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I’ve always wanted to make a living as a writer, but reasonably understood I had to find a way to support myself at least at first. No career appealed more than the glamour and excitement of becoming a flight attendant…


So, as a high school senior, I applied to a flight attendant school. Someone from the school called to set up an appointment for their counselor to interview me in my home. I’ll admit I was a nervous wreck when the day came, and it didn’t help that my parents and I sat and sat and sat, until I realized--like the jerk I’d go on to write in TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS--that the interviewer had stood me up! With my confidence shaky and the fact there was never any follow-up whatsoever from the school, I dropped the whole thing and enrolled in college.

But some years later, while otherwise employed, I saw that a top international airline was hiring flight attendants. On a whim, I wrote for an application, and to my delight, made the first cut and got called in for an interview.

There were at least 15 applicants in the room. The interviewer would state a question, and one at a time, we’d stand and respond. This was rather intimidating since it was easy to see who was good and who wasn’t. In fact, some of the candidates had been interviewing with all the airlines and had real polish. Still, I felt like I held my own with the first couple of questions, but totally bombed out on the third because by the time they got to my end of the table, all the good answers had been given. So I was like, “Yeah, what they said.” (Ugh!)

Then came the written test. I figured I had to be smart and fast to make up for my blunder. The test was a breeze, and indeed, I was the first to turn my test back over. But later, when recounting this to a friend whose sister WAS a flight attendant for that airline, she grimaced. She said that this airline tended to disqualify applicants who finished the test too quickly because they thought it a warning that that person would get bored and quit too soon after training. I have no idea if this is true. And my guess is I was "out" before we started the test. But I didn't hear from them again.

In any case, I always enjoy chatting with the attendants on flights, who clearly work very hard. In fact, on a recent flight, I heard one tell another during drink clean-up, “When people ask what I do for a living, I say I’m in waste management.” They both laughed, and quietly, I did, too, thinking we all have beefs with our careers--but hey, at least they got the second call-back!


Don’t get me wrong…I wouldn’t trade my my writing career for anything…and who knows, maybe some day I’ll get to live out my flight attendant fantasy inside the pages of a book!

What I'm Reading: The Undomestic Goddess, Sophie Kinsella

Tina

Tina Ferraro
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
How to Hook a Hottie, Spring, 2008
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, Spring, 2009
www.tinaferraro.com

Warning: This seemed very traumatic at the time... but keep in mind I was only sixteen.

My junior year of high school, I was in Art 3. It was one of those strange classes that had a complete mix of different types of students in there--some jocks, some geeks, some stoners, some just plain old normal kids (me). There was also a boy named Jason. He was blonde and blue-eyed (Note: This might be one reason I'm not a fan of blonde heroes.) and was relatively new to my school. My crush was so, omigod, obvious. Somehow I managed to get to the point where I could be semi-chatty with him if we passed in the hall.

I also had one very good friend in the class, and she and I would sit and chat about boys and Jason and classes and Jason and, oh, everything and Jason. (All while not letting Jason know we were talking about him.)

Well, my very good friend was oh-so-very-sophisticated because she was engaged and therefor a certified expert on boys. She finally convinced me that I should ask him out! We spent weeks planning exactly how I would do the deed.

"Just act cool," she would say. "Like it's no big deal."

"Uh-huh," I said, my stomach going into convulsions even thinking about it.

"When you talk to him in the hall, just say, 'Hey. So, you wanna go see a movie this weekend?' No big deal."

Sure. No big deal for her. She was engaged! Anyway, eventually out of desperation and the desire to get her off my back, I did it. Jason stopped to chat with me in the hall and I even managed to ask my oh-so-casual question without heaving on his shoes.

"No," he said. "I can't."

My heart plummeted. "Oh," I said brilliantly. And, in an act that would be dissected in detail later, asked, "Why not?"

Because he was grounded... or so he said. But let me tell you, you have not felt shame until you have a very good friend squeal, "You did not ask him 'why not'!" Apparently, that is even worse than getting rejected... which, of course, felt pretty rotten at the time. Apparently, I was just supposed to blithely accept in a "whatever" kinda way. Apparently, I will never be that cool.

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS.
Dutton Children's Books, May 2008
teralynnchilds.com

We’ve done another switcheroo on posting days, and I’m going to be the Monday kick-off Buzz Girl.


(Special thanks to Garfield for showing us his enthusiasm for Mondays. I must say, however, I like them a bit more!)

In continuing our theme of “Firsts”, this week we’ll be discussing “First Loves or First Heartbreaks”. This really sent my mind reeling because the simple truth is, I can’t pinpoint my first in either case.

I’ve always had a vivid imagination and I took my across-the-classroom crushes to heart. So I could arguably say my first love and first heartbreak happened as early as 4th grade, when I couldn’t get the totally cute boy with the too short pants and playground dirt on his cheek to give me the time of day. Because the love felt real; and so did the rejection.

I look back on my early romances (good and bad; real and imaginary) as learning tools, fodder for the marriage that I want to last forever, and for characterization and plots for my writing. And so far, so good!

I’m curious to see what the other Buzz Girls talk about this week…if there is a special boy in their pasts, or a collection that fly through their memories like, well, buzzing bees.

And I’d love to hear the same from our readers! Do tell: one first major love, or many minor?

What I’m Reading: Lean, Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich

Tina

Tina Ferraro
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
How to Hook a Hottie, Spring, 2008
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, Spring, 2009
www.tinaferraro.com

I probably shouldn't admit this, but my very first attempt at writing a book was when I was probably in sixth grade. It was a paranormal action-adventure, you might say, about a little boy's toy soldiers who came to life at night and carried out missions like getting crackers and cheese from the kitchen. Um, it was never really more than a few pages... and will stay that way. (Yes, I know I'm not: a) a little boy, b) an action-adventure author, and c) a fan of cheese and crackers... okay, maybe I am a fan of cheese and crackers.)

My first attempt at as a grown-up author was a Western/Colonial historical called A DAUGHTER'S PROMISE, about an Texas-raised heroine whose father sends her back to Boston to live with her godfather when he dies. The godfather just happened to have a son her age and, well, needless to say there was a romance brewing. I think I wrote about fifty pages of that one. It was all very complex and emotional and heart-wrenching. (Note to future readers: my books are not emotional and heart-wrenching reads.)

Next was a contemporary romance set in the Miami Beach club scene, titled, um, CLUB SCENE. This was my first real attempt at a whole book and--although I got bored halfway through and switched to the book that I would eventually finish--taught me the most about how to write effectively, how to compose and construct a story, and how to actually make myself sit down and write. Plus, my hero was based on Paul Walker and, well, we all know how I feel about Paul Walker. Um... yum!

I think the most important thing to keep in mind about all these "first tries" is that each taught us something about writing--yes, even the ones we never finished--and without all those baby steps, we wouldn't be the authors we are today.

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS.
Dutton Children's Books
May 2008