Jeneane Vanderhoof

Author bio

So...always wanted to be a writer but, didn't find my voice until late in life. Before my late thirties I couldn't even string twenty pages together...over 15 years! Now I write for a periodical, reviewing books each month in a column called Tea Time With A Good Book. And, if you search the title and my name you can find the very much, probably unknown free paper I write for (for free) in Cleveland, Ohio. But, it helps me practice my writing skills esp. with limits which I am often very bad with. Reedy prompts has also helped with that too. One day I would love to have my own online blog, publish poetry (working on that too) and novels and who knows? I guess anything can happen because everything usually happens to me. But, the quote I most say is, "I don't have no luck, just bad luck". However that is not my favorite quote, just the one most true, to my life. But, at the worst, the most stressful and changing time in my life when I was down for the count suddenly I couldn't put down a pen. I have been published in periodicals and am working on several novels and I write tons of poetry which has been well received and one day I hope to publish for real. As most writers do, I love to read. I do book reviews and get as many galleys as they will get me from NetGalley. And while I didn't start writing the book reviews since writers give me books for free I write them for free for several periodicals in return. I find it a fair exchange and hope to build up my writing profile in this way. I was never good at writing from Prompts. In eighth grade my dream was to be one of the three students on the Power of our Pen team a writing competition. It wasn't until I got to the competition that I realized how hard it was for me for someone to give me a topic and I, off the top of my head churn out a good story in 45 minutes. Even now, if I don't find inspiration (and when life gets hard I have TONS of it) I have a hard time with prompts, still. That is why I was a member for so long before I submitted. While I tried several times, first on paper, to get through a prompt and several times I made it through on paper, or had stories ideas that I did have for prompts, I never got a story churned out that fast. See, I have several problems when I write. First, I have a hard time keeping a story short, just telling what is necessary, at times, without MAJOR embellishment, or getting sidetracked on a smaller, short, story line. And sometimes these short story lines overtake more space than they short. I have always wanted more of everything in life and that personality trait came out in my writing too. It is a curse I hope to one day learn to control and turn into a blessing. Second, this problem spills over into my editing. When I edit (and I assume most people take away) I am always adding to the story, while still correcting, but, when you keep adding, you have to keep editing. That then turns what I have already written into a constant edit. Writing and finishing my first story for Reedsy taught me a lot. One thing I had to do was control my word count. I believe I had to take 2,500 words from my first draft not having read the requirements and kept track of my word count. I actually found this contest a great teaching tool for me and I am grateful. But, even though I was here for over a year and not ever submitting I did keep track of many of the writers here and I love to read their entries. The plethora of work here was amazing and I have never been more proud to be amongst writers of this caliber. Thank you for all the wonderful tales you have shared with me. I have never had more fun laughing, crying and smiling over more heartfelt and professional storytellers. I also write under a pen name for Medium but as the information I share there is very personal I have yet to share it with others and I am not sure if I ever will. There are still some sides of myself I am scared to show others, especially the entire world. Maybe one day. But, the topic I write about is somewhat controversial and a big part of my life has been spent being persecuted for it. Thank you if you have read my story and hope, by the time others read this, I have added more. Alas, there is only so much time in the world and while I love writing here, as I said, prompts are a big challenge.