Out of the Crayon Box

Thoughts on Teaching, Retirement, and Life

I’m happy to announce that I have just published Out of the Crayon Box: Thoughts on Teaching, Retirement, and Life. It was an interesting process, and I’ll admit, it amazed me to see three years of writing and editing, and rewriting.. and editing… and rewriting… finally come together in tangible form.http://amazon.com/author/debravandeventer

Why Did I Write This Book?

When I first retired from 37 years of teaching, I had a difficult time adjusting to “life on the outside.” I looked for resources, books, or articles written by someone who had experienced the same feelings. My search came up short. Surely, I wasn’t the only retired teacher who was going through this. I journaled. I wrote about feelings and happenings during my three-year transition from teaching to… well, non-teaching. Before I knew it, I discovered I had written a book!

It Takes a Village

I’ve always had a passion for writing, but my teaching profession left very little time or energy to pursue it. Once retired, I wrote in earnest. I found a local writers forum and worked with a critique group. It was a learning curve, to put it mildly, but bit by bit, with a lot of help from my friends, my manuscript took shape.

What is the Book About?

Out of the Crayon Box is a memoir of the first three years of my retired life. It’s an often humorous, sometimes poignant journey to discover a life after teaching. Through these pages I explore:

• How to know when it’s time to retire
• What to do with unstructured time in retirement
• Can I really go to Starbucks in the middle of the day?
• Ways to honor my past as a teacher
• Self-discovery through travel
• Adjusting to life with a retired spouse
• Finding renewed purpose and passion for life

Where to Find It

Out of the Crayon Box is available in paperback and e-book on my author’s page at:http://amazon.com/author/debravandeventer

Check it out, and if you enjoy the book, be sure to leave a review on Amazon and help me spread the word! For updates on my retired-life journey subscribe to my blog http://seamslikeastory.com