Pamela Jane – PAMELA JANE

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Woodstock: Miracle or Mess?

Woodstock, ’69. Over the past 50 years, the legendary music festival has evolved into a narrative of biblical dimensions, touching on the miraculous and transcendent. People talk reverently about the pilgrimage to Bethel, N.Y., as though recounting a visit to Lourdes. Which explains why original Woodstock cofounder Michael Lang, is planning a 50th reunion of the festival on August 16th, 17th, and 18th, 2019, although recently the permit to host the festival in Vernon, N.Y., was denied over concerns about sewage, parking and road congestion. Sewage, parking and road congestion was the last thing on our minds the morning of Aug. 16, 1969, when my cousin Bob and I rattled off to Bethel in Bob’s old VW bug, happily ignoring radio announcements warning people to stay away from the festival. Soon after we left, a newscaster interrupted the Rolling Stones on the radio. “If you are headed to the festival, please turn around immediately. The New York State Thruway is … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

My Long Recovery From Kindergarten (The Wall Street Journal)

For a long time I puzzled over how I managed to go from a hopeless screw-up in school to a hardworking, disciplined writer as an adult. After considering it for 50 years or so, I came to the realization that I had been a very hardworking little girl. In fact I was a workaholic, striving, in my 4-year-old way, to decipher the mysteries of the universe and the meaning of life. What was real? What was illusory? Sometimes, in the middle of the night, it seemed as if nothing was real, that sunlight and houses and stop signs were pictures painted on a curtain. Behind the curtain was a black hole—nothingness. We kids weren’t supposed to know about the nothingness. Late at night, when we were asleep, the grown-ups touched up or repaired any wrinkles or tears in the curtain so that we wouldn’t suspect what lay behind the seamless surface. Even my consciousness, my essential being, might be part … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Good Grief – Rejected by a Grief Group! (The Wall Street Journal)

(From The Wall Street Journal) When my husband began hospice care last spring, I decided to join a grief group. I thought it might be helpful to share stories and support with others who were facing the same heartbreak. I googled “grief groups” and found one that met weekly at a local church. It looked as though I was just in time for the next session, so I called and spoke to the group leader. “I’d like to join your grief group,” I said. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she responded sympathetically. “When did your loved one die?” “Well, my husband hasn’t exactly died yet. He has end-stage dementia,” I explained. There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I’m afraid you aren’t eligible to join,” she said. “Our group is only for people whose friends or family members have actually died.” I was so taken aback all I could mange was an inarticulate “Oh!” I hung … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

My Husband Died, but I’m No Widow (The Wall Street Journal)

From The Wall Street Journal (December 2017) Recently I called my investment company to make a withdrawal. The representative, who sounded quite young, introduced himself as Matthew and reminded me that we were on a recorded line. “Let me look up your account,” I recall him saying after the preliminaries. “I see your husband passed away recently. I’m sorry for your loss.” After I murmured something noncommittal, he said he would change my marital status to widow. Something in me balked. “Don’t change my status,” I responded. “I’m not a widow.” There was a puzzled silence on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry,” said Matthew. “But my records indicate your husband passed away.” “He did,” I said, “but I’m not a widow.” Matthew mumbled something unintelligible. I knew he had no idea what I was talking about. To be honest, neither did I. But I didn’t want a stranger on the telephone to tell me what I was. … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Dream Your Way to Writing Your Memoir: Five Tips

“Dreams are real while we have them; can we say more of life?” –anonymous My seventeenth year was a nightmare (a waking one!) My parents were in the middle of a bitter divorce, my mother had recently had a nervous breakdown, and my dad was having an affair. Late at night, through the heating vent by my bed, I could hear my father’s angry voice and my mother’s sobs in the downstairs rec room. It was a painful and volatile time but my older brother, who was away at college, kept urging me to keep our parents together and our family intact. I had no idea how I was supposed to accomplish this. Further more, I didn’t want to. “I’m not interested in all this parent shit,” I wrote back. “I just want to get out of here.” It would take me decades to discover that this was not the voice of a callous teenager but of a heart-broken young … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Just Wait! A short story rejected in grade school becomes a cause of action

