changes in the 12 years since I taught. Technology has changed the way the classroom functions, just as it has our business and personal lives. My grandchildren know what an Activboard is, what a memory stick is for, and benefit by the use of the latest developments.

I was familiar with terms like "learning disability", "accelerated", and speech therapy.

But the foundation gave us a two-sided sheet of all the areas of special learning and it boggles the mind. Have you heard of Cognitively Challenged? Digital Signal Processing? Pregnant and Parent Teens? All were new to me.

The Education Foundation of Sarasota sponsors the Edge of Excellence Grants yearly.

In 20 years, they have made 3738 awards to teachers. Executive Assistant, Lindsay Letts, told me that they had almost 150 applicants this year. The award is for $500 and the number of recipients depends on the amount of money contributed. Since 1990, The Foundation has made grants totalling over $2.2 million dollars and has benefitted more than 350, 000 students.

For more of my comments, go to my blog archives for October , 2008.

For more information: go to www.EdFoundation.net.

If you would like to be a grant reader, just contact me. I'll tell you how and we can go together!

They treat us like royalty, offering a sumptious buffet of breakfast and lunch food and unending coffee! You can work as many hours as you wish.