Mentors and Musical Chairs
By Clarissa Kae, Writers of Kern (Bakersfield)
Cheering and teaching fledging authors started as a simple hobby but quickly grew to an all-consuming career. For months, I vacillated back and forth on accepting the looming nomination for President of Writers of Kern. Thankfully, the decision forced me to revisit priorities and schedules. My three small children (ages eight to thirteen) who are active in both the school and the community have more than the lion’s share of my time.
Add critique groups and clients, I had mere minutes left for my writing and WOK until I reached out to our incredible board. Overnight, I had volunteers to help with critique groups and substitutes for the upcoming busy months already scheduled with my kids’ competitions and events.
I’ve spent the last several years working side by side on a board dedicated not just to our beloved Writers of Kern but to each other. Through these friendships we built a new caliber of critique groups, added Young Writers of Kern and expanded membership.
We played a bit of musical chairs and restructured positions; our past president now sits at the helm of our WOK Anthology while our past Vice President captains our ever-growing YWOK program.
And now, we embark on a new fiscal year with the same eagerness and same hunger to help our authors as before with our new Mentorship Program. Writing might be solitary but editing and publishing doesn’t have to be. Sending that first submission (or the hundredth) can be overwhelming – we know, and we’d like to help. From contests to queries, we’ll be here to help our members through their publishing journey.
Clarissa Kae wrote this essay for her
President’s Message in the
July 2018 Writers of Kern newsletter
The Write Way.