|
Yes, she's been on CNN (twice), national radio, in national books, magazines and newspapers, blah blah... She’s now author of four picture books and dedicated to the children’s book industry.
Her husband and three kids have been very supportive of her new-found devotion, and she looks forward to more published books, more conference presentations, more book signings, and more school visits.
Bio: the short version
Bitsy spent too much of her early career in the computer industry, not realizing the creative passion she’d have once she started writing children’s books. After writing her first four picture books, she figured out a way to merge her PR and marketing expertise with her writing, and enjoys presenting at writers conferences. She’s an accomplished speaker, mother of three (four if you count her husband) and according to her business card, an all-around nice gal.
Bio: the long version
Bitsy grew up on Lawn Guyland (which is spelled "Long Island"), New York, the youngest of five kids born within five years. Her family didn’t have much growing up but they all learned the value of family, of fun, and of faith. She was one of those rare kids that LOVED school, and was involved in every extracurricular activity ever offered. She went to college (undergraduate) in North Carolina. She got a “real job” right after she graduated, moving out to sunny California, then earning an MBA, getting married, having kids, and writing books, but wait, this is the long version so hold on. CA is where she remains today but lots have happened in the meantime.
Early on in her career, Bitsy worked in the computer industry as a PR and marketing manager. She created business plans, product introduction plans, marketing plans, and excelled at pioneering new avenues of company growth. Bitsy had the pleasure of teaching Presentation Skills to engineers (tough crowd!), giving Media Training to executives (ditto!), and distributing ongoing skill and process enhancement ideas to her peers (such as using a Gantt Chart). She wrote various product, advertising and corporate documents and news releases—sometimes technical, sometimes educational, sometimes flat-out boring. Her writing skills never seemed to take a vacation.
She helped run a multi-million dollar program to talk to parents about using the family computer, and co-wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column that ran for almost five years in fifteen different newspapers throughout the nation. She then penned her own column for two more years in California, on the same topic. Using humor and real life examples, her weekly columns helped families see a friendly side of their family computer. Most recently her column appeared in the Sacramento Bee, titled InterActive Family, but it was also known as “Digital Parenting” and “PC Parents.” Today she is a reporter for many newspapers in Northern California, where her articles sometimes land on the front page.
The funny thing is
she majored in Economics and Speech Communication, not English or
journalism. She also earned an MBA with honors, but even that didn’t
steer her towards where she is today.
Throughout her career and “real life” she's appeared regularly on TV and on panels, won public speaking awards, emceed events, hosted live web chats, been in movies, TV commercials, live theater and music videos. She starred in the award-winning TV show Dots Correct on Sacramento cable. She’s been interviewed or profiled in literally hundreds of media outlets worldwide, from CNN to Writing Children’s Books for Dummies. She got married, has three young kids, and stays active in church and theater.
She wrote her first book, in rhyme, in her mind while on her daily stroller walks with her youngest child. She started looking into getting it published and has been knee-deep ever since. She’s learned a lot about books, children’s books, and the market overall. That first book has never been published, and she admits it may never be, but like a bulldog with a chew toy, she just wouldn't (and still won’t!) give up. She attended conference after conference, joined SCBWI, read everything she could get her hands on, started critique clubs, posted queries to strangers in usenet groups, you name it. Before long her commitment and eagerness paid off; she got published! Her first contract was a four-book, nonfiction deal with Picture Window Books. Within a few years she's presented at the very conferences she first attended, including the national and revered SCBWI conference in L.A., helping writers like herself hone their craft. She also does school and library visits and can’t wait to get her next book published.
Once she started writing for children, you see, things clicked. It felt right. It never feels like work when you love what you are doing! She then figured out a way to merge her PR and marketing expertise with her writing, and couldn’t be happier. Well, sure, if a few more manuscripts get picked up she will be, and a back massage here or there wouldn't hurt, but you know what she means...
Whoever would have guessed this is where she’d end up—and that she’d like it so much?
[Are you wishing you stuck with the short bio?]
|
