I used to know what I knew, but I forgot
Everyone here is so erudite that I hesitate to add my meager posting. But, I must know something because I keep reading novels and thinking
that's not right!
Areas where I've noticed published work is frequently and annoyingly wrong, I've added an asterisk.
Sales & Marketing
Management & Operations:
Bars
Restaurants
Hotels*
Catering* (including lots of Ritzy parties and hundreds of weddings. Working, not attending.)
Undocumented US immigrants* (I was born in the US, but there may be one or two undocumented workers. . . wink,wink, . . . in the restaurant and hotel business.)
General Business*
Oxy-acetylene and electrical arc welding (yes, I'm female)
so that means women in non-traditional occupations
Adult Students
Single Parenting
Parent of Adult Child
Unmedicated "Natural" childbirth (short answer: just say yes)
Cooking and baking
I have a recent B.S. in psychology*, but you have people on the board with far more expertise than I. Still, a lot of people get even the easy stuff wrong.
Regional:
I've lived in California, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Maryland, Virginia, Florida (including the Keys), Louisiana, Wisconsin and Illinois. Many of them more than once.
(Why did you move around so much? My father was an itinerate aerospace engineer, employed by the Department of Defense, during the 'moon mission' era, when that was still a cool thing to do. I can't imagine why that would be useful to anyone, but just in case.)
Chicago has been my adopted home town for the past 12 years. If you have a setting or location question in Chi-town I can't answer, I'll go find out for you. (It's a great city, more novels should be set there.)
Because I've moved a fair amount, I'm fairly conversant in the regional differences between the South, Midwest and West. (It never ceases to amaze me that, to many from Illinois, all southern accents sound the same.)
I lived in Alabama, Virginia, and Maryland both before and shortly after segregation, so I've observed the worst of prejudice, in case someone needs ancient history.
Interpersonal Topics
Everyone in my family is completely normal, except for the:
sibling rivalry
alcoholism
cross-dressing
domestic violence
and child abuse
My sister is a social worker studying to become an Episcopalian priest who home schooled her three daughters, so if you have questions about any of those I'll ask her.
Finally, two questions I really DO know the answer to:
- Why does a guy say he'll call you, and then not do it?
- What does a guy mean when he says he's separated?
Feel free to PM or e-mail me anytime, because it's probably more fun than whatever I'm doing at the moment.