Congrats Virginia, and thanks to everyone for chatting. It was fun! Virginia, contact me via my website (www.sarahmayberry.com) and I’ll get the books to you ASAP.
Happy reading until next time everyone,
Sarah
Original post:
I have pretty much always wanted to be a writer. I say pretty much because there was a short period there when I was four or five when I wanted to be a shopkeeper. And I also hankered after being an air stewardess for a while, too. But mostly it was always a writer, and I have been fortunate enough to make my dream come true.
This topic is on my mind at the moment because my mum cleaned out her cupboards recently when she had new carpet laid, and as a result asked me to go through a bunch of stuff she’d saved over the years. There are school reports in there and drawings and stories I wrote for school. I thought it might give you all a giggle to read some of my very early writing efforts. This one, for example, is obviously my first attempt at romantic suspense:
“A robber in a dark cape and black hat crept mysteriously behind the jewel shop. He suddenly stopped. He was at the garden shed. He threw off his cape and…he was an old lady. Well, actually, a man cleverly disguised as an old lady. He headed towards the jewel store. he went into the shop. Well, well, hello old lady, could I help you, said the shopkeeper. The old lady (well, man) said nothing. He did not want to give himself away.”
I have no idea how old I was when I wrote this – quite young, if the careful cursive script and hugely spacious lines on the page are anything to go by. I have no idea what the robber was going to do dressed as an old woman in the shop, either, but I can’t help noting my conversational style of writing. I wonder what the teacher made of it!
My favorite amongst the writings my mother kept is the little book I made called “Words* the mean the same but different people.” I’m not quite sure what the asterisk in the title was supposed to refer readers to. Perhaps I just thought it looked pretty?
Please note the anatomically correct drawing of the man – yes, that’s a blue penis I’ve given him. And apparently they both have a terrible case of pink eye.
Inside, I wrote (complete with circa 1977 spelling):
“If you look at someone (undressed) you will find a differents in a man and a woman. If you have had a look at a woman you will see she has two big bumps coming from her breast. these things are breasts and graghly (gradually) you will grow some one day. (that is, girls). A man has a different body from the start – he has a penis (the woman has a different body) and his penis has a bit a little further on.”
Note again the correct use of anatomical references. Clearly, an early Blaze attempt.
We had a lot of laughs when we discovered these amongst my mum’s things, but it really made me realise how much I have always loved telling stories and making little books and living in the world of the imagination. I know I’m very lucky to have achieved my childhood dream, and it got me wondering, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I’m going to give away a set of my Blaze DayTime Divas trilogy to one poster – that’s Take On Me, All Over You, and Hot For Him – so go on, share with all of us what fantasy occupation you envisaged for yourself when you were a kid. I’m really looking forward to hearing these…
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That is too cute. I was going to be a diplomat and change my citizenship to Australian and travel the world (no children, mind you). Instead, I fell in love, did my second occupation (the ‘when I get older’ occupation) and became a teacher and currently, I am a SAHM.
I love my ‘job’ right now, and wouldn’t change any of it one bit (my boys are my world!).
Hi Katie! A diplomat – that’s one I haven’t heard before. How did you get interested in that area? Re your ‘get older’ occupation, I think every teacher in the world deserves the wages we pay to all those overfed corporate CEOs – teaching the next generation is a huge, huge task and requires endless patience and energy. As does being a SAHM. Glad you’re enjoying your current role!!!
I wanted to be a teacher because I was a straight A student. Then I had to stand up in front of the class to recite my annual speech. Shook like a leaf. It was terrible. (I still shake — but I do it!) Decided teaching would not be for me.
Between Grades 8 and 9, I went to stay with my older sister 2000+ miles away. She had been a teacher and now had a small child. While I babysat, she typed for a neighbour. I decided then that being a secretary would be perfect, as I could be a stay-at-home mom later in life. I used her old Remington manual typewriter throughout the summer and typed recipes for her (which she still has, almost 40 years later). I loved it. Knew secretarial work was my vocation.
Took every single secretarial course I could in high school and excelled. Tried to take a secretarial course in college, but was refused. Apparently I already had more qualifications than those graduating, so I took Business Administration instead. It taught me how “the real world” operated and has come in handy in my self-employed typing business. Besides, I had just turned 17 when I entered college, and I needed those two years of further education to grow up.
