A Lot Has Happened

So, believe it or not it has almost been a year since my last post - 338 days to be exact. And in that years time we spent a great deal of time in Florida helping Husband's mother who passed away in April just 8 days shy of her 93rd birthday. We took a vacation to New England that had been postponed the year before due to surgery. One of our dogs Jake went to heaven. Little Man started kindergarten (I know! I can't believe it either!) And I can't neglect to mention that my friend Allison and I launched our literary magazine, Pilcrow & Dagger. So, with all that going on something had to give and I stopped blogging.

However, now it is time to get back to it. Robert Lee Brewer, Senior Content Editor with Writer's Digest has started an October writing challenge to get writers writing and establishing their platform. So, why not give it a go? I'm already 4 days behind, so let's get started.

Day 1 - Define Yourself as a Writer:

Name: LeeAnn Jackson Rhoden
Position: Owner/Publisher/Editor of Pilcrow & Dagger; short story writer; ghost writer; aspiring novelist; editor; wife and mother.
Skills: editing; creative writing; blogging; journalism; journaling; public speaking; sales and marketing; problem solving, graphic layout, managing and accounting; scheduling and logistics; teaching; organizing.
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Accomplishments: Author of 6 short stories: The Trade-In, Circles, Demolition, Balmy, Harvest of Hope, Sparrow; autobiographical ghost writer; entrepreneur - started Pilcrow & Dagger literary magazine; wrote the Orange County Florida Public Schools curriculum benchmarks for teaching writing in the Middle Grades (1995); conducted training on use of Young Adult literature in the classroom to Orange County Florida Public Schools Language Arts/English teachers; managed restaurant with 2.1 million dollar gross revenue; new home sales consultant closing 53% of companies sales;  top sales person for Original Log Cabin Homes July 2007 with 1.5K in sales; BA in Spanish Literature from University of Central Florida; equivalent credits for BA in English and professional teaching certificate from University of Central Florida; volunteer with Wesley United Methodist Church; property manager to rental homes; wife and mother.
Interests: writing, reading, family, genealogy, knitting, needlepoint, crocheting, cooking, politics.
In one sentence, who am I? LeeAnn Jackson Rhoden is a married mother to a precocious Little Man and she likes to do everything and often runs out of time.

Day 2 - Set Your Writing Goals:

Short Term: Finish revisions on my novel and publish it; start and finish first draft of my second novel.
Long Term: Become a consistent novelist - finish and publish the 4 novels I have notes on; complete the family tree and write a family history.

Day 3 - Write a blog for today:

Yes, well, I already have created a blog and this is my post. Sooooo.....

Day 4 - Claim Your Domain

Already have but have yet do anything new with it for the length of my hiatus from my blog. My domain is: www.leeannrhoden.com.

Well, now I'm all caught up and looking forward to starting fresh tomorrow! If you'd like to participate check out http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/2015-october-platform-challenge. Happy writing!