aMUSEme

Friday, May 19, 2006

So I went to a conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC today called "Beyond Blogging" -- it was awesome. www.beyondblogging2006.com. I learned that the best way to understand blogs is to create one and use it. I'd been toying with the idea anyway, and want to explore it for the nonprofit organization I work for as well, so here goes:

I am Karen Bate, a P.R. manager in Arlington, VA; aspiring first-time novelist; and mother of three teenaged daughters whose cyberlives I barely comprehend. As one heads off to college in the fall, I must learn to IM as well, since my older (ha ha!) wiser friends tell me that's the only viable way to keep in touch with them once they leave this nest.

But I digress. I hope with this blog to find muses and musings from women of a certain age going through the same life transformation I am -- biologically pre, current or post menapausal, and psychologically either suffering, searching or already enjoying their new "seasoned" selves, as Gail Sheehy so wonderfully calls them. www.gailsheehy.com.

Do you ever feel like you want to jump out of your own skin? Do you wonder if, now that the kids are grown, the career is solid, and the marriage is either going strong, on autopilot or just plain over, this is all there is? Is there a second act? New challenges, new horizons? Or have you already discovered a new passion, a new love, a new life? And how do these changes affect the people around you, your husband, kids, friends, colleagues? What's it all about, Alfie??? And how can I get there without making a complete fool of myself, falling on my face and scandalizing the neighbors?

My novel -- so far nameless -- is about a 40-something mother of three (she does have a name, Liza) who works for a difficult, high-powered woman in DC and juggles the kids, a husband struggling with alcoholism, and her own sense that she's become unmoored. I've based her loosely on a close friend, but also include bits from my own ideas and experiences as well as many others. I think the most fun I've had is listening to -- and suddenly noticing more -- all the great quirks, opinions and takes on life my fabulous friends share with each other all the time. Please weigh in and join the fun. I'll steal your best ideas and take all the credit!