Meet Jill Elizabeth Arent Franclemont, a kindred spirit, author and poet

Sometimes we meet kindred spirits who reach us on an intuitive basis, for many reasons. Jill Elizabeth has been my Guest Poet all of the past week and I know, after reading her work, that we are sisters of the heart. Please, welcome my friend, Jill Elizabeth Arent Franclemont,  and offer her your support.  Blessings to all...Scarlett.

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Jill at her desk. Courtesy of Francletography, c 2011

About Me (Jill): The Very Short Version

Mine was an average, small-town childhood.  I read everything in sight, went to school, played with friends.  I imagined a lot of things and places, and decided I wanted to see them all – which meant leaving that average small town as soon as possible.  I went to D.C., studied philosophy, put myself through school.  I worked for five years, realized I wanted more and decided on law.  Enter Chicago.  Despite a hairy beginning (pick-pocketed my first day!), I survived law school and two bar exams, and headed to a law firm in Philadelphia. The billable hour and I did not get along.  Within a year I was job hunting. 

Enter the magical world of pharmaceuticals (employment, not consumption).  It seemed like a dream – prestigious title, high pay, regular hours, travel, Corporate perks.  At first it was.  Then my boss (an amazing woman) retired.  Then her boss (another amazing woman) retired.  Then I learned how much those two women had shaped my experience – and how much I didn’t fit the mold of a Corporate American.  Bored and frustrated, I took a sabbatical and started thinking. 

I couldn’t stay.  I didn’t enjoy anything about it anymore.  The company was being acquired – a golden opportunity, since I wanted out.  Back-of-the-envelope math told me I could decide what I wanted to do next based on what I wanted, not money.  I wanted something utterly unlike the regimented bureaucracy of Big Pharma.  I loved to read, people told me I turned a clever phrase.  Why not write?  A zillion months later, the company was sold and I was free.  And a mess.  I moved back to my hometown for a comfortable environment.  It was a little too comfortable.  But it helped bring back my long-lost sanity and let me be a real daughter, aunt and friend for the first time in twenty years.  It was amazing, but a year passed without a single written word.

Eek.

I couldn’t believe how time flew – or how easily entropy set in.  I was tired of people politely asking how the book was going, and politely responding that it wasn’t.  I was also tired of being unproductive.  I needed a kick in the ass, and got one when I fell in love with an amazing man – an amazing, diligent, focused man.  Score!  Suddenly things looked different – in the best possible way.  When I said I felt like writing, he said that was good because he was setting me up a blog.  When I whined I didn’t feel like writing, he reminded me this was my dream and if I started, I’d be surprised how easily I’d keep going.  He was right.

Here we are a year later.  Amazing Man and I are married.  I have two step-kids, a blog, a collection of stories and novel in the works, and more ideas than ever.  Things are clicking along – some days more slowly than I’d like, but still: progress.  I don’t know where exactly this will all go, but it sure is one hell of a ride…

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