I worked in offices before marriage and later kids. I worked in offices when my kids were in school (so I never paid a babysitter weekdays), always dropping them off on the way to work, picking them up for lunch, returning them back to school, returning to work, and then picking them up after school. I was very fortunate that my bosses would allow me to work around my kids’ school hours. I realized, as did they, that I did more work during perhaps 4-5 hours per day than their employees who worked 8 hours, as I was always in a hurry to cram as much in as possible before leaving again.
I’ve typed for others through self-employment since my college days, always taking extra work home to make more money. Now I don’t work outside the home (nor do I want to) and I make far less money than in the past, but that’s okay. We make enough for survival, I have an open door for friends and relatives, I have my MIL here to visit most days (she has Alzheimer’s), we have additional company for “proper” meals constantly, my young adult kids pay R&B and use our home as a home base (as they’re always out with friends and relatives), and we’re happy. This is what life is all about.
In-between all the above, I generally type for customers into the wee hours so I don’t miss any of “life’s moments”. It’s difficult at times, but SOOOO worth it. I imagine it is similar to writing books, as people think that since you’re home that you’re available, but I definitely don’t have near the same hours as writers (thankfully). The trick is to find something you love to do and then make a way to do it. And I did.
Laney, how lucky you were to find something that you loved early up! I know so many people who are still floating into their 40s, trying to find The Thing They Love To Do. My mother worked in Admin all her life and as a kid I used to love to watch her fingers fly across the keys. And I am still envious of her shorthand – why did I never learn that at school? And now my brain is too swiss-cheese-like and crammed with other stuff to learn. Your house sounds lovely – full of all the good stuff of family and friends.
“Movie Star”! That was me, playing dress-up and putting on shows for my family. To this day, I still love to entertain an audience and make people laugh. I come from a long line of highly dramatic, bitingly funny Southern women, so I fell into the diva thing quite honestly!
My back-up career was “Secret Agent”! I had a complete James Bond 007 “spy kit”. It was a black plastic attache case which contained everything, and I mean everything, a super-spy needed. It even fired plastic bullets! (H)
Virginia, did you ever combine the two? Secret Agent Movie Star? You could have been like the Scarlet Pimpernel – pointless, frivolous and fabulous by day, super espionage sophisticate by night. Oh, the possibilities. I always wanted one of those secret agent kits…
Oh Sarah, that picture was a hoot, early Blaze indeed!
When I got a nurses kit, I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but being all nurturing got tired fast, (plus, I ran out of bandages for my dolls) The next thing was a singer. I found out early in life I am a bit of a ham. Used to perform for adults singing “Yellow Submarine” and “Octopus’s Garden”, I liked the Beatles at the time. Alas, neither came to pass…
I never went through the nurse stage, but I did once organise an ABBA concert with my best friend. We hand crafted invitations with colored markers and worked out our choreography etc, etc, chose our best hairbrushes to sing into. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember if the actual concert came to pass or not, but I do remember those invitations…. How weird is memory like that?
Everyone, I am off to bed now – it’s past midnight in my part of the world – but I will jump back on line first thing in the morning to chat some more. Have a great day, and I will have sweet dreams….
Can’t fool you, Sarah! I adore “The Scarlet Pimpernel”!
Sir Percy Blakeney, aka “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, was the most outlandish fop of his time. He was also the bravest, most cunning and passionate man of his day.
“We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel.”
Sink me!
Leslie Howard, who portayed Sir Percy to perfection in the 1934 film version, was also a man of unseen bravery. While Leslie was immortalized by his portrayal of Ashley Wilkes in the film version of “Gone With the Wind”, he was more than just an actor:
“Gone With the Wind” actor Leslie Howard will be honored as a war hero with a monument in Spain near where his plane was shot down by Nazi fighter pilots during World War II, a historical association said Saturday. The propeller-shaped sculpture will be unveiled in July near Cedeira bearing the names of those who died aboard the commercial flight from Portugal to Britain in 1943, said the Royal Green Jackets association and author Jose Rey Ximena. Association President Manuel Santiago Arenas Roca said the London-born Howard joined the Allies and campaigned hard against the Axis powers. Ximena said Germany’s government at the time apparently was worried about the negative impact the high-profile actor-director’s anti-Nazi publicity was having on its cause. Many books have been written about KLM flight 777 which was downed by a squadron of Junkers 88 fighter planes, said Ximena, who believes the star of the 1939 Academy-Award-winning “Gone with the Wind” and the 1934 movie “The Scarlet Pimpernel” had been on “a secret mission” to stop Spain joining Germany and Italy in combat. Spain, under the power of fascist dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, had formed an alliance with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government, which based German Luftwaffe warplanes on its soil. The author said Howard’s contribution to winning the war is in danger of being forgotten. Most of the books relating to his untimely death were published in the 1950s, and the association wants to pay tribute to a man who put his fame and communication skills to work combatting Nazi propaganda. The monument will be simple: a partially damaged Douglas DC-3 propeller similar to those that were on the plane on which Howard died. It will contain the names of all the crash victims. Ximena said there was considerable evidence that Howard was targeted specifically, thus becoming a war hero.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. http://www.fashionstate.com/lesliehoward/index.htm
That’s fantastic! What a great story. You’ve got my story brain itching now. Thanks for sharing.
