How to Prepare to be on a Panel Discussion

By Madeline Sharples

I’ve been on many panels at local writer’s conferences. And just having finished appearing on a panel, some of the things I’ve learned have come into focus. Here’s my list:

·         Know your topic cold – make sure you know the topic you plan to speak about very thoroughly. On my recent panel we discussed writing best-selling memoirs, something I know a lot about. My goal was to convince the audience to find a way to write a memoir with a universal theme – that will appeal to readers beyond the author’s family and friends. We also discussed the differences between memoir (a small portion of a person’s life story) and an autobiography (a total life story) and the differences between memoir and fiction. A memoir is nonfiction.
·         Know who your panel mates will be and their backgrounds – usually the faculty is listed with short bios on a writer’s conference website. I took advantage of that and looked up each of my panel mates beforehand. That was interesting since none of the other panel members I was with recently were memoir writers. As an aside, be courteous to the other panel members and give each other enough time respond to the questions as well.
·         Be in touch with the panel moderator in advance – I had already met the recent moderator, so I was very comfortable with her. She also sent us her list of questions in advance. I suggest all panel moderators provide us with questions well before the panel date.
·         Prepare notes to bring to the session – I wrote brief notes in answer to the moderator’s questions and went over the answers several times before the actual panel discussion. However, once I’m sitting on a panel and speaking to the audience, I don’t usually use the notes. I rely on my knowledge and experience. The notes are there as a little crutch just in case.
·         Have a stack of current business cards available – the audience usually comes up afterward to collect your business card. They carry a conference bag with them, and your cards become part of their baggage. And who knows? Maybe they’ll refer to it again and buy your book.
·         Bring your books – the audience may also want to buy books directly from you at the end of the panel discussion. I signed three books for audience members who bought my books this last time.
·         Dress in business attire – look nice and business like. I’ve actually gone so far as to wear a dress, pantyhose, and heels. Since I’m considered a faculty member, I want to look like I’m working in that role. Plus, the conference staff will take your picture as will some of the audience.

As always, I’m looking forward to my next panel appearance – I’ve just gotten an invite to appear again. I hope you get a chance to appear on one or more as well.

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Madeline Sharples worked for most of her professional life as a technical writer and editor, grant writer, and proposal manager, she fell in love with poetry and creative writing in grade school. She only began to fulfill her dream to be a creative writer later in life. Madeline's memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale about her son Paul's diagnosis with bipolar disorder, through his suicide at her home, to the present day. It details how Madeline, her husband, and younger son weathered every family's worst nightmare (Dream of Things, 2011). Madeline co-authored Blue-Collar Women: Trailblazing Women Take on Men-Only Jobs (New Horizon Press, 1994) a book about women in nontraditional professions and co-edited the poetry anthology, The Great American Poetry Show, Volumes 1,.2. and 3). She wrote the poems for The Emerging Goddess photography book (Paul Blieden, photographer). Aberdeen Bay published her first novel, Papa’s Shoes: A Polish shoemaker and his family settle in small-town America, in April 2019. It is an immigration story with a feminist, coming of age, and romance focus. Her poems have also appeared online and in print magazines. Her articles have appeared in the Huffington Post, Naturally Savvy, Aging Bodies, PsychAlive, Story Circle Network’s HerStories and One Woman’s Day blogs, and the Memoir Network blog. She posts about writing on her website Choices and host authors on her website who are marketing their books through the WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tours.  She and Bob, her husband of 49+ years, live in Manhattan Beach, California, a small beach community south of Los Angeles. Her website and social media links: Her website/blog  Her Facebook page1 Her Facebook page2 Her Facebook timeline  Her Twitter page  Her Pinterest page  Independent Author Network LinkedIn  Goodreads Amazon  You Tube  Google+

Why I Write and What I Write

By Madeline Sharples

At this point in my life by all rights I should be retired. I’ve just turned seventy-nine, and no where does it say I need to keep sitting at my computer every day and write. But I do sit there – usually from ten in the morning until about two in the afternoon. Sometimes I’ll even go back for more later in the day.

I got into this habit in the early 2000s when I started writing my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On. That expanded to writing poetry, essays for my blog and other people’s websites, and journaling.

By the time my memoir was published in 2011, I was already working on my historical novel, Papa’s Shoes, which has just been released. And that’s not the end of it. I still write poetry – I write at least one poem a week except in November and April when I write a poem a day to meet the Writer’s Digest poetry editor’s challenge. I journal every day, and I’m currently working on a new memoir.

Way back in 2010 during my frustration about not finding a publisher for my memoir (it took me two years and sixty-eight queries to finally sign a contract), I decided to take a UCLA Extension Writing Workshop called How to Write Your First Novel. At that point I had an idea – which turned into Papa’s Shoes – but I had no idea how to write a novel. That workshop was a great help in getting me started.

