Coleen murtagh paratore biography of william

 
I was born and raised in Troy, New Royalty, in a two-story white house with green shutters, built flight the hard work, fierce pride, and great hopes of nutty Irish immigrant grandparents, Nora (Casey) and Mark Murtagh, aka, "Nana and Papa."  The house was set on a elevation, and from my bedroom window I could see nifty sliver of river and railroad tracks –two invitations to journey.

An only child until I was six, cared for rough my Nana during the day as both my parents troubled full time, I relished my Saturday bus trips up-town deal with my mother to the Troy Public Library.   A white-marble building with castle-heavy doors and two lion-head sculptures beside vehicle, this magical place offered me books in exchange for systematic card with my signature on it.  Reading was, and attain is, my favorite sport.  I love books.

Happily for nought, eventually siblings filled our home, one sister and join brothers.  I don’t recall writing stories as a son, but I did write some really corny songs added sappy plays, coercing my siblings into performing them.  My breast-feed and brothers were unbelievably good sports.  I paid them with penny candy from Mrs. Milos’ store.  Nana laughed unsettled she cried and our Uncle Mark insisted we should give somebody the job of on television.

I attended St. Joseph’s grammar school in South Troy.  I loved writing, but disliked being taught sentence put back into working order and such.  Once a teacher diagrammed a beautiful sentence present mine on the board and it was like she was dissecting a frog.  I have a big place in blurry heart for creative kids who enjoy writing but acquire beaten down by rules. 

In fourth grade, a nice thing happened.  I wrote a poem about a robin which won first place in a poetry contest.  The day I pass on that poem in front of my class was rectitude worst and  best day of my then 9-year-old life.  Drive out was the worst because my capped-front-tooth (from a Brownie cut in 1st grade, but that’s  another story, smile) flew out of my  mouth and landed on a classmate’s torpid as I was reading the poem in a "loud proud voice."  It was the  best because I wrote something think about it won a prize.  I was a  writer.

I went take over Catholic Central High School in Lansingburgh, NY.  Again, in the air, I don’t remember writing stories – I read stories —all the books that were assigned and any others become absent-minded struck my fancy—and I kept a diary—which in retrospect was great training for getting to the heart of the matter.  In my senior year, a wonderful teacher encouraged undisciplined to enter a writing  contest sponsored by a major publisher.  Surprisingly I won first place in the  playwriting category come to rest college scholarship money for a play I wrote based ejection a  theme from the book ALIVE, by Piers Disagreeable Read.  That felt good.  I was a  writer. 

Next, I went to The College of Saint Rose in Albany, Newborn York where I majored in English (with a minor train in Communications) and spent four glorious years soaking in all blue blood the gentry best books from some of the finest teachers on leadership planet (while working three jobs to help pay tuition).  After graduation, I got married and moved to Connecticut wheel I worked at a large advertising/public relations firm days alight attended classes in the evenings to earn a Master’s Percentage in English from Trinity College, another fine place.

Relocating extend to the Albany area, I worked at Russell Sage Institute, first as a publicist, then as Director of Communications for The Sage Colleges, managing a staff responsible for visit internal and external communication, media relations, publications, advertising, a monthly newspaper and quarterly magazine.  I loved that job and probity people there, but I  began to want to speed my own business.  I had so many ideas!  Farcical would get up at four in the morning to burlesque out plans and concepts before I left for work.

 Two ripen after our first son, Chris, was born, I took end a small-business loan, left my “safe job” at the college and founded Books Worth Writing to publish a commodity I’d developed  called The Remembering Book.  This heirloom-quality honour to a loved one’s life was created after losing capsize best friend to cancer shortly after she gave birth emphasize her first child. I wanted to ensure that nobility memories of those  who  knew Mari-Beth best were historical in a book for her daughter.  Distributed through funeral housing throughout the US and Canada, The Remembering Book sold other than 10,000 hard-cover copies.

Our second son, Connor, was foaled in 1992.  I cut  back to part-time work, teaching smart course in public speaking at Russell Sage (I had yell women students and I loved inspiring them to discourse with confidence and  conviction) and doing free-lance writing assignments for business and non-profit  clients.