Mine is somewhat strange…I wanted to go to Africa and study the apes. I loved anything to do with animals…read all the animal books I could get my hands on. My favorite movie was Born Free, and I just knew that Africa was calling my name.
Instead, I grew up, got married, had 4 kids, was a SAHM, then went back to college and got my Paralegal degree. I still have hope that one of these days I might make it to Africa.
Kara, I don’t know if you watch 30 Rock, but Liz Lemon, the character Tina Fey plays, gets a lot of mileage out of her dream to live with the gorillas in the mist. I have a few friends who have travelled to Africa. It sounds beautiful and scary at the same time – and of course they have some of the coolest animals in the world. I hope you achieve your dream one day.
I wrote a story in 2nd grade about being a nurse. I had the little white nurse’s bag and the little white nurse’s cap that I got for my birthday that year. As I got older, I realized that I would have to take a lot of science and math courses and deal with blood. So, I changed my thoughts to teaching. I’m in my 23rd year of teaching and have taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and, currently, 5th grade.
Another person who deserves a banker-sized bonus. I must admit, the blood thing would put me off nursing every time. I was quite good with ick-making things in high school – dissected a rat, etc – but as an adult I can’t even watch surgery scenes on those reality TV hospital shows. Makes me want to gip. So sidestepping the medical profession was probably a good idea for me. My sister works in early childhood education and the stories she tells me are so lovely – it must be very fulfilling to help kids take those first steps toward adulthood.
I wanted to become an animal doctor… always taking care of animals, but then found out about spaying and surgeries… after seeing a live surgery, I changed my mind real fast… still love helping and taking care of animals though…
I turned to kids and became a preschool teacher!
Colleen, see my post above about being squeamish. I’m impressed you got as far as watching the live surgery, though! They do say never work with children and animals (this is an old TV joke), but I suspect that they’re both very satisfying at the end of the day. I did some volunteer work with the SPCNZ when we were in New Zealand and found it very rewarding.
Fun Post Sarah! I wanted to be a teacher because I loved writing on the chalkboard.
Then I changed it to I want to be a teacher in my next life so I could have summers off. Someone then said to me “If you’re going to come back, why don’t you come back rich & not work at all?” Much better idea! LOL
You know, they don’t have chalkboards in australian schools any more – at least, they are phasing them out, I hear. Bad for asthmatics. Now they have these whizz-bang electrical things that the teacher can write on using a handheld device up the back of the room. Very Jetsons! And who wouldn’t want to be rich, in any life time…
Love the early Blaze!!
Heather, can I say I am particularly proud of the illustration? I can only imagine what the teacher thought when I turned up with it in class!!!
I love that your mom kept that book, it’s such fun to see stuff like that.
For a while I wanted to be a fashion designer, and since I refused to let a little thing like not knowing how to sew get in my way, my poor Barbie doll’s wardrobe was filled with dresses stitched by a stapler.
Also, from the time I was a little girl, I’ve loved soap operas, when I saw this one character on Another World, Felicia Gallant, typing out romance novels while wearing a hot pink feather boa, I thought now there’s who I want to be. Even grown up that remains the dream, well, minus the boa.
Oh, yes, always lose the boa – gets in the way while you’re typing! I don’t know that I harbored dreams of being a fashion designer, but I certainly made a lot of stuff for my Barbie. The use of staples as a substitute for stitches I can only applaud – innovative. I’m sure you could have added much magic to Project Runway with your cutting edge creations. Not only did I make clothes for my Barbie, I made her a wardrobe from my grandmother’s old Glowmesh handbag box (very glitzy and glam), with a knitting needle poked through the side for the hanging rail, and I made the clothes hangers out of those little plastic-covered wire things they used to use to seal bread bags. Barbie never said a word on the subject, but I think she was pretty impressed with the standard of accommodation. (!)
