Hi everyone, I am retired, after teaching Art History/English for 31 years in California. I am currently living in Italy. Before becoming a teacher, I also received a law degree, and clerked at the LA District Attorney’s Office. I also have coached Mock Trial and Speech & Debate for over 20 years. I have been working hard on my first novel and was looking for a forum to help me develop some of the rougher aspects of putting this novel together. The setting for my work is Florence, Italy and my main character, Uccello, is a detective there. I’m 71 years old and while I’ve been told by many that I’m a good story teller this process is quite different. Thanks for reading this short background of my life and hope to help anyone in need besides learning from others.
Excellent, welcome aboard! It sounds like you've got a good background to be a writer, a broad base of experience is always helpful, and living in the place you're writing about is extremely useful. I'm also a university teacher, and I'm in the throes of teaching basic public speaking to one group of students and basic Debate to another. Non-native speakers of English, the whole lot of them, so it's one more level of complexity, but the basics are still the basics. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work once you meet the eligibility requirements, and in the mean time, I'm sure that someone with your experience can teach as much or more than you can learn here, so don't be shy, wander around the forums, stick your head into a few discussions, and you'll be off to a good start.
