Now Departing My Comfort Zone

First, a little backstory: My daughter is a senior at Purdue and is taking a class called Leadership for Organizational Change. I've been homeschooling my Asperger's son since first grade. He's now a freshman in high school.

A couple weeks ago my daughter called me, and the conversation went something like this--

"Hi, Mom. I have something big I need to talk to you about."

Okay, so now every mother's list of worst nightmares is running through my head. "Yeah? What's going on?"

"Well, in my leadership class I have this project I have to do, and I was wondering if I could interview you for my class."

Huge relieved sigh. "Sure. What's the topic?"

"The phases of transition. You know, like how writing has affected your day-to-day life. Oh, and we're supposed to do the interview during class."

"Okay, so you ask questions about time management and that sort of thing."

"Yeah. Could you drive over on September tenth to do it?"

"That should work. I don't have anything else on the calendar for that day."

"Great! Oh, and I need money for..."

Fast forward to a few days ago. Another phone call. This time we discuss the questions and what she wants to cover during the interview. An outline via email follows shortly thereafter. Visualize an inflating balloon here...

Today. Up at 6am. On the road at 8:30 after shower, breakfast, getting dressed, doing the morning dog and cats routine, changing clothes, waking son, remembering to take outline and assorted other necessities (like a couple jars of homemade salsa, peaches and cream instant oatmeal, etc.). Arrive at 10:30. Walk to class. Introduction to professor. Class begins. Have I mentioned that I'm not comfortable with public speaking?

About now I'm wondering where my daughter and I will sit while we discuss the psychological phases of transition I've experienced since I started writing. Will everyone be able to hear me? Will my ineptitude cause her to get a poor grade?

"Okay, let's get started. Student #1 (name has been changed to protect the no-so-innocent) will be interviewing her mom, Mellanie. You can stand here at the front of the classroom." That was the professor speaking.

And did I tell you I get very nervous about this sort of thing?

So Student #1 asks me how long I've been writing and when I decided to try to get published, as well as how many years I've been homeschooling. This leads into a discussion (me, talking to the class) of the three psychological phases of transition--ending, losing, letting go; the neutral zone; new beginning. Yes, daughter asks the questions we discussed during phone call number 2. I know the answers! I also have a cheat sheet (the outline). We move on to the reflection topics and Student #1's concluding statements. Question/answer time. Yes, people asked questions about my writing! How many hours a day do I write? How long does it take to write a book? What was the pitch line I used for my editor/agent appointments at the RWA National Conference? Do I use a pseudonym? All stuff I could answer!

Thirty minutes on the nose. Clapping. Positive feedback from the professor. Nobody fell asleep or yawned. And I didn't faint, throw up, or say something incredibly stupid! Okay, so it wasn't horrible. I survived!
And I stepped outside my comfort zone. What have you done that's outside your comfort zone?

Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With a Kick!

One of Those Days...

Everyone has one of those days (weeks, months, years...) from time to time. Mine started nearly two weeks ago and I'm hoping it ends soon. Luckily, none of the bad things has turned out terrible.

A suspicious mammogram took me to the doctor for a follow-up that came back clear. Phew!

The vet and I are working to treat my dog's recently diagnosed diabetes. Change of food, once a day glucose urine test, twice a day insulin shots, back to the vet every three to four days for a blood glucose test. Hopefully we'll find the optimal insulin dose soon.

Someone scraped their bumper against the side of my daughter's car (no, he/she didn't leave a note). Trying to get repair estimates for a car a hundred miles from the body shop has not been fun. Thank goodness for email and digital cameras! Now we have to work out when to my daughter will be home from college long enough to have the repairs done.

On the brighter side, I finally got my critique group started this week. I'm hoping for some helpful feedback on my contemporary with suspense elements manuscript. This story means a lot to me. Like my son who has Asperger's Syndrome, one of the main characters is an autistic child. I've added a links at the bottom of my blog page for the Autism Society's website and Autism Speaks to learn more.

Mellanie Szereto
Romance...with a Kick