Writing Military Mom

2016-10-18T09:14:00.000-05:00

Hello!

This blog is inactive. Please check out my author blog at Rosemary O'Brien or my blog about pocket parks for Pocket Parks Publishing. There are some exciting things coming in the future and I wouldn't want you to miss them! I may still post helpful items for my military family and veterans, but I am working on building my guide book business. A revision of BEST Pocket Parks of NYC is coming in the spring. I may also be covering a city overseas next year, so please stay tuned.

Enjoy the journey,
Rosemary

WANTED: A job at a cool company

2014-09-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

My name is Rosemary O’Brien and I am the dream of any employer.

· I am hard working, often working into the wee hours building my small business or working on writing assignments for other small businesses and publications.
· I am creative in my approach to everything whether it be creating the best brochure for a client or my own company, or looking for the best way to get the word out about my projects through social media, radio or someone who knows someone who knows someone else and is willing to introduce me.
· I have written dozens of magazine articles, website pages, speeches not to mention two novels and one non-fiction guide – all published with royalties and everything.
· If I have a question, I speak to someone in my network. If no one in my network has the particular expertise or information for which I am looking, I am not afraid to reach out to the big guys even if I’ve never met them. I meet them by reaching out and introducing myself and have met some pretty cool people this way.
· I apply for everything, from grants that might fit my projects to scholarships for conferences. I have met the best people at conferences. If I find the material or the subject is something I already know pretty well, I listen anyway. You never know what you can learn or whom you can mentor if given the chance.
· I have experience as an administrative assistant as well as a professional actress. Sometimes they work together pretty well!
· And lastly, I have directed and stage managed up to 80 children in children’s theatre. If I can corral that type of situation and make a meaningful project come to life on a stage, I guarantee I can coordinate the printing of your report or gather material for your website.

Add all of this work experience and skill to the fact that I have done much of it while staying home with my children and moving homes where my retired Naval Officer husband’s job has taken us for years. He has retired, we are settled now and I want to use all of this experience in support of a good job with decent pay in a company that is not too stodgy, yet not completely unorganized or it will not be around for me to work. In short, I want to have fun while I work, but I still want to work hard. Is it possible to find a technology company, a news organization or communications department somewhere that can fulfill my dream of working for a paycheck? It’s a simple dream.

If you are in charge of hiring for such a company, one that will embrace my skills and experience while not requiring me to make coffee all day or stock shelves, I would love to talk to you. I am located in Southern Connecticut and am happy to work on site or virtually, but I want to work and I would be an asset to any company that wants a strong, helpful, vibrant and organized communications expert who can take charge when necessary, yet assist when someone else is in charge. Please contact me at writerobrien@gmail.com with the word ‘GOOD JOB’ in the subject line. I promise you, you will not be sorry.

Very Sincerely,

Rosemary O’Brien

Need some advice? Call the big guys!

2014-08-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a newly-minted entrepreneur needs some advice about their business. Let’s face it, there is only so much you can learn from books, classes and seminars. When that happens to me, I reach out to the big guys such as business moguls, other successful authors and even celebrities. Why not? The worst they can do is say no or just ignore your email or call.

Since graduating from the EBV-F (Entrepeneurship Bootcamp for Veterans’ Families) program last year, I have placed many calls and sent many emails to those I believe may be able to help me get to where I want to go by offering advice or constructive criticism. In fact, criticism can help you avoid pitfalls that some other entrepreneur, namely one of these heavy-hitters, has already gone through. Why take those missteps when your contact can warn you about them? Below is a sample of some of the ‘Big Guys’ I have contacted. Some have been people I have met through the EBV-F program, but some are just people I contacted out of sheet admiration, knowing they would have some excellent insights into my problem at hand.

Dave Marx, owner of PassPorter.com with his wife Jennifer Marx

I contacted Dave after being a fan of his PassPorter’s Walt Disney World guides for many years. I used it the first time I planned a tip to Walt Disney World and have used an updated edition for each of our five trips. Dave was happy to schedule a call in the early days of forming my company and provided me with valuable advice only a successful niche publisher could bestow.

A keynote speaker and founder of a large company

I read that someone was going to be the keynote speaker of the EBV National Conference which I would be attending, reached out to his organization and asked to speak to someone in his organization to get their opinion on selling my guide to a certain segment of the market as an entry point. I expected to speak to a manager or someone in the organization, knowing this gentleman is a busy executive and speaks around the country. The man himself had his assistant set up a phone call and I was blessed with 30 minutes of some of the most insightful business advice I could receive from a master business person. (Forgive the secrecy, but he would be inundated with even more calls if I gave up his name!)