Hi Sarah!!! I love hearing that your Mom kept all that stuff. I do that with my kids stuff too. I keep everything. Im sure by the time they all move out I will need a storage for it all, lol!
As for me I always wanted to be a Marine Biologist and work with Orcas and Dolphins. I would still love to do it, but I really hate math and its a job where you need math. Now my new dream job is a writer like all of the awesome Blaze authors I read every month. Hopefully if I can get my butt in gear and do my synopsis and get it sent out, and that dream job will come true!
Well hope you have a great day!!! (*)
Math is not my strong point, either, Alina. My good friend Joan Kilby, a Super Romance author, is a trained marine biologist – she stopped when she had kids, then started trying for publication and finally got there. So the marine biologist/author combo has definitely been done before! My mum actually kept tons of stuff, but I suspect she got rid of a lot of it when she moved house a few years ago. Now it’s mostly just down to the really hard core stuff like newspaper birth announcements and baby teeth.
Wanted to be a nurse. Have been a nurse for 25yrs.
Yay! I bet the job has been infinitely more rewarding and challenging than you ever imagined, too, when you were a little girl. Like teachers, I think nurses deserve to be driven to work in limos and housed in mansions. Hope you still enjoy it, Linda.
I remember wanting to be an archeologist in Egypt. I don’t know why I never pursued that! In the meantime, I’ve decided to not grow up. I still don’t know what I want to do. Right now, I get to stay home and play with my (almost) 17 month old daughter. She seems to love the outdoors as much as I do, so we spend a lot of time splashing in puddles and playing with dirt. It is a great occupation.
I love your stories! And I like how the woman has pink eyelashes, too. I wonder if that is one of the ways words are the same but different people.
Thanks for sharing!
Oh, there are many ways that words are the same but different people!!! Cathy, one of my favourite movies is The Mummy – I love Edie and her slightly vague studiousness and her curiosity and courage. As for splashing in puddles and dirt – what’s not to love there? Apart from the laundry – but who’s worrying about that when there’s a really nice, big, splashy puddle to be explored?
Hey Sarah, loved “Words*” and the story about the robber. I wonder what my old writings look like to me now.
There are still so many things I want to be when I grow up. Writer is up there, but I still want to do it all. Maybe the best way for me to be everything I want is through writing.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
Thanks for remembering that asterisk, Paula – very important*.
I think writing is a great way to explore so many things – and then come back into yourself at the end of the day and pop on your jim-jams and be comfortable! I have gone on some great adventures in my own mind as a result of writing – and reading, for that matter.
As a child, I had two dream jobs. I wanted to be a singer like Cher (during her Half-Breed song fame) or a nurse (like on the tv show Emergency). Sadly, neither of those jobs worked out for me. But there are still times I dream about them.
Joder, I used to love that Emergency show. It was on in the afternoons down here in Australia and I was always glued to the screen. My brother always wanted to be a train driver – he adores trains in a very cute and geeky way – but he also loved computers and he wound up going into IT. After ten or so years, he was over being the guy who got yelled at every time someone’s computer went bung, and I asked him what he wanted to do with his life. He mentioned the train dream, and I told him he should go for it – life’s short, right? So he applied for the training course – really hard to get into, by the way – and got in and has been a fully qualified train driver for nearly two years now. He loves it. Great hours, great money, no stress. So, you know, it’s never too late!
Cute post. I wanted to be a Mom when I grew up–the greatest job out there.
It is! I take my hat off to each and every one of you – especially as Mothers Day is this Sunday here in Australia. Bless you, one and all, for all the hugs and the kissed scraped knees and bedtime stories and tough love and wise words.
I wanted to be a marine biologist. Then I wrote a story about being a marine biologist and wanted to be a writer. Go fig.
Julie
Ha ha! That’s funny! But, as Paula R was saying above, being a writer, you get to explore lots of different things. But that’s a very cute way to discover your passion.
When I was in elementary school I wanted to be a teacher, that dream was still alive until a few years ago.
I hope you found lots of other dreams to pursue over the years, Nicole. And dare I say (not knowing your circumstances) “never say never?”
I just chose a different path, teaching just doesn’t fit me anymore. I work at a bakery and I absolutely love it! It’s a dream job for me.
