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You know how some writers say that they never wanted to do anything but write, that they always had a pencil in their hands from their earliest years, and so it was inevitable they would grow up to become writers?
Yeah, that’s not me.
Don’t get me wrong, I always loved to imagine and create new worlds, and I loved to write – but it didn’t occur to me until much, much later that those things made me a writer. Back in the days before the internet (yes, I am that old!), my cousin and I would write actual letters to one another. Only our letters were not simple missives, oh no – we did a lot of what I now know is called world-building. That’s because, even though we were best friends, we only really got to spend one week a year together, when she would come with my family to Ocean City, MD for a week each summer. And every year, we would create a new pretend game, with new characters. One year we were international beauty pageant contestants. Another year she was the princess of a small European country and I was her lady-in-waiting. (That one actually inspired a novel – maybe that’ll get published someday!) And in the seemingly interminable months from September to July, we would write to one another, letters upon letters: letters from each of us to the other, but also letters from our characters to each other. And we’d include supporting documents too: menus from banquets our characters attended, application forms they had filled out, catalog pages showing clothes they would wear…you get the idea.
But like I said, I didn’t realize until much, much later that there was a real-world application for those games. In the meantime, I had what I think of as my “choose-your-own-adventure” career. I got my Master’s degree in Library Science and went to work as a public children’s librarian, a job that I loved. While there, I met a Deaf kindergarten teacher who inspired me to start taking American Sign Language (ASL) classes. I enjoyed those so much I decided to pursue a degree in ASL Interpreting, and went to work as a school librarian at the Maryland School for the Deaf. I loved that job too. During my summers off, I began performing at public libraries, offering interactive storytelling programs that teach basic American Sign Language. Guess what? I also loved doing that (and still do!). Around that time I also published my first resource book for librarians, Try Your Hand at This!: Easy Ways to Incorporate Sign Language into Your Programs.
When I finished my degree, I made the switch to full-time freelance interpreter, storyteller, writer, and trainer. I published several storytime resource books as well.
And all the time, in the midst of all the other jobs I loved doing, I was writing novels. Sword and Verse was actually the fifth full-length manuscript I completed, and the first draft of it was done in 2004, though it was published in 2016. So, as you can see, it’s been a long haul. In the midst of my weird Venn-diagram career, I am happy to finally be able to devote a larger circle to writing!
But enough about me! Go read my books. They are much more interesting.
Press Kit (including shorter bios for conferences, etc.)
Stories By Hand with Kathy MacMillan 