Memoir and Me Happenings

I had the exquisite privilege of being featured on the Curiosity. Clarity. Empowerment. podcast!  Created and hosted by the brilliant Cari Kenzie, it's a powerhouse of inspiration and education.  

From glass ceilings to hidden truths, struggles to break open self-preservation boxes, wake-up calls, and the need for conversations...wow, did we cover some incredible ground!  

Have a listen/watch them all -- YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon music...anywhere!  Truly outstanding! 

106 submissions to literary agents are in. I've done all I can to put my best voice forward in the literary foreign land. Time now to let go and leave to the shepherding of a Greater Hand.  

I've been told I have a 1% chance of getting picked up.  Hah...hardly foreign territory. I've been in this 1%'er arena more than a few times. I only need ONE agent to say yes.  Just one.  

Pic is a memory of a deeply treasured, celebratory day on Crete.  The next celebration is coming. I profoundly feel it.

In just under two weeks, I've submitted 50 proposals and/or pitch packages to literary agents and agencies. Over the last four months, I built a targeted list of agents/agencies with exceptional pedigrees in the memoir genre.  

I've already received seven rejections...which I see as great!  I'm being looked at and considered...and worthy of a response! That's huge.  Several replies contained personal notes that confirmed they had read my submission.  Amazing!  

My piece titled "The Terminator" is being featured in American Writers Review 2023 !  Published by San Fedele Press, this year's theme is "Captured in a Moment ... (Blink)".  

Although I was published while in the Air Force, I feel like I am now a for-real published author.  Damn, is that ever cool to say.

Be sure to read my piece on my blog!

A huge milestone on the path to publishing!  My Book Proposal (and the entirety of my Pitch Package) is complete.  Its purpose is to gain the 'sit-up-straight' attention of a literary agent and cause her/him to be compelled to sign me.  

Overview, Target Audiences, Comparative Titles, Marketing, Bio, Book Specs, Chapter-by-Chapter Breakdown, Sample Chapter, and Query Letter. The writing of it vaulted me at times back to Academy days of 3am paper typing.  

Next up: Submission to my target agents!

She has a name...a title.  After many trial runs, her title came to me in a meditation.

Fight and Flight: The Raw Journey of a Life on the Edge, Healing and Purpose

It captures the many aspects of me, and the stories and themes and messages shared within her pages.  As does my choice of the word "and" ... instead of "or."  Fight and Flight.

OK, it's technically a "working title."  By the time Fight and Flight is published, it will no doubt have a different title.  For now, it feels perfect.

One of the biggest myths in publishing is that the publisher will do all the marketing for the author. Today, it’s the author that must prove they can generate sales of their book through their own platform and following. 

I don’t have to be a major social media influencer to get a major publishing deal (though it would be game changer). But I do have to come to the publishing table with my own platform. AND A FOLLOWING. That be you! Please Join the Crew! and share my site with your networks.  

My Sample Chapter is complete! The Sample Chapter is the critical, heart-capturing part of my Book Proposal and Pitch Package. My phenomenal editor and bestselling author, Kristin Clark Taylor, has approved and blessed it with her editing prowess and coaching, and blessed me with her friendship and beautiful soul.  The Package will land me the right literary agent who in turn will shop Memoir & Me to a major publishing house and secure a bestseller deal.   

A privilege to be the featured guest on the Isn’t She Amazing podcast. A fabulous conversation and so much great energy with Marianne and Lorna on what it is that makes us persevere. I shared my thoughts and encouragement on what we can do today to understand and be ok with where our thoughts and feelings are right now, in this moment, today.  

I relish capturing images that can only be seen at 40,000 feet in my front row seat to the Universe. Sometimes, though, there’s an earthly shot that speaks to and feeds my soul. Junkanoo Beach, Nassau, Bahamas. 

A wonderful evening sharing inspirations, laughter, and some of my story with the Sugarloaf Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots founded in 1929 by 99 women pilots including Amelia Earhart.   

Signed my first literary contract. I'm over the moon to be working with Editor and bestselling author, Kristin Clark Taylor, who will raise the writing bar and guide me through the industry process: Book proposal -> literary agent -> major publishing deal -> bestseller.  

Our connection is a Big Magic story. She was the first African-American woman to serve as White House Director of Media Relations. I was the first woman to serve as an Advance Agent to the President.  Both for Pres Bush (41).

Achieved my Type Rating as a Learjet 45 Captain & Pilot in Command. A small jet (can't even stand up in) and a big change from my beloved B-767.  A tough decision, but I listened to the Universe and my Soul. It's time for me and my memoir to live our Purpose.

30th anniversary of the end of prohibition against women flying in combat.  The end was achieved by an extraordinary group of military women aviators, known as Generation 2 or “Gen2.”  Some of us are seen here. I was also featured on the front page of the New York Times as the poster child for the extraordinary group of military women aviators who brought down the federal law. 

A wonderful evening sharing inspirations, laughter, and some of my story with my "home tribe" – the Mountaineer Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots founded in 1929 by 99 women pilots including Amelia Earhart.