Rosaliene's Journey as a Writer: Guyana - Brazil

Rosaliene's Journey as a Writer: Guyana - Brazil - USA

How does an international trade professional become a fiction writer? While the
world of moving goods across the globe fascinated me, I dreamt of writing stories
about the experiences I have shared with others along my journey of life.

My time for becoming a writer came when I migrated to the United States in
autumn 2003. Like the trees in autumn, the change was not immediate. I had to
first endure the winter of adjusting to a new world and re-connecting with my
family after more than thirty years of separation.

When I decided to share my story of overcoming adversity during my sixteen-
year journey in Brazil, I had to learn the craft of writing. With a crazy work
schedule at a large retail store in West Hollywood and limited funds, I opted for a
correspondence course. An advertisement in a magazine led me to the Stratford
Career Institute. Their course in Creative Writing guided me from writing my first
scene of up to 500 words to finding my writer’s voice in a 3000-word short story.
The creative process hooked me. My recurring dreams of stacking shelves came
to an end.

Working at my own pace, I completed Stratford’s writing course within two
years. I’ve learned over my short life-time that our success in whatever we
undertake depends upon our dedication, discipline, perseverance, and… passion.
Don’t forget passion. Our passion for what we do – however unimportant or
meaningless our undertaking may seem to others – makes it possible to overcome
adversity and failure along the way.

The amazing thing about starting out on a journey, or any new direction in our
lives, is that we set events in motion, propelling us towards our goal or
destination.

At the retail store in West Hollywood, where creative artists of all types roamed
the aisles, a woman joined the department where I was assigned. Her husband
turned out to be a writer for the National Geographic magazine. After learning
that I was a writer in formation, he sent me an issue of the Writer’s Digest. My
subscription to the Writer’s Digest continues to be a great investment in
improving my craft and keeping abreast with the business of book publication and
marketing.

Connecting with other writers evolved from my first attendance at the Los
Angeles Times Festival of Books in April 2006. At the book festival, I visited
the booth of the California Writers Club – one of America’s oldest professional
clubs for writers, founded in 1909. When I learnt that CWC considered chartering
a branch in the City of Los Angeles, I signed up.

CWC’s newly-elected President set up his first meeting with interested writers in
Los Angeles in August 2006. In the cafeteria of the Barnes & Nobel Bookstore at
The Grove, I was among the eleven writers assembled for that inaugural meeting.
After taking the Minutes of the meeting, I fell into the role of secretary of the
newly-formed Mid-Wilshire Branch of the California Writers Club. Later, the group
operated independently as the Miracle Mile Writers Club. Being a member of the
group motivated me to keep writing and to work at getting my short stories
published.

Since January 2009, I have been a member of the Greater Los Angeles Writers
Society (GLAWS) – the former Venice Branch of CWC, initiated a month after the
Mid-Wilshire Branch. Later that year, I joined the GLAWS critique group for
writers of literary and mainstream fiction.

My journey as a fiction writer moves on. The people who have helped or
influenced me along the way are featured on my pages People Along the Way.

Even in the autumn of our years, it is not too late to take that first step in doing
something we have always dreamt of doing. Naysayers abound. Adversity
abounds. But there is always a way, even though it may mean taking that
unknown path through the thicket. We never know who we may meet along that
path. Everyday, on the streets and byways, we pass by unsung heroes – men,
women, and even children. We are not alone.

Return to About Page.

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1, American King James Version)

LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA - USA

I have just three
things to teach:
simplicity, patience,
compassion.
These three are
your greatest
treasures.
Simple in actions
and in thoughts,
you return to the
source of being.
Patient with both
friends and
enemies,
you accord with
the way things are.
Compassionate
toward yourself,
you reconcile all
beings in the world.

LAO-TZU
TAO TE CHING