Writing Mentor: It's what I do

Writing is my life, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

I remember the first time I imagined myself as a writer. I was in fourth grade, and as I sat at my desk with all my schoolwork finished, I allowed my imagination to take me back to the brief period in 1860-1861 between Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency and his inauguration. I was a reporter for a Northern newspaper writing from somewhere in the South and I wrote a dispatch for my newspaper, reporting that the time was dire, and that a war could start at any time.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that imaginary newspaper article sealed my fate: I would be a writer. I went to college, graduated with a degree in education and teaching certification – and no desire to teach. My first job was as a reporter for the largest newspaper in Illinois outside of Chicago.

I stayed with journalism for a while, then took a job as a sixth-grade teacher, and finally, after wandering in the desert called “Middle Age,” began the course I am, at the age of 79, still on: combining writing and teaching.

It’s what I do.

I basically work one-on-one, and there’s always room for one more.

I'm always available - johnoverbeck42@gmail.com - 513-476-4963.