Today we’d like to introduce you to Barb Greenberg.
Hi Barb, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 1998 our phone rang in the middle of the night. Our younger daughter, who had just graduated college and was traveling with friends, all on student tickets, had been in a car accident, was in a comma and life support, and we needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. The hospital was in Brisbane, Australia. My husband and I did get to the hospital as quickly as possible, but getting to Australia from Minnesota is not going be quick. Our daughter is a miracle, she not only survived but is thriving. When we return to Minnesota, a dear friend asked me if I had ever written anything and I looked at her with a blank stare. I never, ever considered writing anything! She suggested that I write a book about our experiences saying it could help others. So, of course I said okay. I was in my 50s and as I started writing I found it was something I loved to do. Divorced a few years later, I became very irritated with the “happily ever after” fairy tales, so I wrote a new one about Cinderella and Snow White…after they discovered that the prince was not that charming. After the Ball: A Woman’s Tale of Reclaiming Happily Ever was loved by many and multiple copies were requested by, and donated to, women’s shelters, offering hope and a way forward and into a new life. Next I created Rediscovering U, a company that offered support, education and resources for women approaching, experiencing a moving forward from divorce. We had a weekly newsletter for which I wrote a weekly article. The articles were later compiled for the book, The Seasons of Divorce: Insights for Women in Transition..though many happily married women read it, because wherever we are in life, we are often dealing with transitions. Rose Hope will be my first fiction book…what an adventure!!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Smooth road! Ha! Nope! Smooth roads are great, but I don’t think you learn that much from them. Struggles are the places where, if we pay attention, we can learn the most. Some struggles can be very dramatic, some simply irritating. Most are somewhere in between the two. My biggest struggles were with myself. Can I really do this? I’m scared. What if people actually read this? What if no one reads this? And there was, “I can’t believe I messed that up…again, did I just delete everything I worked on all day?” I’ve made lots of mistakes, and I don’t like making mistakes..especially lots of them. But I kept going which confirmed that writing was something important to me, and I wasn’t going to stop, or give up. I believe that being frustrated or stuck is simply part of any creative process, any part of life. I recently was feeling intense pressure to get things done and was being really hard on myself. until I reframed things, and focused on what a gift it was to be doing what I love, to be creative, to be supported by friends, and I became grateful for this opportunity. This change in attitude made all the difference for me. Also, just remembered when I got my first rejection letter for manuscript. I was so excited. I didn’t know anyone else who had a manuscript rejected!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have an interesting background. In my thirties I rode horses and competed in nationally recognized horse shows. In my forties, to cover my riding expenses a friend suggested I become a Mary Kay consultant, because I could set my own hours and still get to the barn to ride. It was an odd suggestion because I didn’t wear makeup, I talked mainly to horses, and if you stood down wind from me, I didn’t smell all that great! But I gave it a try and met wonderful women and even earned the use of a pink Cadillac. My fifties were a decade of transitions, starting with my daughter’s accident and ending with my mother passing away. In between was a divorce and a move, and somehow during that time I wrote my first book. In my sixties, I started the company Rediscovering U, and now I’m in my seventies with my fourth book! I would say that I specialize in transitions and feel I have a quiet kind of courage.(and maybe a bit of stubbornness!) I am proud of every step in my journey, even the ones where I stumble. (and of courses very proud of my daughters and grandchildren!)
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Doing what you love (or making time to do what you love), making difference where and when you can, being kind, not just to others but to yourself.
Pricing:
- Paperback 978-1-959681-91-5 | $17.95
- Hardcover 978-1-959681-92-2 | $26.95
- eBook 978-1-959681-93-9 | $4.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.authorbarbgreenberg.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577738560683
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbgreenberg/
- Other: https://allauthor.com/author/barbgreenberg/
