Welcome everyone!
Right kindly of you to stop on by to take a gander. With a little experience on board after fifteen years of cranking out prose to amuse, inspire, or encourage, I've decided to go with my strengths. And let me tell you, I can pontificate with the best of the barfly philosophers. Yep, storytelling's my game. And Betsy is my name. I'm a writer, and I love it!
In addition to becoming a professional confabulator, I've also had some experience, even some of it good, running a large regional women's writing organization. That was a lot of women. A lot. Really, a lot. My husband understands. A male nurse for 40 years, we have bonded in ways few humans could imagine. In any event, the organization, Northwest Women Writers (NWWW), was hugely successful, particularly in creating a tribe for its 115 members.
Those of you who aren't writers do realize we bards can't always hang out in our jammies, blasting our music, working on our own schedule any hour of the day or night? I mean, who would choose a life-style like that? Except, almost everyone now since the pandemic is reigning supreme. Writers once needed to escape their introverted cocoons to socialize, network, bond. NWWW was very effective in that pursuit. Now we just pretend.
And we wrote. Producing a beautiful book, The Wind Moves the Porch Swing, A Collection of Women's Wisdom. It was quite an education for me as Executive Director of the project. Also insightful was orchestrating the teams of writers and editors, then leading the Lay Out staff as we prepared this heart-felt tome through all of its stages of production. In doing so, I truly developed a deep appreciation for the talents and skills of those working so diligently during this two-year project.
It was a particularly busy time for me in the organization as I mentored new writers, produced the NWWW monthly newsletter and weekly updates, arranged workshops and classes, and coordinated with other regional writing groups. Structuring the organization to provide social, educational, and professional opportunities for our members, it provided a rich environment for everyone's enjoyment and growth.
But after so much "all of us," it was finally time for "a little of me," and I began my solo venture, my writer's quarterly, The Chronicles of Lady Ethereal. This literary and photographic work of love, which was romantically entertaining as well as visually stunning, was incredibly fun to produce, showcasing my writing talents and artistic background, some of which is further displayed in the photographs throughout this website.
It was during this phase of my writing life when I started developing my creative non-fiction short stories and began to earnestly write poetry. Falling in love with these genres, my body of work has now evolved into a charming memoir that is heading toward the process of publication. You can read more about this by clicking on the "What's New?" tab above.
Along with a weekly column I recently penned, The Nitty Gritty of Writing, that I am reformulating into my next book, I currently produce my bi-montly newsletter, The Return of Lady Ethereal. It keeps me off the streets.
Anyway, if you have a hankering, wander around the site for a bit where you'll find out more about my background, publications, book project, a press media kit, and see a few photos, plus find some contact information if you would like to sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter, or just feel like saying "howdy!"
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Blessings to you,
Betsy Diedrick
betsydiedrick@gmail.com
