M.K. Eddleman is a mother-daughter team who collaborated on Invisible Injuries and No Need to Wait. The M stands for Martha, mother, “maybe,” mercurial, masterful, and many more M words that I can’t think of right now. K stands for Katherine (Katie), kid, kind, knowledgeable, knowing, klever, and kute (get over it, spell check – so, maybe I should have named her Catherine). Anyway, we wrote the book via email, as I live in Livermore, California, and Katie lives in Tucson, Arizona. I’d write a chapter, Katie would add, subtract, embellish, or suggest how to change or improve, and then send the chapter back. This was not always easy for her as she is a full-time middle school science teacher, a mother of two teens and wife. I, on the other hand, am retired and was able to write an hour or two every day. The back and forth took us a year for each book, but we had great fun doing it.
Katie has often asked, “How many times do I have to reinvent myself?” She agrees the answer for all of us is, “As many times as necessary.” Katie majored in drama in college. That and $3.95 buys a latte, so she went back to college to earn a M.Ed. in education and taught 4th through 8th grades. She then decided Science was a passion so earned a M.S. at the University of Arizona and now teaches 7th and 8th grade science. All the while, she has collaborated with me on various books. We wrote a children’s book that went nowhere and took a stab at a couple of novels. With the advent of self-publishing, we suddenly had new hope and got serious. We embraced our title’s concept, No Need to Wait, and plunged into writing.
My path to “As many times as necessary” was not too different. I was a teen of the 50s, so I went to college to earn a Mrs. degree. At the time, the fields open to women were teaching and airline stewardess. I chose teaching, but really marriage was the only acceptable option. So I married a career military man and spent 22 years as a military wife. The next 20 years were devoted to teaching English and Social Sciences at the high school level. Loved the new identity. I wasn’t someone’s wife, someone’s mother, I was me. Cancer stopped the career, and retirement took over. What to do? I became a dilettante in the arts – painting, sculpture and writing.
We hope you enjoy our latest. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to mail us at mkeddleman65@gmail.com
