About Me:

Aloha! I'm Wendy Kennar. I'm the mother of a seven-year-old son and a wife living in Los Angeles. I was a public school teacher for twelve years until a chronic medical condition made it necessary to leave my teaching career.

I've always been described as "quiet" - really, I'm just biting my tongue. I've got lots to say, and lots of thoughts to share, I just prefer to write them. That's the purpose of this blog. Each Wednesday, I post a personal essay offering my observations and thoughts.

A few fun facts about me: I've wanted to be a writer since second grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Jones, made me a "book" with a yellow construction paper cover. I have never learned to whistle, have always preferred sunflowers to roses, and have spent my life living within the same zip code.

Through the years, my writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, United Teacher, GreenPrints, L.A. Parent, DivineCaroline.com, RoleReboot.org, XOJane, and Brain, Child Magazine. Additionally, my personal essays have been included in several anthologies, including: The Barefoot Review, Beyond the Diaper Bag, Lessons From My Parents, Write for Light, Being a Grown-Up: A User's Manual for the Real World, Ka-Pow!, How Writing Can Get You Through Tough Times, Breath and Shadow, The Grey Wolfe Storybook, and Sisters Born, Sisters Found.
I am a regular contributor at MomsLA.com, and you can also find me at Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Feel free to comment and share my blog with others!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Aloha!

   A year ago, I started an experiment.  Inspired after watching Julie and Julia, I decided the only way to take my writing seriously was to start a blog.  For one year, I posted an essay a week.  Okay, in all honesty, I missed two weeks; but 50 out of 52 is not too shabby.  Writing had been something I liked to do, but the way my life was going, I wasn’t doing it.  I needed a deadline, granted a self-imposed deadline, but a deadline nonetheless.  This blog taught me that I couldn’t call myself a writer if I wasn’t actually writing.  And now, I was writing.  I was a writer.
   So, in recognition of my first year of blog-writership, I have decided to “graduate” and post my blogs at a new site.  It is my hope that this new site will allow new readers to discover my writing.  In the past year, my work has been published in a few places.   And, truthfully, I’m still wishing for the day when writing will pay the bills.  But, that day isn’t here yet.  So I’ve kept my day job (teaching), my 24-hour-a-day job (wife and mother), and this is my part-time job.  
   This past year taught me that I hadn’t been true to myself for a long time.  Writing is what I enjoy, it’s what I feel compelled to do, and yet I wasn’t doing it.  Now, I am.
   So enjoy each week’s posts.  They are personal essays - on topics that have inspired me, irritated me, and intrigued me.  Feel free to leave your comments, and please, share my blog with others.  
   Aloha!

6 comments:

  1. Honey!

    I am so proud of your writing! Keep up the great work!

    Love,
    Paul

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  2. Wendy, you are a very gifted writer and I hope one day soon your work will be published and you will be able to pay your bills with your earnings. I am very proud of you as you are en exceptional person.

    love,mommy

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  3. Wendy, I am just trying to learn how to use this.
    love,mommy

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  4. Congratulations on your new web site. Love Dad

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  5. Congrats on your new blog site. I hope you get more followers this way.

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  6. WooHoo! Blogspot! Now you're rolling! I used to have one of these back in high school! I can't wait to keep reading your posts!

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