Meet Our Members

Profile on: Mary Alice Mierz

I joined Tacoma Chapter in December of 1990. I also belong to the Seattle group and have belonged to their chapter almost from its inception. Within Seattle's Chapter I have held a great many jobs on their board, the last one as co-advisor and chairman of last year's conference. (It was a great success.)

Why did I join Tacoma? My roots are here. I was raised on Portland Avenue and graduated from Lincoln High School. Five of my six children were also born here. Our last home locally was at 74th and Waller Road. I now live in South Renton.

Working outside the home to help raise our six children kept me busy. My dream has been to write, but until about seven years ago, didn't do anything about it. Then I joined a class given by Colleen Reece, a teacher for Green River Community College. During the three ten-week sessions, I just listened. By old bugaboo had hit me. Who was I to dare dream I could ever be a writer? The third session was almost over when I realized I had better do something or forget my dream. My recently purchased self-correcting electric typewriter sat quietly gathering dust on my new desk.

Dorothea Brande in her excellent book, Becoming a Writer, advised writers to get up early and write. (My copy is yellow with age. I must have owned it for forty years.) Five o'clock became my normal get-up time. In two months I wrote about 90,000 words. After reading it, I realized I had a story, but I couldn't write. Writing is like learning to play the piano. Practice, practice, practice. I am still learning how To write, and for the rest of my life I will practicing my next profession. My 90,000 words became a 150,000 word manu­script on a new computer.

I make money selling and listing real estate for Coldwell Banker. I've worked at that profession for the last thirteen years and have a Certificate of Real Estate degree from the state along with my broker's license. The work is frustrating but profitable.

In the past, I've been a secretary, worked for Ma Bell as a telephone operator and supervisor. I've also owned by own dog grooming shop, sold jewelry and skin care products in people's homes. My hobbies have included duplicate bridge, oil painting, and needlepoint. Reading has always been a grand passion with me. All I do now is real estate, read everything I get my hands on, and work on my computer.

My husband has worked for Boeing for 38 years. The company sent us and our five children to South Dakota, where a sixth was born, and then on to Missouri and California. My husband and I have also lived in Kansas and Michigan.

(Mary Alice also wrote that she couldn't see why anyone would be interested in reading her profile... Ah, how some people underestimate themselves! I've heard that it isn't talent that gets a writer published, but persistence. I think the above is not only a good piece of writing, but her example of getting up at 5 a.m.-shudder!~to write is a perfect ex­ample of persistence! How many of us are willing to do that?

-KEH, Ed.)

 Published in the Romance Writers Of America, Tacoma Chapter's April 1991 Newsletter.