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#97079 - 12/01/06 02:31 PM Jane Carroll
jawjaw Offline
Da Queen

Registered: 07/02/03
Posts: 12025
Loc: Alabama
Good Morning Ladies,

This month our Featured Author and active forum member is Jane Carroll, author of Bertha-Size Your Life! Jane is a member of the NABBW, a Radio Talk-Show Host, a nurse, and also a Life Balance Coach. Wonder when she sleeps?

So let's get started with some words from Jane and give everyone time to visit her site and consider buying her novel, Bertha-Size Your Life! This is the book she'll be discussing in December. I gladly recommend this book. I loved it!

Take it away, Jane!


Hello Ladies,

I am so excited to be December’s featured author! Most of you have been getting to know me through the forum but I thought I’d give you “The rest of the story . . .”

I joined the boomer ranks back in 1954, putting me smack dab in the middle of our generation. My life has followed a similar course to many of yours. I’ve been married twice and essentially raised my two daughters on my own while working as a registered nurse.

I know what it’s like to cry myself to sleep over lost or fragile love and to laugh incessantly over nothing at all. I know what it’s like to not be able to pay the bills at the end of the month and to spend with extravagance (hence why I couldn’t pay the bills!) I know what it’s like when my girls were driving me crazy and wonder how in the world I would make it when they were gone. I’ve lived in a 100 year-old Victorian house (I prayed every night that it would still be standing in the morning) and in a brand new patio home near the beach. Somehow, during all of that I found the balance that I’m enjoying in my life today. I sold the patio home so I could leave nursing to pursue my lifelong dream of writing, coaching and motivational speaking fulltime.

I tell you all of this because these are the experiences that led to the writing of Bertha-Size Your Life! I started writing as soon as my youngest got married. It was going to be a book to encourage other women who were experiencing an empty nest and didn’t know what to do with themselves. I was actually looking forward to my years without the total responsibility for the girls, so I thought I had a lot to share. However, the book was boring, even I didn’t like it.

The character of Bertha came about as a joke between my life coach and me but BERTHA had other ideas and took over my manuscript and my life.

Bertha is the voice of wisdom in all of us…and she is never quiet, usually dispensing her wisdom from strategically located soapboxes while wearing vibrant spandex capris and high-heels. I laugh and say she’s a cross between Lucy and a talk show host.

Bertha-Size Your Life! hit the streets in October 2005. Where the Joys Are: Bertha’s Guided Journal is due out any day and the next book Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Bertha’s Guide to Life and Shoes is on my desk for editing (more like total re-writing). I have loved the entire process of writing and book signings while building a life coaching practice and speaking career. Check out my website for more details www.berthasize.com

My newest endeavor will be hosting an internet radio show Loving Life Radio Show. The show will feature anecdotes from my books and other writings as well as featured guests, all with a message of loving life in some respect. You can check it out at www.lovingliferadioshow.com

Now, for the important stuff, I’ve been a Grammy for four months to adorable Bailey Kate. What a treat! My favorite movie of all times is It’s a Wonderful Life. I love walking dogs on the beach…did we mention my love life? My favorite color is green…the shade of money. I’m a good cook, although I don’t do it very often . . . oh, wait, I got this mixed up with my personal ad . . . carry on!




Edited by jawjaw (12/01/06 02:57 PM)

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#97080 - 12/01/06 06:05 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: jawjaw]
jawjaw Offline
Da Queen

Registered: 07/02/03
Posts: 12025
Loc: Alabama
Ladies,
Jane called me at home to tell me a tree has fallen on her power line outside her home and she is without power. She has gas heat, thank the good Lord, but until the other is resolved, all she has is her laptop and she's trying to conserve the battery for the moment. She will be back online as soon as her power is restored. She didn't want you to think she was ignoring the forums. I told her you wouldn't think that anyway....you're much to kind!

