Writing Full Circle

Eleven years ago, I wrote a blog post entitled, My Straight Jacket is Purple…How About Yours? I wrote that post (the most read on my old blog) while sitting in the adult section of the Riverdale Library Branch of the Clayton County Library System. It took two years to write the first book of The Butterfly Memoirs series, A Heart Not Easily Broken, and I was writing the final chapters of the next book, Jaded

A lot has changed since then.

That blog was written in 2011. Since then, I have published six novels in The Butterfly Memoirs series. Each book was written while visiting one of the branches. I wrote the first novels while my kids to checked out books, participated in programs, or when I wanted a different writing space. I wrote the fourth book in the series, Nobody's Business, when I became a library volunteer at the Jonesboro Branch. Later, I was hired and worked in the Children's Department of the Headquarters Branch for a brief time before working at the Morrow Branch, where I became the Youth Services Assistant Librarian. I wrote the final two books, Alone and Shattered, during those years.

Now, I am the Youth Services Supervisor of the Children's Department of the Headquarters Branch…the same place I worked when I was first hired by the library. From author to author AND librarian.

Full circle.

Recently, I was invited to share my work at the 2022 Georgia Library Conference in Macon, Georgia, as one of the featured authors during the Author Reception. Introducing my work to colleagues from around the state was a dream! 

The Author Reception featured ten authors, andthere was a scavenger hunt. Each author submitted a fact about themselves. Attendees visited each table, asked questions, and discovered who each author was. Mine was, "I published three books before becoming a librarian." The excitement on their faces when they saw the books and read the back covers made my heart sing!!! At the end of the event, I gave a complete set of autographed books to a participant who said she couldn't wait to tell her mother they had a new series to read together!

I connected with the Keynote Speaker of the event, Ciciley Lewis, best known as the #ReadWoke librarian who wrote Issues in Action, a series for young people focusing on current events. I had the opportunity to meet some fantastic authors, too. Connie-Schofield-Morrison writes wonderful children's books about a young girl and her mother who find joy in life everywhere they go.

Join me for an evening of conversation and stories as I share my story and The Butterfly Memoirs, on Thursday, November 17, 2022, at the Headquarters Library at 6:00 pm for an in-person Q&A session. You can find the series on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, or in the Clayton County Library System (ebook and paperback) and Fulton County Library System (ebook).

Happy Reading and Writing!

MJ