Although I didn’t have the same frustration in finding a publisher for Papa’s Shoes, I decided that once I completed it and started to send out queries to small presses, it was time to start another writing project. I wasn’t sure I had another book in me, but once I created an outline and began to write, I realized I might even have two. The subject I picked was aging – a universal theme I know about very well. As of now, I have finished the first draft, though I feel I need to add a few more chapters. It’s not quite long enough to qualify as a full-length memoir.

Back to the question of why don’t I just retire and not even pursue these writing projects.

Maybe I do it out of habit or because I’m aging and have to prove I still have enough faculties to keep going. Even more of a reason is that writing helps keep me from wallowing in the grief I have felt and still feel since the suicide death of my son in September 1999. I’ve said many times that his loss turned into a gift – a writing gift – and I’m not ready to throw that gift away yet.

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Madeline Sharples worked for most of her professional life as a technical writer and editor, grant writer, and proposal manager, she fell in love with poetry and creative writing in grade school. She pursued her writing interests in high school while studying journalism and writing for the high school newspaper, and she studied journalism in college. However, she only began to fulfill her dream to be a professional writer later in life. Madeline's memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale about her son Paul's diagnosis with bipolar disorder, through his suicide at her home, to the present day. It details how Madeline, her husband, and younger son weathered every family's worst nightmare. Madeline co-authored Blue-Collar Women: Trailblazing Women Take on Men-Only Jobs (New Horizon Press, 1994) a book about women in nontraditional professions and co-edited the poetry anthology, The Great American Poetry Show, Volumes 1 (Muse Media, 2004) and 2 (2010). She wrote the poems for The Emerging Goddess photography book (Paul Blieden, photographer). Her poems have also appeared online and in print magazines. Her articles have appeared in the Huffington Post, Naturally Savvy, Aging Bodies, PsychAlive, Story Circle Network’s HerStories and One Woman’s Day blogs, and the Memoir Network blog. I have appeared on panels at writers’ conferences and have spoken about and read my work at book clubs, book stores, libraries, churches, writing groups, and on the radio. She post about writing on my website Choices and host authors on my website who are marketing their books through the WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tours. Madeline is now a full-time writer and is working on her next book, a novel, based in the 1920s. She and Bob, her husband of 40+ years, live in Manhattan Beach, California, a small beach community south of Los Angeles. Her website and social media links: My website/blog  My Facebook page1 My Facebook page2 My Facebook timeline  My Twitter page  My Pinterest page  Independent Author Network LinkedIn  Goodreads  Amazon  You Tube  Google+

Writing to Heal and Save Lives

By Madeline Sharples

I aspired to be a writer since grade school, and by the time, I was in high school I was determined to be a journalist. Working on the high school newspaper made me even more determined.

As it turned out, I attended the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and took all the courses necessary for the degree. However, I transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles for my senior year because of a family illness and ended up with a degree in English. I also ended up living in Los Angeles at a time of few opportunities for women in journalism. Even so, almost immediately I was hired to write for a fashion trade magazine in downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I had to quit after three weeks because of a sexually-harassing boss. That was 1962 when there were no laws against such behavior.

I then turned to the aerospace industry. I called the old Douglas Aircraft Company – precursor of Boeing – and asked if they ever hired people with degrees in English. The answer was yes, come on over, and I was hired that afternoon. Thus began a 28-year career as a technical writer and editor, proposal manager, and later, as a web content writer. Instead of the creative writing and journalism career I had aspired to as a young girl, I took creative detours. I painted, sewed, and did needlepoint and quilting. That is until the early 1990s when I started journaling and taking creative writing classes at UCLA Extension.

Little did I know at the time that I would write not only to fulfill my life-long desire but also to heal from the worst tragedy of my life. In 1993, my older son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, causing him to commit suicide in 1999. As a result, I needed to write. I couldn’t get through the day without writing. Writing helped me put my pain down on the page. It gave me a way to express what I couldn’t say out loud to anyone.

After years of journaling and taking classes, after writing reams of dark poetry and stories about mental illness and suicide, my teachers and classmates convinced me to get my story out, to bring my work out into the light so others with similar tragedies could benefit from it. People need to read your words, they said. But, it took me almost ten years to create a memoir from my mess of journal entries, class assignments, and poems.

Since Leaving the Hall Light On was first published in May 2011 and re-released in paperback and eBook (Dream of Things, 2012), I’ve continued working toward bringing light to the subjects of mental illness and suicide through social networking, volunteering, and writing for several websites. I never dreamed that my son’s death would lead to a new mission in life – to erase the stigma of mental illness and suicide in hopes of saving lives.

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Madeline Shaples's memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale of the course of years from her son Paul's diagnosis with bipolar disorder, through his suicide at her home to the present day.  Madeline is currently working on a novel, set in the 1920s. She and Bob, her husband of 40 years, live in Manhattan Beach, California, a small beach community south of Los Angeles. Her book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TMOVHAmSlc

Become a fan of Madeline Sharples (for book news and writing tidbits) at
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Her website: http://www.MadelineSharples.com  and on Twitter @madeline40