My journey consists of stray puzzle pieces wedged together, providing an inter-locking connection to the person I am today. Born number three out of seven within a nine-year span, posed its own set of challenges. My best laid plan of action was to withdraw. That’s when my pen, paper and imagination became my most intimate friends.
It wasn’t till I attended an all-girl high school, taught by a flock of nuns, and filled with a kaleidoscope of females, that my life began to pivot. Girls will be girls and our mission was to break the rules, dodge detention, lie if we must, repent later, and laugh till we peed in our pants.
The years that followed were a horse of a different color. I taught school, experienced all the anguish that goes hand in hand with divorced parents, changed my career to real estate then reverted back to teaching, got married, lived overseas, raised three wonderful children, created several small business ventures, suited up and showed up at Nar-Anon and Al-Anon meetings, lost myself, got divorced, found parts of myself, returned to the workforce, dove into the abyss of family tragedies, moved to another state to reinvent myself again and continued to search for the lost pieces.
Always thirsting for spiritual knowledge I explored a variety of venues during my down time - Self-Realization Fellowship, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Reike, Crystal Resonance, and Shamanism. Due to the economy my Community Relations position in the non-profit sector, dealing with sexually abused and poverty stricken families, was cut. Like the magician in tarot, I packed up all my tools and headed south to Charleston, South Carolina, to create the new me.
Life has turned full circle and here I am today with my pen, paper, and imagination writing once again, only my stories are richer, and more robust. The depth and breadth of who I am is enhanced by those intricate puzzle pieces of the past, but who I am becoming is still being defined and created.
I wrote and illustrated my first self-published book BELIEVE in January, 2010, and am currently in the throes of writing my second book. My blessed journey isn’t over… it has just begun.
www.pattiewelekhall.com
Brainstorming
Outlining
Researching
Writing
Revising
Querying
Preparing to Publish
Under Contract
Publishing
Promoting
Blogging
In Between Projects