My boyfriend fantasises about opening his own bakery. He loves the idea of making croissants and kneading bread. Whenever I remind him that he’d have to get up before the birds, he screws up his face and tells me he’d be the only baker with fresh bread in the afternoon because he’d start baking at 9am. Awesome that you love what you’re doing, Nicole.
For years i wanted to be an Egyptologist, since before i could spell Egypt, i was fascinated by ancient Egypt. The culture, the religion, the pharaohs. But that changed when i was 10 or so after finding out that I’d need close to a decade of college and have to rack up thousands in student loan debt. But the love of ancient Egypt remained and remains to this day, so now I’m happy being something of an amateur Egyptologist. So the desire to become an Egyptologist became, Interior Decorator or Designer, and so for 3 or 4 years i wanted to do that. But now (at 17), i seem to have landed to what i really want to do and i want to become a chef. I love to cook and i cook for my family at least once a week, and happily nearly everything i make is well received. Although Interior Decorator or Designer is still bubbling on the back burner of my brain along with Photographer, i believe in keeping my options open. I got a real chuckle at your early attempt at Romantic Suspense and the drawing, too funny. I love the pink eye and blue penis. I already have the Daytime Divas trilogy, so no need to enter me into the giveaway.
I love to cook, too, Lauren. Making a great meal for my friends and family is such a good feeling. Plus I love to eat myself!!!! It’s one of my favorite things. I wish I could send you a picture of our couches – they are covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs and images – very bold design choice, but they might appeal to both your interior design AND Egyptology hankerings! We’ve had them for 10 years and are about to get them recovered – they’ve very dominant, and we have decide to play with accent pieces more than main pieces. Plus, you know, it’s fun to fiddle with stuff in the house.
Hi Sarah,
At first I wanted to be a gymnast. This was after I watched the Olympics, but I figured out pretty quickly that I was that athletic. I then thought it would have been cool to be a fashion designer. My older cousin used to lend me her Vogue magazines and I would look at all the pretty dresses, shoes and purses.
I was always a little bitter that my mum signed me up for ballet classes instead of gymnastics – those gym girls were always having a lot of fun! But, like you, I am not so athletic. Fashion designer would be awesome, wouldn’t it? Although the pressure to come up with a new collection every year would be a killer.
LOL! I for one am soooo happy you’re living out your dream, Sarah! Just finished Her Best Friend (which nearly made me cry) and Her Secret Fling (love, LOVED this one!) and am panting for more Mayberry!
As for my childhood dreams, I think the only one that stuck a little was wanting to be a ballerina. (I got piano lessons, which I’m very thankful for now, but at the time, it was torture ;)) And I’m not a ballerina by any stretch of the imagination now, but I’m still puttering along in classes and enjoying it
The other stuff was very fleeting–doctor, nurse, astronaut, president… nothing that really meant too much or was from the heart 
Fedora, look at you, still taking dance classes! I keep telling myself that THIS year I will go learn how to salsa and rhumba and whatever, and I never quite get there. My ballet days ended when I was about 8 years old, I think. I can’t remember if we lost interest or if mum got sick of driving us to lessons and sewing the costumes! Glad you liked the books! And lovely to hear from you, as always.
LOL! I’m still plodding along
And recently tried a Zumba class with a friend–that’s some serious dance-inspired workout! I hope you’ll get a chance to take a class when you can, Sarah–I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but I find that the classes really give me a chance to unwind and use a completely different part of my brain–which is a treat in itself 
BTW, no need to enter me–loved your DayTime Divas!
When I was young I wanted to grow up and work at NASA, space and all things related fascinated me. Then as I grew up and realized how important math was to this dream, I had to give it up. Math isn’t my strong suit. My love of space comes in handy though when my grandson wants to talk about the planets and the solar system.
Math and I are not friends, either, Linda. I was actually quite good at it at high school, but I think that was because I had a good teacher. Then I got a so-so teacher, and I slipped. Now, I have trouble not counting on my fingers! Terrible to think how you “lose it” if you don’t use it! Have you seen that great Ron Howard documentary In the Shadow of the Moon? Such an inspiring movie – there’s a bit where one of the astronauts is talking about looking back at planet Earth and seeing the world in its entirety – ie freefloating in space, the “blue marble” – and he talks about how humbled he was and how lucky he felt to be a human being living on this planet. It was a real “a-ha” moment for me.
Whoo-hoo! Thank you! I emailed my info.