It Starts with Hello with Tammy Layman Hall

  

Taking a step in a new direction can be daunting, but it often opens up a new pathway. This is my takeaway from this month’s It Starts with Hello story submitted by Tammy Layman Hall. Tammy responded to a call for SCBWI-MI volunteers, and wouldn’t you know it—Carrie Pearson responded with an enthusiastic hello, as did a few others. Those friendly greetings gave Tammy an opportunity to meet many of our members as she set up events for our regional chapter and continues in the position as Registrar.

 

Thank you, Tammy, for sharing your hello story! You, too, can submit your hello story (300 words or less) at: ohaginib@gmail.com. I especially would love to hear from new members!

 

- Isabel Estrada O’Hagin

 

How?

 

How do you switch careers? How do you stop writing work instructions? How do you write stories for kids? Try writing for hire, I was told. Off to a workshop, I went. Join your local SCBWI chapter, I was told. Years ago, I joined. Not much came out of it. Besides, I was so far back on the path I did not feel I would ever catch up. How will writing fit into this already overfilled life? I will stay safe writing instructor guides to upload into learning management databases.  

 

Tammy Layman Hall

Then, SCBWI-MI posted a registrar position. Someone to set up events. I can do that! So, I sent an email. Carrie Pearson answered. She took the time to talk to me on a telephone call. What a difference! The time she takes with me each event we set up keeps me involved in SCBWI. Then, Ann Finkelstein said hello. She walked me through how to set up the mentorship. Isabel said hello. She invited me to KAST. I carved out time to go. Then, the Nonfiction Toolbox conference came. I had to put faces with the names from the database. Again, I carved out time to go. Then, COVID hit. Just as I was learning how! The world shut down. Why bother! Now it’s too hard to meet people, I thought. Yet, Zoom meetings meant more people saying hello. Conferences, webinars, and Shop Talks kept showing me how.  

 

So, that first hello pushed me to leap towards my dream. Now, so many hellos pull and prod me onward. Yes, my overstuffed life keeps pulling me from the writing chair. Still, deadlines are met. Submissions go out. Stories sell. Critique groups say hello. That first hello started to show me how.  

 

Tammy

tammy@layman-hall.com

 

Tammy lives in southwestern Michigan with her family and a crazy menagerie of pets. She is married to the reigning neighborhood Christmas light grand champion and got talked into adding a garden train to her cottage-inspired tangled yard of blooms. When she's not writing, you can find her hitching a ride over to the local park on our scratch-built go-kart, Oliver. Her stories are pending publication in High Five Magazine and Primary Treasure. As a storyteller, she has told stories at city gardens, museums, and nature centers.