In elementary school, back in the 1950s, we were never given writing assignments, and I never imagined there were any living authors. I pictured a cemetery filled with tombstones of my favorite writers with their last names first, like card catalogs in the library: Baum, L. Frank 1856-1919. Writing – the pleasure of articulating interior worlds sensed but not seen – was something I did on my own. I was in eighth grade before I got a chance to write a story for school. My eighth-grade English teacher, Mr. Mortem, was a malevolent-looking man with a low brow and small beady eyes. We joked that he moonlighted as an axe murderer. But he was even scarier as an English teacher. He terrorized us with menacing-sounding exams called “evaluations,” which turned out to be ordinary multiple-choice tests. But he was the first teacher to give us an assignment to write a short story. “Remember,” Mr. Mortem called as we filed out of class, “no stories from TV!” I hardly heard him. I was … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

The Ambivalent Agnostic: An Adoption Story

I was in my 40s when I decided to quit a cushy secretarial job at a Park Avenue law firm in order to write full-time. The move felt risky. My husband, a professor at NYU, was 17 years older, and the loss of my pay check cut our already modest income in half. But the fear, confusion, and indecision I felt was only partly due to our precarious finances. The main reason was because we had just decided to adopt a baby. In spite of my worries and reservations, John and I flew to Lubbock, Texas, to register with an adoption agency recommended by friends. My mother had retired to West Texas, and only a few weeks earlier I had traveled there to visit her before she died. Now I was returning to that barren land in search of new life. The adoption agency said it could take months to get a baby. We filled out all the application forms, … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

How Pride and Prejudice and Kitties Came About

cat on desk

Pride and Prejudice and Kitties (originally called “Purr and Petulance”) began many years ago with the idea of combining the wicked humor of Jane Austen with the wackiness of cats. When we started out, we didn’t really know what we were doing (and that’s an understatement). We thought it was enough to take a cute cat photo and throw a quote from Pride and Prejudice at it. The idea of illustrating P&P with photos of kitties was so funny to us that we didn’t even think it mattered if the photograph related to the quote. In fact, to us it was funnier if it didn’t. Here’s an example: OK, so the letters look more like bills, and Mr. Bennet looks more clueless than surprised, but maybe he’s really bowled over by the thought that his dear Lizzy is about to become Mrs. Darcy! We blithely snapped a bunch of cat photographs, wrote a proposal and query letter, and began approaching … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Read the First Chapter of My Memoir

beach run

In 1965, when I was eighteen, I ran away to Portland, Oregon. Running away was an act of rebellion, but also of faith. In one beautiful leap I would escape my family, my past, and the insufferable person I’d been living with for the past few years—my teenage self. This person was quite obviously screwed up. She had way too many problems. No one wanted any part of them, especially me. In Portland I could reinvent myself and leave the past behind. My brother agreed to drive me to the airport on the condition that I stop to say goodbye to my parents. So on a gray November morning, I found myself driving down the flat Midwestern streets where the silent, respectable houses stared impassively out of the dawn. We turned a corner, and my brother slowed down. There it was—the familiar red brick bungalow with my writing alcove overlooking the maple tree. My brother pulled over and turned off … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

My Perfect Writing Fantasy!

peaceful nature scene

Recently I was taking a woodland walk, while indulging in an unbelievable fantasy. It’s the same fantasy I’ve had, with variations, since I was a little girl. I’m a children’s book author who works at home while her wonderful husband is away at work and her wonderful child is off at school. So, what’s my real life like? Well, I’m a children’s book author. I work at home while my family is away at work or off at school and they are wonderful-most of the time. And yet my fantasy couldn’t be further from reality. As I walked through the spring woods, I pondered why. To begin with, my children’s author fantasy is set sometime in the 1940s. I write quietly at home; I don’t have to market or promote my books. I’ve had the same editor for twenty years; she buys everything I write, and all my books stay in print forever. If I need a little extra money … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

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