N is for Norma Fox Mazer, (1931-2009) an award-winning American author of
children and young adult books.
Norma grew up as the middle
child of three sisters. She loved school and reading. When she was a teenager,
Norma felt like she was an outsider and began to set herself apart from her
family, being labeled “the cold one.” She
started writing for the school newspaper and toying around with the idea of becoming
a writer.
Norma went on to college,
got married, and had four children. After her third child was born, Norma and
her husband (Harry) realized that they had dull jobs and unfulfilled lives.
With several unfinished
stories and only dreams of becoming a writer, 28-year-old Norma promised
herself that she would commit to pursuing a writing career and would write for
at least one hour at the end of each day. Her husband, who was also an aspiring
writer, made this promise with her.
Three years after their one-hour-a-day writing challenge, Norma and Harry received an insurance
settlement that enabled them to write full-time. Since then, Norma has written over
30 books and has won many awards for her novels. Her work features young
characters overcoming difficult situations such as bullying, the death of a parent,
and child abduction.
How do you overcome
procrastination in your work?
If you work at home,
how do you balance work and family time (especially if you have to cook and do
laundry!)
What is the purpose
or vision for doing what you do?
Another whom I don't know. Procrastination and distractions are two of my biggest nemeses.
ReplyDeleteLee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Hi Arlee. I battle with that too and that's why I featured her story. Thanks for everything. I'm at 50 now! Still catching up.
DeleteDistractions are my number one stumbling blog. I have to constantly refocus myself to stay on target.
ReplyDeleteAnother great profile. Thanks for sharing!
Lyre @ Lyre's Musings #atozchallenge
You're so right Amy!
DeleteIt's very hard to write at home. There are always so many things to distract. I think it helps if you have an office where you can shut the door on the rest of the house.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm blogging, I get serious almost as if it's work. I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing, so I shut myself in. It's hard. My fam doesn't get that I'm in a challenge lol
DeleteGlad she never gave up! Procrastination is so hard to over come. I guess the only way to do it, is like she did...just force yourself!
ReplyDeleteYes it is. I love her story and tried to pull that element out especially.
DeleteThe story was inspirational until "received an insurance settlement that enabled them to write full-time."
ReplyDeleteCan you say Deus ex machina?
lol so sorry. Well I just took it as she and her husband were faithful to write one hr a day for three yrs w/o any extra help. And then the hard work paid off. I kept that part in because I wanted to be honest about her story.
DeleteWhen you work at home, people don't see it as "work" (family too), so you are constantly interrupted which makes it very hard.
ReplyDeleteThat's so true
DeleteI was kind of curious if her husband was successful too? Balancing things out never an easy task.
ReplyDeleteLucy from Lucy's Reality
Yes Harry is successful, as well as her daughter Ann Mazer. I'm still working on the balancing :) Her story gave me a little relief.
DeleteI can be a horrible procrastinator. Also, ditto to what loverofwords said. I have two small children, so interruptions are abundant. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the second writer I've come across today with a number of works that I'm not aware of. Thanks for bringing this writer to my attention.
ReplyDeleteOne hour a day sounds so doable! That's right about the time I spend on this challenge and I have managed, so far.
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