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In 1986, I served as editor of The Epic at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas; and later went on to major in news/editorial and public relations with a concentration in English at The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at The University of Kansas, Lawrence.
All along, I wrote poems and short stories but didn't consider being any other kind of writer than a journalist.
Over the next few years, I reported for The University Daily Kansan and then various community and metropolitan newspapers. This introduced me to interesting people. I talked to an African-American lawyer about his work in the civil rights movement, to a city alderman about his decision to run for state representative, and to a Tony award-winning actress about her guru.
In 1991, I went to The University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor with the idea that I would become a legal reporter and then teach media law at a journalism school. It sounded like a good plan. I'm one of those odd people who loved law school. Michigan has a particularly beautiful (if chilly) campus, and my fellow students were a source of inspiration. During summers, I studied EC law and the French legal system in Paris, worked for a legal aid office in Hawaii, worked for a federal appellate judge in Kansas, and reported for The Dallas Morning News.
By graduation, I already was writing fiction for grown-ups. Like so many people, I put down a book and thought "I can do better than that." I'm not sure why. Maybe I was rebelling from legal writing, from words like "herewith" and "aforementioned."
For almost a year, I worked in the law offices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and of the Social Security Administration in Chicago. But I spent my lunch and after-work hours writing stories. They weren't good. They were awful. But it was a start. The important thing was to keep learning.
James M. Deem is the author of some paranormal -themed books for kids, both fiction and nonfiction. His nonfiction titles include: HOW TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME and GHOST HUNTERS. His fictional novels include: THE VERY REAL GHOST BOOK OF CHRISTINA ROSE, 3NBS OF JULIAN DREW, FROGBURGER AT LARGE, and FROG EYES LOVES A PIG. He's another author with degrees from The University of Kansas and The University of Michigan! Be sure to stop by his site and tell him Cynthia sent you!
Niki Burnham is not only one of my best friends from law school (we were in each other's weddings), she's also the author of young adult romances such as ROYALLY JACKED and SPIN CONTROL. Read An Interview with Niki Burnham.
More Michigan authors include:
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"Talent isn't enough. You need motivation — and persistence, too: what Steinbeck called a blend of faith and arrogance."
—Leon Uris