Saturday, January 8, 2011

Oh, Stephen King? I'd Be Honoured If You'd Be My Tom Hanks!

For as long as I can remember, the only thing I wanted to do was write.

In grade five, I wrote a play.

The teacher liked it. I assembled a cast, we rehearsed, and then presented it to the class.

Any old classmates out there happen to remember that?

It was my first Stephen King-like attempt.

Something about vampires and Transylvania. I can’t recall anything else about it, other than the fact it took place on a train.

But what I do remember, is that rush of having written something that someone read, and liked.


People are always telling me I’m in the wrong line of work.

They say I should be 'writing'. Something. For someone. Somewhere.

I know. I agree.

I should be writing entertaining parenting articles. A horror novel. A new thriller series for teens about ...{Maybe someday you'll find out}...

Not business and training materials.


Problem is, I’m an artsy chick, niched in the tech and business world.

And when you’re a parent, especially a single parent like myself, you count yourself lucky to HAVE a half decent job.

And you take that responsible road, and stay where the paycheck, and benefits are.

My work feeds my family and provides the essentials we need to survive.

My writing makes me genuinely happy.

Unfortunately, they’re two separate worlds. They don't often collide.


I found a ‘fix’ for my writing itch with this blog.

As you all know, I absolutely LOVE my Korner.

It’s my safe place to be creative, expressive, and I still get that rush, every time I hit ‘Publish’, hoping someone, somewhere, will relate to my words, and maybe even have/offer an opinion on the particular topic.

But after I hit that ‘Publish’ button, more often than not, I can hear my mother in my head, ‘It’s just too bad you weren’t getting paid for all those stories you write, Kimberly’.

Agreed, Mom. Agreed.


Now ... I’m hoping that might change.

Because as of Jan 6th, I am officially being published online!

I mean, somewhere OTHER than here.

And … will (hopefully) be getting paid for it.

WooHoo! Go, Me!


A couple of months ago, I finally got off my butt and put myself ‘out there’.

Stephen King, James Patterson, Lisa Jackson - they were all simply taking too long to knock on my door.

You know, like Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson did, for another great Canadian chick, Nia Vardalos - with that whole Big Fat Greek Wedding thing.

I stopped waiting for an opportunity to fall into the Korner, and responded to an ad looking for writers at the news/information website, Examiner.com

And I was accepted!


After the OMIGOD feeling died down, it hit me.

Crap! Can I actually DO this?

One of the requirements is to write the articles in third person.

Can I do that? Outside work, I’m so used to sharing my own experiences, in first person, can I go back to writing in third?

I’ve been added to the Family and Parenting - Single Parents channel.

Can I keep my articles to ONLY (single) parenting topics, localized to Halifax, when we all know I have a tendency to go off on tangents?

Crap.


So, I sat down, and wrote my first article.

No, it’s not about single parenting.

It’s not even about parenting at all.


But it’s up there.

And people are reading!

OK, so I’m a rule- breaker bender. Deal with it.


As I said, my new home on Examiner.com is in the Parenting and Family Channel. Under Single Parents.

In Montreal.

No, I don’t live in Montreal, however, they currently don’t have an edition for Halifax.

Yet.

I hope to change that!

Or, you can just click here Kim Stoodley, to find my profile page, with a list of my articles.


I don’t have delusions of grandeur. I don’t expect to make millions from this experience.

But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

And if the golden voice of Ted Williams can be discovered on a street corner, then I’m staking my claim to fame on Examiner.com


Come visit me!

Subscribe to my feed.

Read the articles. Click that LIKE button. Repeat another day!

The more you do, the more possibilities there are for me to gain revenue for my articles.


You won’t find anything you’ve seen in the Korner, over at Examiner.

Like my work and blogging life, I’ll be keeping the Korner and Examiner as two separate entities.

Examiner references the Korner, but will not contain the same articles.


So now, you ... go ... read.

After clicking the Kim Stoodley link, scroll down just a bit past my profile info, and you'll see an article called Lumps on lymps (or you can just click that link right there).

This is my first article. It's on this page you can click that LIKE button.

Feel free to do so!


Alright. Now ... me ... deep breath.

Here we go - time for another new adventure, Kim!


Oh, and Mr King ... uh, Stephen, message me, please!

I have a great idea for my first thriller, a mix of both fiction, AND fact.

I just need someone to take that chance on me.

I'd be honoured if you'd be my Tom Hanks!


Or ... Rita Wilson.

Ya know, your choice.

K.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"The Train Through Transylvania!" Out of that book of scary stories Jessie Treger had! hahaha! That was SO funny! I remember that well! I also remember the great "9 to 5" dance! LOL! Fun times! - Sue S