Kelly Lewis, founder Go! Girl Guides

I contacted Kelly when I was looking around for a place to display my guide. She was putting together her first Women’s Travel Festival in New York City and I was thinking of attending as a vendor. I never went, but I did end up speaking to her on the telephone for a while. She was very helpful as a woman niche publisher who was where I wanted to be in a few years. She told me how she began her business, bestowing gems of advice as we spoke. Her guide helps women who want to travel alone navigate such exotic places as Thailand and as cosmopolitan as London. Her valuable advice saved me a lot of time as I travel her path.

Rob Grader, author of The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to New York City

I called Rob after meeting the author of another Cheap Bastard’s Guide at a journalism conference. I thought he was doing something similar to what I was doing in that he hired out the writers for each title or wrote the guides himself. When I met the other author, I had to find out how Rob was structuring his business or if he was working for someone else. My call to Rob ended up lasting almost an hour with him giving me his insight about how he did it and what I should avoid in my quest to build my brand and publish my titles.

These are but four of the dynamic people I have contacted to get advice about my business. They were all very open and free with their information and advice, leaving me with words of wisdom as I built my business, Pocket Parks Publishing. I figured if I was usually willing to help a deserving soul avoid some missteps, why wouldn’t any of these people if they had the time, but that is the key. Time. Make sure you focus your questions to one area when you finally get the person on the phone or in a coffee shop. Their willingness to take time out of their busy schedules to speak to you is out of the goodness of their heart. Be respectful of their time, keep it as short and sweet as possible, and move on. Afterward, send a handwritten note thanking them for speaking with you.

It’s not rocket science. We entrepreneurs have all been in the same place at some point as we have started and grown our businesses. Reach out to the masters of business to benefit from their wisdom. Remember: all they can do is say no. With all you have to do to launch a business, making a cold call should be easy.

Hello to all of my readers. I'm back!

2014-08-22T12:25:00.000-05:00

Over the past few years, I have put aside this blog in the pursuit of other projects. I was raising children, writing for a variety of clients, and pursuing more education, but in the less formal spheres. I took a class on writing grants, graduated from Florida State's EBV-F program for military families pursuing businesses, attended both VWISE and Techstars Patriot Bootcamp, won a pitch contest, won a small grant, and FINALLY became a member of American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). My new niche publishing business is up and running, Pocket Parks Publishing, and I am at work on the second guide in that series. I am also attending the upcoming Facebook Vets-In-Tech Hackathon next week and looking forward to presenting my idea for an app, an idea that went over pretty well at the Techstars conference. Wish me luck!

As you can imagine, I have learned many things throughout my journey and I would like to share them with you here on Writing Military Mom. While I will continue to post about opportunities for the military community, I also plan to write about entrepreneurship, what I have been learning throughout the last year or so, and how I'm moving forward with my plan to become a profitable small publisher.

I look forward to hearing from everyone and am happy to be back!

Rosemary O'Brien

Contest for families near The Poconos

2013-03-18T09:25:00.001-05:00

I have never been to the Poconos myself, so I thought this would be a fun giveaway to enter. Skytop is about two hours to the west of New York City. Check it out and let me know if you win.

Rosemary

EASTER GETAWAY SPECIAL (THROUGH APRIL!):

Looking to make Easter extra special? Take advantage of our 20% OFF PLUS KIDS FREE* midweek special offer and enjoy Skytop Lodge for an extended stay over Easter and Spring Break!

We'll be celebrating the holiday throughout the week with Easter-themed activities including:

Help Build Skytop's famous 7 ft.tall Floral Easter Bunny
Egg Coloring
Easter Egg Hunt
Meet Peter Cottontail
Make an Easter Bonnet
Lawn Games: egg toss, three-legged race, relay races
Easter Egg Nature Walk

Spring will be in bloom so be sure plan an adventure at The Adventure Center at Skytop Lodge!

Rates starting at $352.00** which include charming accommodations for two, 3 meals per night stay - including Easter Brunch, and most activities.

855.477.8305 www.skytop.com

Win a Weekend Getaway for a Family of 4!

Includes one room accommodation, three delicious meals daily and most activities. Not valid July, August or Holidays. Based on availability. Some restrictions may apply. Valid for one year. Random winner chosen Friday, May 10!

ENTER TO WIN A FAMILY GETAWAY!

Disclaimer: Blogger is entering a giveaway for this deal by posting this on her blog.

Hey New England Families!

2012-07-02T11:27:00.003-05:00

Here is a $5 coupon to Lake Compounce. Go get it!

