grad news

Just a brief personal post to say:

I got into a grad program! On Friday, July 17, I received my acceptance letter to the Professional Writing graduate program at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

My history as a writer

I received my bachelors degree from UCF in 1992, majoring in journalism. After that I dove into the work world and became a wife and mother. Not a lot of writing was done professionally, but I could never leave it. I’ve been writing pretty steadily since 1998.

Since 2007 I’ve been writing for publication. My first novel was a finalist for an award, and most recently my third novel also was noted as a finalist for an award. Since 2007 I have had published short stories and novels and become an editor and mentor for writers seeking publication. In 2012 I became a secondary English teacher and began working with younger writers (and readers).

Teaching has ended; I just cannot go back in this climate. I was already coming to that conclusion because of the politics that have excoriated education and reduced it to a battleground instead of institutions dedicated to educating thinkers. However, since the pandemic arrived, the response of both the politicians and educators to focus on the financial aspects of “we must get kids back to school so their parents can work” has taught me that educators are seen as little more than childcare workers.

So, instead, I am shifting to a new path: professional writer and editor.

Support request

If you are interested in supporting me in some way, I don’t need handouts but instead word-of-mouth contacts. Share my email address (lzielinsky at icloud dot com) to people in need of any of the following editing services:

1. proofreading
2. copy editing
3. development (story structure) editing

Since I support a few other creatives this way, I am thinking of opening a Patreon (monthly support) but I haven’t figured out what to write so frequently. Are there people interested in a themed series of shorts accessible at a dollar a month? Should I open to commissioned stories? Let me know your thoughts.

~ Lara