Our September Member of the Month is Connie Schenkelberg, a teacher, writer, and evaluator. As you read through the Connie’s interview responses and look over her professional profile, you’ll see why writers and students are drawn to this dynamic, compassionate evaluator.

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

I started teaching English and social studies at a Christian school in Louisiana. Then I taught English in a public high school in Florida, the same one from which I’d graduated a few years before. The next stop was Mississippi, where I taught middle school English, history, and science for three years. In 1990, we moved to northern Virginia, and I taught English and history in a local middle school for most of the time since then. . . . I hope my next stop is South Dakota; my husband and I hope to move there in 2 or 3 years.

Q: How and when did you make this business a reality?

During my years in Mississippi, I started writing technical manuals and found that I really liked that kind of work. When we moved to Virginia, I expanded my technical writing to include workbooks for middle school students. I think that’s the point at which I decided to make this business a reality.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned thus far in your career?

Don’t assume anything. ALWAYS reread.*

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

I’m researching the life and times of Jim Bridger, one of America’s best western explorers, in preparation to write a juvenile biography. I’d like to bring him to life, to excite kids about this amazing man!

Q: What are some of the teachers, books, or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?

John Bruce, Betty Sue Evans, and Dr. Anna J. Cistrunk were three teachers who influenced my professional life. John Bruce taught me political systems and tolerance for people who weren’t like me at all. Betty Sue Evans brought American history to life and shaped the way I taught my history classes. Then there is Dr. Cistrunk, one of the few professors who ever scared the beejeebers out of me. The two courses I took with her were worth their weight in gold because she taught me how to write.

Books and authors? I’m a science fiction enthusiast and enjoy the early works of Robert Heinlein, just about everything by Anne McCaffrey, and the diversity of Frank Herbert. Of the three, Herbert was the best at bringing completely new material for me to read and enjoy. In fact, I wrote my master’s thesis on Dune.

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer a writing evaluator who is just beginning a career?

Value the writer. It’s an easy matter to criticize; it’s far more difficult to critique in a way that leaves the writer’s self-respect intact.

Q: What inspires you?

The prairie. The great expanse of God’s creation in this continent makes my heart swell and inspires me to write the stories of people who passed this way.

*****

*In the next edition of The Edge, our twice-monthly e-zine, Connie shares a brief story about the perils of not re-reading, and the wrong way to provide feedback. If you’re not on the mailing list, sign up in the column to the right so that you won’t miss a single issue.

Our August Member of the Month is writer and manuscript evaluator, Troy Howell. As you read through the interview and his professional profile, you’ll see why this freelance veteran continues to grow and thrive in his very competitive chosen field.

Because of his broad experience, Troy’s manuscript evaluations are particularly valuable, often sparking for the author an “aha!” moment that results in a stronger, more publishable manuscript.

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

I’ve had the privilege of working with all the major publishers in New York over the span of my career, thanks to the editors and art directors who saw something in my work despite my own uncertainties at times. A couple of high moments have been sharing programs with greats like Barbara Cooney, David Wiesner, and Mary Pope Osborne. There is one light all creatives work in, and that is passion.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?

My career as an author-illustrator began when I sent some of my poems, along with illustrations, to CRICKET magazine, then in its infancy. Trina Schart Hyman, Caldecott winner for Saint George and the Dragon, liked my work and sent me my first assignment. Shortly after, Trina’s assistant left the staff to become an agent and represent me, among others. It’s been fairly uphill since, with the largest portion of my work being illustration until the last seven years, to which I’ve devoted writing.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned thus far in your career?

Patience and perseverance are absolute necessities. Those, and the previously mentioned passion. The light of passion may dim, but you must not let it go out. Find something within or without, or someone, to inspire you.

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

Several, always.

Q: What are some of the books or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?
The natural intimacy of Katherine Mansfield’s characters; the enchanting incongruity and bitter-sweetness of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn; the teasing complexity of Nabokov’s novels and short stories; the poetic richness and varied structure of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient; the story navigation through the suspense of John Le Carrés The Spy Who Came In From The Cold; and the experimental form of Robert Cormier’s I am the cheese.

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer a writer who is just beginning a career?
Study what appeals to you most, to see what can be done and has been done and how. Go into a museum and notice what catches your eye, even if it’s other visitors, and ask yourself why. Compose sentences you would enjoy reading yourself, and if you don’t like them, if they don’t work, throw them out. And always, always, read your work out loud, have someone else read it out loud, then tuck it away for a long enough time that it will take you by surprise or disappointment when you read it out loud again. If you are not disappointed, you’ve got it.

Q: What inspires you?

My influences are broader than literature.
There’s music: the Beatles’ genre-consciousness that explored other cultures and times; the playfulness of the Incredible String Band, whose childlike wonder continues through the lyrical works of its founding member, Robin Williamson; the neo-classical calmness, beauty and solidity of Robert Casadesus; the humor and spontaneity of the original world-music group, Oregon.

Nature: the tender and harsh, domestic and wild, vast and minute, bold and delicate, mysterious and unfathomable works by the Creator.

Art: the graphic contrasts of Rembrandt’s etchings; the confident simplicity and immediacy of Degas; the multi-layered, austere collages of Fred Otnes.

You may contact Troy at his website: TroyHowell.NAIWE.com