Guest Post: Author Mary Ellenton

Today, I have author Mary Ellenton here with us talking about getting back to writing after the kids have flown the nest.

Welcome Mary!

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Redecorating My Empty Nest With A Passion For Writing

At age forty-seven, the stillness that had settled over my life was unsettling. I found myself ailing from a lingering case of Empty Nest Syndrome and spending many afternoons just waiting around for my husband to return home from work. I was feeling unfulfilled and knew I had to take on something, but what? I needed a project that would not only occupy my spare time but also be an outlet for the surplus of emotional energy that no longer was being drained by my children. For several months I floundered, and then… It appeared before me like so many times before-the option to write. Its arms were folded across its chest, a bit annoyed with me for waiting so long, but it had returned to save me, yet again. And it turns out- I was finally ready and began.

I have regret over disregarding my persistent inclinations to write earlier in my life. Throughout the years there were signs; some that practically waved arms overhead trying to cue me in that this pastime that brought deep satisfaction held options for me.

Being among the youngest of seven children I can recall attempting to share my early literary creations with my older siblings who usually walked away from me before I could finish the first sentence. Family visitors were far kinder but were soon rescued from me by my parents. In high school my knack for stringing together thoughts on paper was received with a bit more appreciation. My best friend was very enthusiastic over my ability to sashay into our tenth grade English class twenty minutes late and finish, not just mine, but her essay assignment as well, while most of the other students still hunched over their papers with frustration. In retrospect, I wonder how differently my life would have been lived had my teacher or parents thought to encouraged my undeveloped propensity for working with words.

Just eighteen months apart, my daughter and son were born when I was in my early twenties. As soon as they were in school full-time, I found myself on the train, traveling into Manhattan to take writing courses over the years. The lessons fortified my passion, spurring my first attempt at a novel. I penned a young adult work, inspired by my children’s descriptions of some of the zany antics on their school bus. Had I taken the next step and seeked out an editor to work with me, who knows­-– but I must not have believed enough and abandoned the project, side tracking myself with something I knew I could make money at. Always goal oriented, I capitalized on another of my hobbies. I began to give racquetball lessons and developed a fitness business. I happily began to work full time enjoying the satisfaction of my growing my clientele.

In my early forties my recurring connection to writing surfaced for me again when I wanted to increase business and was able to secure a weekly fitness column in a local newspaper by pitching the editor with a few sample columns that I had written the night before. Immersed in my personal training business, while simultaneously managing the quiet panic of weathering my children’s teen age years; there was no time for writing in those busy days except for my fitness articles. By the time my children had finished college, my business had settled into a comfortable schedule and before I was ready, my children we out, living on their own. It did not take long for me to tire of going to lunch with the girls or aimlessly prowling around Bloomingdales with my new found spare time. As most serendipitous events in life, my decision to begin writing again was not planned; it was something that found its way to me.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary A. Ellenton returned her focus to a life long passion for writing after motherhood and a successful career in her own fitness business. Flipping is her debut novel. Mary is a native New Yorker and resides on Long Island with her husband.

 

 
Find the author online: website | facebook

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ABOUT THE BOOK

The catastrophic and now, historical, real life drama of the real estate market boom and subsequent stock market crash of 2008 has inspired many authors to write on the subject.

Author, Mary Ellenton is one of the first to portray the spectacular events in fiction form as they still create headlines across the globe. In addition to offering an eye opening, behind the scenes view of the predatory lenders of the mortgage industry, FLIPPING exposes the invisible minefield that lies between ambition and success for females in the business world that todays women are all too accustom with navigating through.

Fay Famaghetti is ready for a change. She realizes that she is meant for something beyond the drudgery of working in her family's Italian restaurant business. When she moves from her hometown of Brooklyn, New York to suburban Long Island a unique opportunity in a traditionally male dominated profession presents itself and self-assured Fay decides to go for it.

Fay’s new career catapults her into an exciting world where she earns more money than she ever dreamed possible, reinvents herself and attracts the attention of fast track, veteran co-workers who enthusiastically welcome her into their circle. Not bad for a thirty-three-year-old out of Bay Ridge with not much more than a supercharged ambition and an accounting degree.

Willfully seduced by the greed of the era and prospering in the murky waters of a corrupted industry, Fay quickly gets in over her head.

FLIPPING is a lusty joyride that readers can take with its modern day antihero as she succumbs to the temptation of mixing business with pleasure within the treacherous industry that helped tumble the worlds greatest economy.

Buy the book: Amazon | BN

 

Flipping is out today!