Our meeting started promptly at 4:00 pm at Applebees near the Tucson Mall. Rose Mary introduced me to the group, telling me that I should tell a bit of my story. It took only a few minutes, before it was non-stop questions and interesting observations. Liz Leggett wanted to know how my negative experience with religion as a child had impacted my view of religion today and asked how she could get a copy of the book. Mary Letts was curious about why the Club believes only 144,000 will go to heaven. Jan Graunke grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska, which ironically was the city my sister, Mary Lyn, was living in when she was murdered. Sophie Katz and Betty Griffis shared their thoughts about organized religion and both purchased copies of my book. Prudy Cain mentioned that alot of people claim to be agnostics but on their death bed, most of them are praying to a Higher Power. She also commented that she was looking forward to reading my book.

All in all, it was fun to be the center of attention for an afternoon and I look forward to getting feedback on my book from the ladies in “Books with Rose Mary.”

The first is chapter one, where Mama receives the first knock at her door in November 1947, and I vividly describe both Mama’s and my four-year-old reaction to the message and messenger.

Visitors can also read chapter twenty-one in its entirety. Entitled “Grandpa’s Kisses,” I share in sensory detail a significant turning point in my life and how important my grandparents were in helping me, at twelve years of age, to come to grips with events over which I had no control.

It’s then that I received the following Michele DeVoe Lussky review: “Kelly’s book is an amazing glimpse into the Jehovah’s Witness sub-culture as well as a touching coming-of-age tale. It was at times disturbing, saddening, and hilarious — it was always enlightening — and in the end it proved to be uplifting.”

Knowing that Michele was a freelance writing consultant and author of the well-written, touching poem to my daughter, Kim, on her 40th birthday, I asked if she’d be willing to give me some critique to make the third printing of Mama’s Club even better. She liked the idea.

After some nice perfunctory comments about the book, she got right down to business. As a result of her advice, I have decided that I will get rid of the excessive use of italics. Instead, a Glossary of Club Words & Jargon will be added to the back of the book. There will be an Epilogue. I will share more sensory details and memorabilia for the time I lived in Nebraska and at Bethel. I’ve improved the dialogue to make it more genuine. I’ve added more Club history. The reader will learn more about Helen and our five-year-writing courtship. And I’ve added an interesting conversion story about Johnny Morrow and his family. This new, third edition will be available in January.

Question 12 on the Guide asks the readers, “Do you believe that only unintelligent people are attracted to the Club? Why do you feel this way?” It was this question that generated a long, interesting discussion at one of the Book Clubs that I met with in October. How would you respond to these questions?

One young woman told me rather spiritedly that before she read the book, she always thought Jehovah’s Witnesses weren’t very smart. Then after getting to know Mama, she had changed her mind. It wasn’t that these people didn’t have good minds. Its that they consciously chose not to use their thinking skills, abdicating instead to have someone else make those decisions. She thought it was a little scary, reminding her how important it was to be able to question what she was told by the leaders of the church she attended without being made to feel guilty.

After reviewing the Reading Group Guide, I would be very interested in knowing your suggestions for making the Guide as user friendly as possible. What would you add, delete, or change? You can respond to me in this blog or by emailing me at parkerridgepubs@aol.com.

After doing my first draft of Growing Up In Mama’s Club I asked a trusted friend to read it and give me his advice. While it was a bitter pill to swallow, Bob Rogers didn’t mince words. He told me that I had way too much anger and needed to learn how to write. It was an honest diagnosis of where I was at that moment in time. I needed to hear the truth so that I could ultimately come up with a plan to resolve my problem. Fortunately, professional help was available. And for the next three years, I went back to school, learning to write, and I exorcised my demons.

But being able to write is not enough if one’s goal is to get their story into print and to have people want to read it. I needed an editor that I could work with. Someone who understood where I was in my learning curve, shared my passion for getting it into print, and could give me constructive criticism. After finishing my story, I needed a publisher or for someone to help me self-publish. Then I needed someone with the graphic skills to design an attractive book cover. And because I wanted to include pictures in my book, I needed a photographer familiar with restoring old pictures and knowing how to present them in a paperback book. Once I had the book complete, I needed to let people know about it and why I thought they would enjoy reading the book. I prioritized the Internet as the place to start. But I needed a technical expert who knew how to set up an easy to use, attractive website. And so, I have described the team of experts who helped me get Mama’s Club to where it is today. If you would like to meet those five talented professionals and learn how I met them, I would encourage you to link onto the new Acknowledgments section on my main website.