It was early November, 2007. A picture of a face I knew well appeared on the television news. It was the face of my friend of several years, a grand lady of 79, full of life, spirit, humor and lots of goodwill toward others. The news astounded and shocked me.
My friend had disappeared sometime after arriving home after her last day at her job, and foul play was suspected.
A newscast announced the victim's son had been picked up on unrelated charges--possession of a gun while on parole for a drug related felony.
After the Sheriff's Department grilled him for hours on end, he declared he would not admit to anything, but he would tell them where his mother's bones could be found.
As bits and pieces of the story of my friend's murder became known, the horror of what had happened disturbed me so much that I couldn't cast it from my mind. She suffered a violent and grisly death at the hands of her son and the visions disturbed me continually.
I really needed someone to talk to about what happened to my friend, so instead, I started writing... thus, freeing my emotions through the written word as I pounded out my thoughts and feelings on the keyboard about my friend's murder.
It took me a year to finish my story, which came together in a book called: Under Suspicion
To read an excerpt from the book, go to my web site: http://www.jeanettecooper.net/
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I Love To Write
My dream of writing a book took shape in high school when I won my first writing award with my essay, "I Speak for Democracy." I had always loved recording thoughts on paper.
Writing in my girlhood diary was one of my greatest passions until I received my first typewriter as a birthday present and started typing short stories. They were the emotional puzzles of a young girl's existence and when I remember some of them I shudder at how folks might have laughed had they read them. Natuarlly, they were immature, grammatically all wrong, contained spelling errors galore, and weren't worth the paper they were written on except in the heart of a potential author who had a tremendous love for writing.
I delved in both poetry and prose throughout high school and college, even writing my first book that is still in a box on my closet shelf today. It is a gentle reminder of my aspirations not just to write, but to become a competent author. Thus, I studied books dealing with novel writing and its components, thereof. I've read hundreds of books by various authors and learned something from each book I read. My goal is to never stop learning how to better or "prayerfully" perfect my art.
Some writers see rejection letters as a heartbreaking let-down. I see them as a challenge to revisit what I've written and make it better.
Writing in my girlhood diary was one of my greatest passions until I received my first typewriter as a birthday present and started typing short stories. They were the emotional puzzles of a young girl's existence and when I remember some of them I shudder at how folks might have laughed had they read them. Natuarlly, they were immature, grammatically all wrong, contained spelling errors galore, and weren't worth the paper they were written on except in the heart of a potential author who had a tremendous love for writing.
I delved in both poetry and prose throughout high school and college, even writing my first book that is still in a box on my closet shelf today. It is a gentle reminder of my aspirations not just to write, but to become a competent author. Thus, I studied books dealing with novel writing and its components, thereof. I've read hundreds of books by various authors and learned something from each book I read. My goal is to never stop learning how to better or "prayerfully" perfect my art.
Some writers see rejection letters as a heartbreaking let-down. I see them as a challenge to revisit what I've written and make it better.
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