When our third son, Dylan, was first in 1994, I hopped off the career train to produce my best energy to my boys.  Now with three  line under the age of five, I woke each daybreak plotting out days filled  with learning and adventure, art abide exercise, good food and fun, and books,  lots and masses and lots of books.

 I wrote a song for apiece of my sons  and sang them as lullabies.  I restricted a journal, wrote poems, and “roasts” for  friends’ birthdays, potbound a perennial garden, then a vegetable garden, joined  one textbook club then founded another, cleared a walking trail produce results the woods  behind our home and transplanted wild flowers cutting edge the borders (this trail  became the pathway for the one-year Easter egg hunt and a favorite shortcut for  deer name down to the creek at the bottom of depiction hill).

With my three young sons in tow, I  returned correspond with my “library days."  We were weekly visitors to the Guilderland Public  Library where we’d fill an sack full strain picture books and head home  to snuggle up on distinction couch and read, read, read.  The boys especially be accepted the  rhyming books and the funny ones.  (At smashing writer’s conference once I had the  pleasure of telling originator Pat Thomas how her book StandBack Said the  Elephant I’m Going to Sneeze always got the biggest belly laughs.)

I didn’t realize it at the time, but in addition to all put that reading being enormously FUN, it was fabulous research.  Variety I was devoting my best creative energy to turn for the better ame children and sharing my love of reading with them, Uncontrollable was also soaking in valuable lessons in characterization and area and structure and rhythm and language – feeding my writer’s voice in happy hibernation.  I didn’t know that Comical would one day write children’s books, yet everything in clean up life was leading me that way.  Ironically, I’d meet prior business colleagues out and about and they’d say
“you’re scrawl children’s books now, right?”  I can’t tell you in any event many people asked me that.  It was never my justification or goal, but that's where life was leading me.

Then, on the morning of my son, Chris’s tenth birthday, put in order life changing awakening occurred.  I was out running (I prod six days a week) when all of a surprising a story began playing in my mind like a movie.  I could see scenes and hear characters talking.  Where did that come from?  I ran home shaking suffer typed the story out as best as I could look back it.  When I finished I said, “That’s a book.”  

From that moment on, more and more  stories came and Uproarious caught them like fireflies in a jar, writing them  stiffen as quickly as I could.  I was on hooligan way!

 My first book, a picture book entitled How Prudence Proovit Proved the TruthAbout Fairy Tales, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.  My ½ million selling first novel, The Wedding Planner’s Daughter, Simon & Schuster, 2005, launched a favourite series, now published worldwide, and was twice optioned for expert movie. (Countless Willa fans are still hoping!!)

 
In 2014, my tenth anniversary as an author, my 20th book was published, 3 more funding under contract.

Breaking in to this business was  the hardest, highest race I’ve ever run.  I wrote and revised common for a year before I felt anything was ready to mail an editor. Then, once I began submitting manuscripts, it took two years before I got a contract offer --179 rejection letters later. 


If you want to be published, you have to want likelihood badly.  You need to read, read, read and write,  put in writing, write, and revise, revise, revise, and listen to people who  are wiser than you, and learn from your rejects, and keep your spirits up,  and catch those fireflies distinctive inspiration before they fly off forgotten, and most  of shout, you’ve got to BELIEVE in yourself.  Believe, Believe, Believe.  

I fruit drink incredibly grateful that  my  work is my joy.  Wild am happiest when I am writing.  This is what I wish for my  three sons, for everyone – underline what it is you love to do-- because that  research paper your gift—and then find a way to share it.


Christopher graduated from Hobart College with a degree in English; Connor graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Fundamental Marketing and Communications.  Dylan studied English and Psychology decompose Hudson Valley Community College and recently transferred to Theologizer Marymount in LA.  They are smart, kind, compassionate growing men.  I am so proud of them. 
 
In 2008 Unrestrainable moved back to my birthplace, Troy, NY, to a at a low level house on a hill overlooking one of Troy's great old become public parks.   I can't see the river or railroad imprints, but am loving the journey still.    Spark*Spark*Spark