It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.
To visit the IWSG website, click here.
To become a member of the IWSG, click here.
Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor, Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove!
Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.
Remember the question is optional.
This month's optional question is:
When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy November, Everyone!
I hope all is well with each of you.
The first stories I remember writing was when I was eight and nine in third grade.
But as much as I enjoyed writing them, I knew I would not make my living as a writer.
Christmas Eve 1958 ~ The Year I Began Writing
My Brother Roy and I (Holding Gretchen Still)
with My Sisters Barb and Donnie
My youngest Sister Bertie would be born in March 1959.
Margaretsville, Nova Scotia, Canada
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
I knew from the time I was three or four that I was expected to go to university,
and not just any university, but Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
It was drilled into me that I would become a strong, independent woman
who could stand on my own two feet and not be dependent on a man to support me.
University Hall, Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
2000s ~ Date Uncertain
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
Seventy years ago this was a radical idea in Atlantic Canada,
but it came from the struggles of women on both sides of my family,
women who were widowed and left to support themselves and sometimes their children.
My father was as determined as my mother that their four daughters
would graduate from university as well as their only son.
And we all did graduate from Acadia.
My Great Grandmother Sara Cossaboom ~ One Very Strong Woman
Widowed at a Young Age with Four Girls to Raise
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada ~ Date Unknown
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
I wrote a lot during my careers as a geologist and a teacher,
but my creative writing dreams were deferred.
I did manage to publish a few creative things ~
but I wasn't able to focus on my nonprofessional writing until I retired.
And that's perfectly okay!
I'm proud of myself for becoming a strong, independent woman
able to stand on my own two feet.
I have experienced great joy in my retirement years as a blogger, a writer of short stories,
a diarist/journalist, and a memoirist.
I have big writing dreams that I continue to pursue.
Finally a Real Writer!
Copies of Voyager: The Third Ghost Arrive
Photo by Terry Barbour, May 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
My Writing Space in Our Newly Renovated Kitchen
Aurora, Colorado, USA
October 22, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue All Rights Reserved
It's going to be fun to see how others have answered this month's question.
Have a healthy, happy, and creative November!
Take care!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2025 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be Friday, November 14th 🤞
Just so you know, I monitor my comments before publishing them. This means your comment won't appear immediately. I will not publish mean spirited or commercial comments.
...never stop dreaming.
ReplyDeleteSuch an important key to happiness, my friend! Have a great day!
DeleteLove that your dream may have been deferred but that it came true after all! Happy to be a fellow IWSG anthologist with you <3
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deniz! Isn't it a big thrill to be published in an IWSG anthology? Have fun today!
DeleteHi Louise, it's great that you started writing at 8 or 9 years of age!!! Your photos are beautiful and heartwarming, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteYou have such a beautiful smile and good heart ❤️
I am proud of you for your accomplishments and for your lovely personality.
Thank you so much for sharing, you are a great friend and an amazing person.
You made my day with your kind words, Linda! I'm so grateful that you are back online. Wishing you a happy and fulfilled day! ❤️
DeleteIt's awesome that you were encouraged to be a strong, independent woman! I like your writing space :-)
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for IWSG day The Truth of the Writer’s Life
Thanks, Ronel! I love my new writing space! It's so much bigger than my old kitchen perch. I have a perfectly fine office downstairs, but I like writing near my coffee pot. 😂. Enjoy IWSG Day!
DeleteI started later as well and like you said, that's all right!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank goodness you did, Alex! Your science fiction books are awesome! Have a great day!
DeleteOoooh your kitchen Louise! Looks amazing! I'm proud of you for being a strong, independent woman too! We all need to strive for that! ♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rain! At 75 I finally have my dream kitchen, the biggest I've ever had! One of the renovation workers asked, "There are only two of you for this big kitchen?" 😂 We both had a big laugh. I have always admired your strength and determination, my friend! Hug all those beautiful pets for me! Enjoy your day!
DeleteYou were so lucky to grow up in a family where education and financial independence of women was respected and encouraged! And yes, very unusal for those times. Certainly not the upbringing I received, LOL!
ReplyDeleteAh, but you showed them all by becoming a lawyer, Debra! Not to mention all your other amazing talent and pursuits! Have a great day!
DeleteI wish I'd been pushed to be more self-sufficient when I was younger. But I was fortunate enough to pursue writing and publishing for the past 26 years. (Laid off from my job, we were in a good enough place I could pursue other money-making things besides a J-O-B.)
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you were laid off, Diane! You have had a big impact on many people! See my big smile holding the anthology! 😂 Enjoy visiting around today!