Lake Compounce Coupon - Save $5 on Regular Admission | USFamilyGuide.com

2011-09-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

Click on http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ticket/?device=bbery&c=y if the link above does not work. I would suggest the Intrepid in New York. It's very impressive and there's nothing better than an outdoor museum by the water on a beautiful September day! Whichever museum you choose, enjoy.

New parenting book from RadicalParenting.com author.

2011-08-29T09:00:00.004-05:00

Inside the Mind of Teens

By Vanessa Van Petten, creator of RadicalParenting.com a parenting website written from the teen perspective to help parents understand them. She is also the author of the parenting book, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?”

When I was 16 I thought it was my Dad’s goal in life to make me miserable. I was convinced that he had a
running list of all the ways he could embarrass me in front of my friends, trick me into doing more chores
or make my curfew earlier.

Our relationship would have continued to devolve until one day I saw my Dad reading a parenting book.
I flipped through it while my Dad was in the bathroom and realized a lot of the things he did that drove
me crazy he was getting right out of this book! I looked at the other parenting books on our shelves and
realized that they were all written by adults. I wondered—has anyone ever asked teens to write to their
parents?

I decided to build a website where teens could answer questions and write to parents called
RadicalParenting.com. I couldn’t believe how quickly it grew and how happy both teens were to get their
voices out and parents were to have a new outlet for connecting with their kids! We now have over 120
teen writers who give advice.

Teenagers, when given a neutral space LOVE talking to parents and often offer some of the best insight
because they are going through it themselves. We have also be so excited to help parents who feel like
they cannot reach their kids and teens.

I think teens and parents can work together to overcome their differences and learn to work best
together. We have just come out with our book: Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded and
it is a radical approach to parenting because it is written from the kid’s perspective! We would love for
you to check it out—if you are brave enough to see what kids have to say!

Watch the video.

2011-08-22T17:56:00.000-05:00

Direct link: http://web.safecrm.com/ZNJGBT3GL6PMQ2KT@0C0B14D3OCDUH5.htm

April 15th Deadline Approaching for Military Spouse Fellowship Program

2011-03-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship Program

By Janet Farley

If you are interested in applying for the FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship Program, you’d better get on it! The deadline to apply for this exciting opportunity is April 15, 2011.

Now in its sixth year, this popular career and community enhancing grant once again offers 200 military spouses the opportunity to earn the Accredited Financial Counselor® (AFC®) designation.

Having a value of up to $1,170, the grant pays for the enrollment fee, study materials, webinar study sessions and two attempts at each examination for the two courses needed to earn the designation.

The coursework is completed via distance learning and is self-paced. In addition to the coursework, spouses are required to complete a practicum that may consist of up to 1000 hours, depending on one’s past work experience.

Spouses have up to three years to complete the program.

To date, nearly 1000 scholarships have been awarded and 255 military spouses have successfully completed the training and earned the AFC® credential. You can find them many of them working within military communities the world over as financial counselors at family readiness and support centers, credit counseling and tax centers, financial aid offices and credit unions.

If you think you have what it takes, visit www.militaryfamily.org to read up on the fine print. Note that preference is given to military spouses who:

have some college or a degree in business, finance, accounting or social sciences
currently volunteer or work in personal finance, banks, credit unions or counseling services
have volunteer experience within the military community

The 2011-2012 Fellowship is open to current or surviving spouses of active duty or retired Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard or Reserve service members. Spouses of U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials are also eligible to apply.

It is administrated in partnership with the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education® and the National Military Family Association (www.militaryfamily.org). To apply online for the fellowship, visit www.militaryfamily.org by the April 15th deadline.

Janet Farley is the author of The Military Spouse’s Guide to Complete Career Success (Impact Pubs) and the Military-to-Civilian Career Transition Guide (Jist, Inc.). Farley writes the JobTalk column in the Stars and Stripes newspapers and the Homefront column for the Military Officers Association of America. Farley also writes for Military OneSource, Bradley-Morris’ Civilian Job News and ClearanceJobs.Com. Follow her on Twitter at Mil2CivGuide for timely career transition tips.

Letters of Hope Team

2011-02-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

FROM CAROLYN BARNETT OF MILITARY SPACE:

I would like to encourage you all to become members of our Letters of Hope Team. All you have to do is commit to writing one letter each week to one of our deployed soldiers,

You must be a member of the Message Boards located at http://www.military-space.org/forum/index.php?referrerid=13. Once you have registered with the message boards you must take the following steps:

All you have to do is click here: http://www.military-space.org/forum/...editusergroups and join the team you want to join.

