Before I begin telling you something about myself, I would like to welcome those of you, who have found my website. I hope you will enjoy my writings, share your comments and enjoy reading my first published book.

    My book, ‘Travels with the Professor’ was written as a children’s book, though I understand, it has been enjoyed by people of all ages. It is an adventure book, filled with interesting characters and some other unusual characters that I hoped would capture the imagination of the reader.

      I was an elementary school teacher for most of my working career. I found joy in the classroom, each and every year, teaching children the skills that allowed them to grow academically, as well as encouraging their own, unique imaginations, ideas and talents. In return, I was rewarded by watching their individual talents grow with confidence in preparation for any future endeavor.

   Then, as my students discovered the possibilities that could open up for them, I considered that for myself, as well. I realized that I had spent all my life, up to that point, studying in a classroom or library. I made the decision to take up the challenge of working outside the field of education.

    I decided to check off a wish from my bucket list. I applied and was offered the opportunity to train as a Flight Attendant for a major airline. A unique career, which I discovered, involves much, much more than it outwardly appears. The preparation required is focused on passenger safety, first and foremost. The training of which, for any possible eventualities, is of vital importance. It was yet, another profession that taught me much.

      Another opportunity opened up to me, after that. I was employed by a large oil company. I started as a clerk, progressed to a lease analyst and ended my time in that field, as a seismic analyst. This experience taught me the processing and application of data programming. Definitely outside my experience and very educational.

    The journey of my life changed again when I married my husband, David. We started a family, which now includes two daughters, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Through the years, our family included many, much-loved pets, as well. This included several dogs, assorted kitten and cats, and horses.

     As the years passed, with many happy memories, I began thinking of returning to my first love, teaching. And that is what I did. They often say, there is no greater reward for a teacher than watching the enthusiasm of children enthusiasm as they begin to learn to read, write, learn advanced math or be amazed with all things scientific, while learning and enjoying the stories of American history. I totally agree with that and thoroughly enjoyed every day, every year I spent until I retired.

    I still miss being in the classroom, but nowadays, I spend my time when not with my family and friends, doing community volunteer work, gardening and writing. I enjoy writing poetry, short stories and mysteries, even some political satire, and of course, my Professor books. I am presently writing the second adventure, which as before, has become an interesting journey. I’m looking forward to the day when I can post a publication date.

                                                ABOUT THE BOOK

         Many people, children as well as adults, have asked me how this book came to be. They are curious about the Professor and his friends. Some are very interested in how a writer develops an idea and translates it onto the written page. So, I will try to explain how I also traveled with the Professor on this journey and hopefully share this with those who enjoy a good adventure.

         The Professor was created as an important character in a proposed television program for children. The program was to introduce children to other languages as well as to the many aspects of the art world. I was asked to develop the character for a classroom setting where the students would learn about interesting art projects, learn about famous artists, Museums and also learn about foreign languages. This was the beginning of my journey. At that time, I did not consider myself a writer. I had worked for many years as an educator in elementary school classrooms. Even so, I questioned whether I would be able to use that experience to create scripts for a children’s TV program. But with encouragement, I decided to start the project. Soon, I had many scripts and the Professor became a very important part of each segment. With these in hand, the project was taken to a TV station and small production companies in the area. A movie production company expressed their interest. However, they also wanted to have all rights to the Professor character. I refused the offer. Meanwhile, a well-known, national television station also expressed their interest. They liked the format, the roles of the children characters and especially the Professor. Unfortunately, they were soon going to change their own format. The trend, they informed us, were hand-held computers and the audience of young viewers had turned away from the standard programming. At that point, the project was laid aside.

         At a later time, I thought the ideas of the project could still be of value for further development. I decided to create a short presentation I could use for any possible future demonstrations to various outlets that might be interested. I printed up a short demo pamphlet with illustrations. By now, I had also decided to hone my writing skills by joining a writer’s group, though I still maintained, I was not a writer. With encouragement, I began to enjoy writing short stories and poems. At the same time, people were asking about the Professor Project. I had little to report. Then I talked to a friend who encouraged me to make a visual presentation with real children and an actor to portray the Professor. She happened to have a large panda mask that had been used for a costume. It sounded a bit unusual, but as it happened, the journey was about to take an interesting twist. About the same time, that same friend introduced me to the creative director at a small play-house in the community. She was interested in the project as I described the characters and story. I was shown some photos of some child actors who she felt would fit the bill. And the actor she felt would be perfect to play the Professor, worked right there, at the theatre.

         The pieces of an on-stage production began to come together with surprising ease. The Professor came to life on stage. Miss Vicky was played to a “t” by my daughter who had to step in at the last minute and the child actors took to the script as if they already knew the story. My friend filmed the action, which we took to a train museum, and art studio for additional scenes. It was completed and well received. It was to be shown to interested parties located in New York. Nothing came of it.

         The project was put aside again. But the Professor and the children and Miss Vicky remained in my mind until the day, I was told that I should just write the book. I thought about that for a long time. I didn’t know if I could write a book. Writing short stories, poems, and scripts is one thing, a book is something else. But as I thought about it, I found that I often thought of what the adventure could be and how it would come about and how it could end. I had to develop an outline. I filled in that outline, with specifics in the action and started at the beginning and thought I would just begin to write it out. That was the easy part.

         I wanted to just start the adventure, but so much had gone before with the characters and the Professor, I had to review who they were, where they lived, how they met the Professor. That was all fine, until I began writing about the adventure. To my surprise, new characters appeared as I was writing. Unexpectedly, there they were and they had something to share. Those were the twins and though it may seem unusual, it did to me, I soon discovered many authors experience this as well. When I wrote, I was just as interested as the reader to see why they were there and what their reactions were to situations that I knew Kingston, Max and Maddie had already experienced in their adventures with the Professor. Their introduction to the Professor was as enjoyable to me as I hope it was for the reader. Then, as the adventure unfolded, again a new character appeared in the form of Ascot, who will be in the next book.

But, I have to admit, as the adventure on the Professor’s train began, I had in mind a certain destination. That was not to be. Old Bessie developed problems which sent the travelers on a path, even they had no idea of the end. I really did not know. Again, in writing it sometimes, as many authors have said, “it just seemed to write itself.”

         Now here, I have to add, that my illustrator Bo Myers, created visual depictions of all the characters, just as I had envisioned them. She also depicted scenes that reflected the action so well, it made the journey of writing this book, even more of an adventure.

         I hope this has helped you learn a little bit more about me and the book. If you have any questions or comments, I would very much like to hear from you. And I hope you enjoyed your adventure with the Professor, as much as I did. 

  Writers

Have you seen that faraway look in a writer’s eye?

You think he is busy with the task at hand.

Look how carefully he turns the page.

How methodically papers are arranged.

What concentration,

when reading that book.

How intently he listens to you speak.

While all along wisps of thought are being shaped.

Errant words, wandering words are being strung as beads to

complete a new creation.

A story, a poem, a new epic tale is being written behind that

writer’s eye.

That faraway look

will soon take you to another world.

                                      m.a.marcum