What's In A Name?

Thank you for stopping by! I've been sitting in front of this computer screen for the last 6 hours trying to come up with a clever BLOG name. I thought I had it but here I am, 2 days later. . . revising! I wanted something reflective of who I am and why I write in the first place. So, the new name came down to this: I write for the love and passion of the topic and for the ability to tell the truth as I see it based on research and observation. To sum it up, there's "Only One Way to Write."

Seeing as this is the first blog, it seemed appropriate to introduce myself.  I'm a published, freelance writer. My writing skills have brushed a vast landscape of styles from commercials and one-liners to in-depth articles and two award-winning, columns: one weekly, one monthly.

I've also worked in  business management: human resources to be exact. It was my job to hire staff for temporary employment and coordinate a "lunch and learn" educational series for non-management employees interested in advancing their careers at a company where the division I was attached to employed over 11,000 employees worldwide.

Now, after thirty years of research that took me all over our nation and to Sweden, Author Review Copies of my book, "BEGOTTEN With Love" rolled off the presses in February.  This was a lifetime dream and a gift for my children and grandchildren who knew so little about their ancestry.

Many of the people I had asked to review "BWL," encouraged me to publish it for the general public. It took a lot of thought and deliberation and prayer, and with my hubby's blessing (yes, we work as a team), we decided to go for it.

Two exciting things have happened to date: "BEGOTTEN: With Love" is receiving 5-Star reviews on Goodreads.com; and a Judge from Writer's Digest, after I submitted the book for the 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards, sent me a commentary I am going to frame!  Did I win? No. . . but you've gotta read this:

"Begotten: With Love takes a creative premise for telling a family's story and succeeds beautifully. The fictionalization of ancestral history works well and makes this family history read more like an interesting novel. It also makes it a universal story - readers who had grandparents or great-grandparents who came to America through Ellis Island, or immigrated from other countries, can see themselves and their families in this narrative.

The author does a great job of capturing time, place and character, with enough history thrown in to help readers place themselves in time.  The book is nicely written, and the hard work the author did both with her research and getting the book just right shows.

The cover is professional and eye-catching, making a reader want to pick the book up and find out more about these interesting people. While she should deservedly be proud of her achievement, the book can stand on its own and readers only need to know what a good job she did with it.  It's about what the author says in the end, after all, not about who she is."

The one critique the Judge had was that the book could stand a professional edit because of punctuation. Editors are our best friends and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the feedback. I want to make sure I offer readers the best product possible. The edits are being done right now so the finished book (both print and eBook format) will be available in December.

Well, 'nuf about me. I'm glad you stopped by to visit.  Please feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to get to know you too. Hope to see you next Tuesday.


Jo Ann V. Glim, Author
"BEGOTTEN: With Love"
WEB:  www.BEGOTTENtheBook.com
LIKE/FOLLOW on www.facebook.com/JVGlim.author
BLOG:  only1way2write.blogspot.com
JGlim@tampabay.rr.com
P.O. Box 174
Bradenton, FL 34206