DeleteIt's great that you focused on being a strong, independent woman with a career. I did too and became the breadwinner of our family. It must have been hard for the women in your family who became widows without a career to fall back on. Like you, I'm grateful that I can take care of myself, and I'm a widow now.
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration, Natalie! And you have accomplished so much to be proud of! If I've learned anything in this life, it's the fact that it's unpredictable and can be cruel. No matter what happened, I knew I could survive. Here's to strong, independent women!🥂
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you finished Acadia. I know your parents were proud. I was the first African American that graduated from a caucasian university and the first in my family to get a degree, and they were extremely proud. I congratulate you for not stopping to learn and also becoming the writer in your second career.
All the best.
Shalom shalom
Kudos to you, Pat! I know your path wasn't easy! Your family had every right to be extremely proud of your accomplishments! All the best to you! ❤️
Deleteyou look so fulfilled with copies of Voyagers in your arms!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dreaming! The feeling of holding these books was incredible! Have a great rest of your week!
DeletePrecious friend Louise 🥰
ReplyDeleteI truly loved your response to this question ♥️👍
I realised that you sound more serene and content while talking about your dreams regarding writing and it makes me happy and grateful 🥹🥰🙏
When once we embrace our dreams and acknowledge our struggles regardless of how much is still left to be done things become easier and that ease strengthens our minds to do better and feel stronger and confident 🤗👍
I really admire your spirit here today my friend 🥰
Special thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures of your childhood and place where you and your sisters studied 😊♥️
Please keep congratulating yourself for your achievements until now and keep moving further gently to do more ♥️
You are a powerful inspiration for all of us my beautiful and very talented friend 🥰♥️
OMG, Baili! What would I do without your wonderful support? I love and appreciate you more than I can express! Hugs to you, my special friend! ❤️
DeleteForgot to say your kitchen looks marvellous dear Louise 🤗👍👌♥️
ReplyDeleteI hope you can see the nature through the window as well 👍😊
My next post should be on our renovation. 🤞 Terry will be out of town for several days, and I hope to make progress on blogging and writing. Then, the day he returns, my sister Donnie is arriving to visit us from Calgary! I can't wait to throw my arms around her. It was hard not to see everyone this summer. My window to nature is just to the left of my tv which you see in the picture. Sending love to you and your family! ❤️❤️❤️
DeleteAnonymously Esther O'Neill, East of the Sun, no signal, and full of admiration for all families wise enough to value education for women. Today, I'd welcome advice, suggestions from you and any other IWSG about doing justice to a memoir written about 1920's and 30's poverty, UK, family with seven children. Pigeons eggs and dandelions ?
ReplyDeleteHistory and Economics degrees, but how to respect this family treasure ?
There are seasons of life, eh? We really do have to appreciate each for what they bring to us because they fly past so quickly.
ReplyDeleteI also started writing late in life, after 40, for various reasons, so I can fully relate.
ReplyDeleteYour family is amazing and I loved hearing about them and their desire that you should be an empowered woman who could be self-reliant. I'm not surprised they are proud of all you have done -- and your writing too! Thanks for sharing the photos and the story. It was inspiring.
ReplyDeleteYour parents were forward thinking. It may have delayed your writing but I bet it made you strong.
ReplyDeleteThere truly are seasons to our lives. When I find myself wishing I could have started writing sooner, I remind myself that my books wouldn't be as good without the life experience I have now. Thanks for visiting my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's to strong, independent women! That's great your parents valued college education for you and your siblings. I love the exuberant photo of you holding your first published novel! And your renovated kitchen is lovely.
ReplyDeleteYou are an amazing woman, Louise. Bravo to your father for helping all his children to become independent. Your family photo reminds me of the picture of me and my siblings at the holidays. Johnny and I were the oldest and we had two younger sisters.
ReplyDeleteMore power to you. Thanks for all you do to assist your fellow writer.
Your writing space looks marvellous. I believe we come to writing, and every other big or small life experience, exactly when we are meant to to do so. There is no late.
ReplyDeleteWomen's education and independence cannot be emphasised enough, appreciate all those who insist on it. It's the first step to equality. Unfortunately it eludes too many girls/women still.
How absolutely wonderful your brother and sisters were able to attend Acadia University. I'm sure that was quite the challenge back then and today.
ReplyDeleteYour remodeled kitchen look fantastic. I had to look twice to make sure it was a flat screen TV and not a view from your writing space. :)
Everything sure seems to have its time in life. And now with all the experience, travel, and stories you have through life, you can write many tales.
ReplyDeleteEven give a guy an idea about earwigs in the brain lol although it went very umm weird when my brain got a hold of it.
Kitchen turned out great by the looks of it too.