Introductory Blog Post: My Writer's Journey
Hello, world! Welcome to my blog and my very first blog post! I’m Rebecca Greene – author, social worker, and freelance writer. I have written five books, including my forthcoming children’s book, The Next Best Cupcake (April 2021), and my forthcoming kids’ guided journal, The Kids’ Goal-Setting Journal: Choose a Goal and Go for It! 52 Weeks of Kid-Powered Goal Setting (March 2021). I’m also hard at work on my forthcoming parenting/self-help book, Only Child Family: The Step-by-Step Guide to Raising an Only Child (tentative title), to be published in Spring 2022 by Familius. My other two titles are in the self-help and education genres.
I am also a freelance writer who focuses on mental health and wellness, self-help, parenting, social-emotional skills, and eldercare topics. I just started my own writing business in which I help authors, therapists, healthcare professionals, non-profits, and small businesses improve their website copy, write blog posts, and create practice newsletters. I am also the CEO of my own publishing company, Tabby Cat Publishing, LLC, which publishes children’s books focused on social-emotional skills and overcoming challenges. It’s been an exciting journey so far!
Writing about mental health and wellness, self-help, social-emotional skills, and parenting has truly become my vocation. It’s been a meaningful way to combine my professional social work background with my love of writing. I wake up every day excited to work on my latest project.
I thought I’d take the opportunity in my first blog post to share how my interests in writing originally started.
Early interests in writing
My love of the written word started in childhood. Writing and reading were always my favorite subjects. I loved reading books like the Ramona Quimby series, Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret, All of a Kind Family, Sideways Stories from Wayside School and The Babysitters’ Club. I started writing my first stories at seven years old and soon filled dozens of notebooks with them. At eight years old, I created an illustrated catalog called “Rebecca’s Writery” which listed all of my “books,” their descriptions, and how to order them. I still have that paper catalog! In middle school I started writing poetry and began entering my essays and poems into writing competitions. In high school I focused on journalism: I was editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper, founder/editor of my high school literary magazine, and participant in summer journalism and writing workshops.
I then journeyed to Minnesota for college and earned my BA in English from Carleton College. I loved spending all my time in the English department, reading and writing about new classics in literature. My interests in writing continued during my college years with a variety of writing-related summer internships. I interned for Ohio Magazine and some local suburban newspapers. The highlight of my college experience was my junior year literature study abroad program in London. I studied Shakespearean plays and saw them in the London theaters. I read a variety of literary works by British authors. I also visited every single museum in my London guidebook that semester and traveled to Scotland.
My first published book!
I started freelance writing in college and wrote my first book proposal during my senior year of college. I landed my first book contract at age 22 for The Teenagers’ Guide to School Outside the Box, which was published the next year. I loved the process of researching and writing this book. My second book, Law School for Dummies, was written during my third year of law school and published the next year.
Combining writing and mental health
After college, I worked in various roles in Minneapolis and Chicago, including writing for legal publications, before moving to Washington, DC. There I decided to change gears. I loved helping people and believed that my true calling was to work in the mental health field. I worked as a research assistant in the mental health field for a few years, soon discovered the field of social work, and knew it was the perfect fit. I went to graduate school at The Catholic University of America and received my Masters in Social Work in 2011.
Since then, I have been busy building my career in social work, doing freelance writing on the side, and writing books.
Today
Writing in social work-related areas of mental health and wellness, self-help, social-emotional skills, and parenting has truly become my vocation. I wake up every morning excited to start the day and work on my latest writing project!
I would love for you to reach out through my contact page or post your thoughts in the comment section. I love reading comments and interacting with everyone!
