Book Shop Chats
Episode FOUR: Jeannne Lyet Glassman
About Jeanne Lyet Glassman:
An only child, I was born in San Francisco, CA in 1955. My father was an aircraft mechanic and pilot, and my mother was an artist. Our family relocated to Colombia, South America when I was two for my father’s job, and we returned to the States shortly before I started kindergarten due to the political unrest and my mother’s concerns about the family’s safety.
After graduating with a B.A. in English from Eastern New Mexico University, I moved to Albuquerque with plans to pursue an M.A. in English at the University of New Mexico. I met my husband there while playing in a pit orchestra for the musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar! My husband was principal bassoonist, and I was concert mistress. Many couples have their “song,” but we have our own rock opera!
I never completed my M.A. because we moved to northern California for my husband to teach math at the University of the Pacific. When I fretted about abandoning graduate school, about not having a job or a plan, my husband told me, “You’ve always wanted to be a writer, so write.” I published my first freelance story a couple of months later, and my life changed forever.
My husband and I became active in The Compassionate Friends and later co-facilitated S.H.A.R.E., a grief support group for parents who have lost children through miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. We worked with grieving parents for four years–until shortly after we adopted our daughter, the oldest of our two bi-racial children. A year later, we adopted our son. I’ve written and published several pieces about grief, neonatal death, and adoption, including the essay, “Rising from the NICU,” published on Raising Mothers.
My creative nonfiction piece, “Healing Arts,” is a tribute to my mother’s struggle with that horrible disease. I returned to graduate school in 2008 and received my MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2010. After my husband retired, we settled in Ruidoso, New Mexico, in 2017 where I have continued to write and teach.
My awards include an Independent Publishers Book Award for my first novel, BLOOD OF A STONE (Tuscany Press), grants and fellowships from the New Mexico Writers’ Foundation, Ragdale, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, as well as nominations for a Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. In addition to writing and editing, I also teach creative writing for arts organizations and community groups.
www.jeannelyetgassman.com
Twitter--https://twitter.com/JLyetGassman
Facebook--https://www.facebook.com/JeanneLyetGassman
Threads--https://www.threads.net/@jeanne.gassman
Instagram--https://www.instagram.com/jeanne.gassman/
My blog, Jeanne's Writing Desk--http://jeannelyetgassman.blogspot.com/
About Victoria:
Hi I’m Victoria a writer & developmental editor. I LOVE supporting sensitive authors write their dream novel. I’m currently writing my debut novel Wild Enough, a rom com centred around Elle’s journey navigating anxiety, love and loss in Ireland.Go from daydreaming about writing a book to a finished first draft.
Guess what? You don't need to have a fancy degree in creative writing or be an amazing speller (hi, it's me). You've come to the right place if you're a creative mind (like me) wanting to write your first draft with confidence.
IG: www.instagram.com/editsbyvictoria
Website: https://victoriajaneeditorial.com
About Jeanne Lyet Glassman:
An only child, I was born in San Francisco, CA in 1955. My father was an aircraft mechanic and pilot, and my mother was an artist. Our family relocated to Colombia, South America when I was two for my father’s job, and we returned to the States shortly before I started kindergarten due to the political unrest and my mother’s concerns about the family’s safety.
After graduating with a B.A. in English from Eastern New Mexico University, I moved to Albuquerque with plans to pursue an M.A. in English at the University of New Mexico. I met my husband there while playing in a pit orchestra for the musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar! My husband was principal bassoonist, and I was concert mistress. Many couples have their “song,” but we have our own rock opera!
I never completed my M.A. because we moved to northern California for my husband to teach math at the University of the Pacific. When I fretted about abandoning graduate school, about not having a job or a plan, my husband told me, “You’ve always wanted to be a writer, so write.” I published my first freelance story a couple of months later, and my life changed forever.
My husband and I became active in The Compassionate Friends and later co-facilitated S.H.A.R.E., a grief support group for parents who have lost children through miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. We worked with grieving parents for four years–until shortly after we adopted our daughter, the oldest of our two bi-racial children. A year later, we adopted our son. I’ve written and published several pieces about grief, neonatal death, and adoption, including the essay, “Rising from the NICU,” published on Raising Mothers.
My creative nonfiction piece, “Healing Arts,” is a tribute to my mother’s struggle with that horrible disease. I returned to graduate school in 2008 and received my MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2010. After my husband retired, we settled in Ruidoso, New Mexico, in 2017 where I have continued to write and teach.
My awards include an Independent Publishers Book Award for my first novel, BLOOD OF A STONE (Tuscany Press), grants and fellowships from the New Mexico Writers’ Foundation, Ragdale, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, as well as nominations for a Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. In addition to writing and editing, I also teach creative writing for arts organizations and community groups.
www.jeannelyetgassman.com
Twitter--https://twitter.com/JLyetGassman
Facebook--https://www.facebook.com/JeanneLyetGassman
Threads--https://www.threads.net/@jeanne.gassman
Instagram--https://www.instagram.com/jeanne.gassman/
My blog, Jeanne's Writing Desk--http://jeannelyetgassman.blogspot.com/
About Victoria:
Hi I’m Victoria a writer & developmental editor. I LOVE supporting sensitive authors write their dream novel. I’m currently writing my debut novel Wild Enough, a rom com centred around Elle’s journey navigating anxiety, love and loss in Ireland.Go from daydreaming about writing a book to a finished first draft.
Guess what? You don't need to have a fancy degree in creative writing or be an amazing speller (hi, it's me). You've come to the right place if you're a creative mind (like me) wanting to write your first draft with confidence.
IG: www.instagram.com/editsbyvictoria
Website: https://victoriajaneeditorial.com