Beginning Blog

WOW!  This is exciting for me.  I have finally set up my very own blog and I can say whatever I want to on any subject area.  I have been wanting to do this for some time now, and I have finally figured out how to do it.  I am new to blogging and to social networks on the Internet, so I make a lot of mistakes.  I don't always know exactly what I am doing, but I hope a future audience out there will help me. 

The title of my blog, Suzette Says: is, of course, a little bit vain, but simply put, it does say what I will be doing.  This blog will be about my very own opinions, comments, insights, and content of whatever is going on in my mind at the moment.  To have an outlet such as this to express myself is a dream come true.

Here is a little about myself.  I am a recently retired Spanish/English teacher who has rewired.  I am dipping my big toe in the ocean of freelance writing and photography.  I know there is a lot of competition out there, but I hope to make a small mark somewhere with my writing.  I have always wanted to try writing and the invention of blogs makes it easier to do than publishing books.  (Although, publishing a book would be a great thing to do someday )

After teaching grammar, composition, and literature in two languages (English & Spanish), I'd like to try my own talents at this writing thing now.  In college, many years ago, I was told by my professors that I had a little bit of writing talent, but, at the time, I never took it seriously.  Now is the time to take it seriously and see what I can do with it.  I have done some traveling in this world and that has added to my outlook and perspective of the world.  I have lived in Mexico, Spain, and Germany, traveled all over Europe, and the Caribbean and I know I have a very western view of the world.  Someday, I do hope to travel to other places in the world to expand my vision.

I have taught for 30 years, but teaching is not the only thing I am trained in.  I have a MA degree from Kent State University with a concentration in Public Relations, so I have done a bit of writing in my time.  I was fortunate to have my first PR experience at the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland, OH and that is where I was broken in to the PR world.  It was a great experience and one I treasure even today.  To be able to help children and their families while doing a "job" was a wonderful excuse for "work."  The people I met there have always remained in my heart.  Today, I do a little PR work for the Voices of Naples, a community choir I joined last year in Naples, Florida.  That also is a labor of love, as we "sing for scholarships" for high school vocal music students going on to higher education to study music.  We have raised over $18,000 for student scholarships and we are continuing in this venture.

I winter in Naples, Florida, and hope to permanently live there someday.  The sun, Gulf, beach, and palm trees lull me into relaxation and I do my best thinking on the beach.  That is where a lot of my inspiration for writing comes from.  I enjoy writing fiction and non-fiction short stories which you can read at www.freelanced.com/suzannahwalker.  Check out my portfolio there.

Naples Pier and Beach,  Naples, Florida

If you are wondering about my name, yes, my given name is Suzannah, but my parents gave me the nickname Suzette at birth as I already had an aunt named Sue and a cousin named Susie.  Unique, huh?  And, yes, Suzannah is the correct spelling as it is a family spelling my Grandmother Wolf came up with.  Anymore questions?  If you have any, please fill free to ask in the reader comments section and I encourage you to comment or give your opinion on any blog I write, but be warned, profanity, libel, name calling, and just plain meaness will be expunged.

Well, this is all Suzette Says: today!  Wish me luck!