Manual Beginnings

A while back I asked my husband, "If I were a full time writer, what kind of writer do you think I would be?" 

Almost immediately, he said dryly, "Instruction manuals."

I barked out a laugh in response because, in one sense, it's true! I am very organized and a great technical writer. I've spent my career writing scientific analyses and organizing information into research reports. Instruction manuals would totally be my jam. In another sense, that sounds totally boring, and I am anything but boring!

I got to thinking about what kind of instructional manuals I would write that would not be dry or boring, and several popped into my mind. What emerged as I listed out these hypothetical manuals is that most of them were really more about what not to do. In my lifetime I have managed to barrel through several huge life changes -- marriage, career changes, parenting, relocating, entrepreneurship, and more -- with varying results. Thus, I thought it more appropriate to call them "Unstruction Manuals". 

So here it is. The Unstruction Manual -- a series of observational essays about life in these United States in the 21st Century from the perspective of a salty, sassy, opinionated, white woman currently living in middle America. Please enjoy, and maybe learn from my missteps. Or don't, because you will probably end up some where even more interesting in your life. And I would love to hear about it.