I’m now at work on a MEMOIR, a new genre for me.
Coming of age in the 1950s, I was programmed for a traditional female path – marriage and teaching. Life didn’t turn out that way. I left teaching after one year of 7th grade language arts and began a career in telecommunications. It was the Bell System back then and while I started in a traditionally female job – technical editing – my path took some interesting turns.
By 1970 I was alert to the feminist movement and called myself a corporate feminist, bound to change the company, and I would do so. In the 1970s I was part of a collaborative and sometimes underground effort to change AT&T’s employment practices; that I documented in Women, Power, and AT&T: Winning Rights in the Workplace (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2003).
I didn’t ignore my career; I moved up the corporate ladder in Corporate Planning, Treasury, Corporate Policy Seminars, New York Telephone Network, AT&T Marketing, and NYNEX Access Services. Mid-career I went off the beaten path and spent a year working for the Ford Administration in Washington DC.
The New York Telephone Company experience was not a normal career step, and it is the subject of my memoir.
In retirement I have continued to blaze trails – living on a farm for 12 years and then being an active participant in political campaigns for 15 years. Those experiences will have to be the subject of another book.
I’m hoping to learn about memoirs as I write and have participated in Author Learning Center webinars. I’m trying to figure out how to communicate with other authors on Goodreads. This is challenging.
Base Camp 210 
I agree. It is challenging, Lois, to find author friends online. You are doing it the right way, though, by finding other blogs and sites you like, then joining. I have found there is a large writing community on Twitter. And if you don’t “Tweet” I would encourage you to. I wrote a blogpost on it here: https://jenniferhaskin.com/2018/01/23/agent-questions-volume-three/
It talks about why and what to tweet using that platform. When you make posts, make sure to add a hashtag after it like #WritingCommunity or #Writerslife, then all the people in those groups will see your posts. You can ask the group questions and just connect to other authors. It’s where I found my cover artist and video trailer executive. I know you are a smart woman and business savvy, but for a lot of adults, Twitter is scary. I say, don’t let it. And if you have any questions, I am happy to answer them! I was previously a literary agent until a string of spinal surgeries took me out of working completely. Now I write and consult full -time.
Thank you so much! I have a twitter account and promise to use it more than in the past. For the past 15 years I’ve been active in politics so I was very cautious about what I posted and where. Now I am dedicating myself to writing and therefore not so circumspect! In fact, I’m working with a firm to get more out of my social media and website as well. The website is loisherr.com. I’ll go look at your post also. Thanks again