JJ

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#97081 - 12/01/06 07:34 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: jawjaw]
Vicki M. Taylor Offline
Member

Registered: 01/06/03
Posts: 2196
Loc: Tampa, FL
Jane's website is so friendly and Bertha sounds like a hoot! I hope she gets her power back soon.
_________________________
Vicki
"What you believe yourself to be, you are."
Claude M. Bristol
Your Writing Coach
Writing Coach Blog


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#97082 - 12/01/06 07:47 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: Vicki M. Taylor]
Dotsie Offline
Founder

Registered: 07/09/08
Posts: 23647
Loc: Maryland
Please tell her not to worry. We're gonna be here whenever she gets back.
_________________________
Founder Emeritus of Boomer Women Speak and the National Association of Baby Boomer Women.
www.nabbw.com
www.boomerwomenspeak.com


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#97083 - 12/01/06 10:52 PM Re: Jane Carroll
Jane_Carroll Offline
member

Registered: 07/06/06
Posts: 1521
Loc: Alabama
Well, I've added to the excuse list...a dog ate my homework and a tree fell on the power line so my modem doesn't work! It literally riped the lines off the house and they've had to repair that...waiting for the power company to come back to reconnect now...I'm at the library...

There's always a silver lining...when my landlord came he also fixed the light fixture in the bathroom and agreed to paint the dining room...YEAH!!!!

Thank you Vicki!

Now let's hope I get power again soon, it's getting dark very quickly!

I'll check in again as soon as I can.
_________________________
Jane Carroll

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#97084 - 12/02/06 12:14 AM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: Jane_Carroll]
Jane_Carroll Offline
member

Registered: 07/06/06
Posts: 1521
Loc: Alabama
Power is back on...cable is still out...have to call them next...can't wait to chat!
_________________________
Jane Carroll

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#97085 - 12/02/06 02:50 AM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: Jane_Carroll]
jawjaw Offline
Da Queen

Registered: 07/02/03
Posts: 12025
Loc: Alabama
Jane,
Do you ever miss the nursing? And something I've been meaning to ask you. Since you left the nursing career behind, did any of your co-workers follow suit? I just wondered if your courage rubbed off on them. Leaving a steady paycheck/security is hard.

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#97086 - 12/02/06 12:36 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: jawjaw]
Jane_Carroll Offline
member

Registered: 07/06/06
Posts: 1521
Loc: Alabama
JJ,

I really don't miss nursing. I miss the people that I worked with and even some of the patient interaction but I am sooooo happy doing what I'm doing that I have no regrets.

Oh, I do miss the paycheck! That security of knowing x amount of money was coming in every two weeks and having paid vacation and sick time was hard to give up. But the desire to write fulltime was so strong that I didn't think too much about that part of it. It's a good thing, if I'd really thought about it, I probably wouldn't have done it either!

I don't know that any of my co-workers have left since I did--at least not left nursing--they're always changing locations. You have to realize that nursing is the dream for many people.

What I did see was one young girl who found the courage to leave a bad marriage and get her degree...steps she said were inspired by Bertha and me. Now that was gratifying!
_________________________
Jane Carroll

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#97087 - 12/02/06 01:03 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: Jane_Carroll]
jawjaw Offline
Da Queen

Registered: 07/02/03
Posts: 12025
Loc: Alabama
I bet that was! Good for her. Although my situation was a little different in that I was caught up in a rift (laid off), when I do talk to former co-workers, they all say the same thing (young and old ones) AND that is, "I wish I were doing something fun, like you. I envy you!"

If it weren't for the insurance, or lack thereof, I would have NO regrets. But I'm about to rectify that!

What about family support? Was it always there?

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#97088 - 12/02/06 01:22 PM Re: Jane Carroll [Re: jawjaw]
Jane_Carroll Offline
member

Registered: 07/06/06
Posts: 1521
Loc: Alabama
I learned a long time ago not to talk about something like that until I had really worked it out in my head because otherwise somebody could easily talk me out of it...you know the voice of reason!

I think I had been mentally preparing for it for a while...I just didn't know what 'it' was! When the idea to sell my house and quit work finally occurred to me...it just made sense...it was the next logical step.

First I contacted a real-estate agent to see how much the house would sell for and then I seriously started thinking about it. This was only a matter of a few days. I think I told the children at that point but held off for a few more days before I told my mother. The house sold within 2 weeks of putting it on the market...so the cat was out of the bag and into a moving box fairly quickly!

They were concerned but supportive...hey none of them wanted me to end up broke and living with them! I think they are all proud of me and they are supportive but they are still concerned, especially my mother.

On the other hand...mother has really enjoyed having me home and with a flexible schedule.
_________________________
Jane Carroll

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