Old Dogs and New Tricks

I am fond of telling people that I plan to be the “Grandma Moses” of the fiction writing world. As time goes by, there are fewer people alive who understand that reference.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses lived a fairly normal life as a wife and mother in New York and Virginia, raising her children on the family farm. She had always loved being artistic, but didn’t really have time to develop her talent until she was older. She actually became famous for her painting at the age of 78. By the time she died in the early 1960’s she was known all over the country for her positive attitude and her simple, nostalgic paintings.

Colonel Harlan Sanders did not gain his rank in the military. The governor of Kentucky gave him the honorary title because of his success as an entrepreneur. Though he had worked hard at many different jobs, he became famous when he began to work with other restaurant owners to build a franchise. This happened at age 65, when many would be thinking of slowing down, of taking life a little easier.

Our late former president, George H.W. Bush was known for living life to the fullest, well into his nineties. His favorite way to celebrate his birthday was to make a parachute jump. For President Bush, though, this was not something he was unfamiliar with. His first use of a parachute was as a means of surviving a plane crash in the Second World War. It would have been understandable if he never wanted to jump from a plane again after that. Reportedly, the jump he made at age 75 came close to ending very badly, but he was determined to do it again at 80.  He showed us all that courage has no age limit, that fear need not control our lives.

After working for the State of Arkansas for over 20 years, I was drafted, along with many of my co-workers, to help configure the new accounting system that revolutionized the way we did business. The technology was unfamiliar, but we were eager to learn. We were trained by experts from all over the world, and there was a lot of satisfaction in being a part of something so exciting. From configuration, I later transitioned to training other users, another exciting change for me. This gave me a chance to build on talents I had not used to that point. A welcome challenge after years of routine job duties.

Now, after retiring and then returning to state government, my adventure continues as well. With the help of a friend who has a fine command of the latest technology, I am a member of the “.com” world. My new website will have all of the bells and whistles that seem beneficial. Of course, it will attract attention to my writing. My goal is that there will be links to not just one, but a few more books.

The first book, Turn, Turn, Turn, is a tribute to the loyal readers of my Ouachita Life column. For over a year now, it has entertained people all over the country, a few simple thoughts at a time. There is certainly plenty of fodder contained in past columns to produce a sister publication soon. After that, it’s back to the childhood dream, to create fiction worthy of publication in the Christian fiction industry. Imagine, shopping at your local grocery and seeing a book by Jenny McLeod Carlisle on the shelves. It could happen! I will wager Grandma Moses never imagined one of her pictures would become a postage stamp!

The main purpose for jennycarlisle.com, though is to create a community. With the help of social media, we can become more connected than ever. I plan to have a quarterly newsletter that will arrive in the reader’s email, and weekly ways to participate in the fun on Facebook. Together, we can encourage each other with faith and friendship.

I certainly don’t plan to parachute from a plane anytime soon, and my husband will vouch that my fried chicken is nothing to brag about. But, watch out Grandma Moses, there’s life in this old Arkansas Granny yet!