Then, you will need to go to: http://www.military-space.org/forum/...?do=form&fid=1 fill out the required information for the team leader to contact you. At that point, the Team leader will email, or private message you letting you know the status of your Team application, and remember:

I am an American. I know that the men and women in our Armed Forces are prepared to give their lives to defend my country, my way of life and the blessings of liberty throughout the world. I am committed to their perpetual recognition, appreciation an
IAs they have sworn to defend me and protect our country, so will I pledge to support them in every way that I can, and to avoid any action that would increase their risk. I will further do my part to ensure that they are never sent into harm’s way
For our military veterans, I pledge unfailing recognition and appreciation for their contributions to our national defense and our welfare. I will not forget my nation’s responsibility to provide for their continued well-being, and meaningful compensation
I will never forget that our service men and women are fighting for my freedom and are dedicated to the principles which make our country free. I will share the responsibility for preserving that freedom with those who proudly wear the uniform of the United States Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine.

If you have any questions please email Carolyn@military-space.org .

2011-01-24T17:15:00.000-05:00

I found a great discount for those of us dealing with snow! While you're there, check out the other great discounts on Military Spouse Magazine's website.

SnowCare for Troops

Project EverGreen has partnered with The BOSS Snowplow to connect military families with snow and ice management professionals and volunteers to provide free snow and ice removal services. It’s called the SnowCare for Troops program.

http://www.milspouse.com/military-discounts.aspx#

Book Swapping Website

2010-12-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

I just discovered a great website. It is called PaperBack Swap. You just list the books you are willing to trade and post the books you want. When someone requests your book, you simply mail it to them. In return, you receive credits toward books which other members then mail to you. The only cost is the postage, but that is reciprocated when someone mails a book to you.

This looks like a great way for those stationed overseas to get current titles on their wish list which you can also create on the site. I posted a copy of the book I wrote. In fact, that's how I discovered this site. My book was listed on someone's wish list. Isn't that great?

If you join, go through this site so I receive book credits. And make sure to post here and let me know you joined. This sounds like a great solution to my pile of books. It's like a global version of my local used book store without the drive.

Enjoy!
Swap Books for Free - PaperBackSwap.com

Holiday Cards for Troops

2010-11-30T20:01:00.000-05:00

Holiday Mail for Heroes Program Overview

It’s that time of year again! The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes have teamed up for the fourth annual Holiday Mail for Heroes program.

From now until December 10th you are invited to send holiday cards to our American service members, their families, and veterans all over the world. Anyone can send a card and you can send as many as you would like! Please send all cards to

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

The deadline for this year is December 10th. Unfortunately, if your cards are not postmarked by December 10th they cannot be delivered. After Pitney Bowes collects and screens the mail received in the PO Box, Red Cross workers deliver holiday greetings to service men and women in their communities. Check out how our uniformed men and women and their families expressed their gratitude for the Holiday Mail program when it delivered cards to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Read more and see a great video HERE.

Please share... repost, email... let's get this done!!

DoD 9/11 Special Pay deadline looming

2010-09-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

Service members, veterans, and beneficiaries of servicemembers whose service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009 are eligible for RSLSP.

Visit this link for more information and to apply: http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0710_stoploss/

DEADLINE October 21, 2010.

Please share with everyone you know who may be eligible.

ANOTHER DISCOUNT: Hawks Cay Resort

2010-07-26T09:36:00.000-05:00

OK. I have always been up for a good discount, but I'm finding THE BEST military discounts while I plan my Disney trip. How about $99 per night! This is for Hawks Cay Resort down in the Florida Keys. And it's not just open to military, but all service providers (fire and rescue, police, medical personnel). the offer is only good between August 23rd and November 30th, and when I looked up available dates, they were booked until September. More info from their site below. If you go, enjoy!

Heroes Welcome

Hawks Cay Resort is pleased to bring back the, now annual, Heroes Welcome. Our way of saying thank you to the military, fire and rescue, police and medical personnel that have dedicated their lives to preserving the safety of others. Visit Hawks Cay between Aug. 23 and Nov. 30, 2010 and take advantage of heroes room rates starting at $99 per night!

http://experience.hawkscay.com/heroes-welcome

Disney discount discovered!

2010-06-28T13:06:00.000-05:00

The Swan and Dolphin gave me an EXCELLENT military discounted rate! $159 for a resort view (parking lot) and $184 for a preferred view (the parks and surrounding area). The funny thing is that when I called ITT to clarify a discrepancy in dates for the park ticket promo, she said she had never heard of the hotel discount at the Swan and Dolphin. As she was researching something for me, she called the Disney agent and THEY had not heard of it. I found out about it at Mousesavers and then got it when I called the Swan and Dolphin. Seeking to maximize our savings on dining (they don't accept the Dining Plan at the S&D), I called again to ask about their military discounts on dining at their hotels. They offer a whopping 50% on all food and beverages (excluding alcohol) with the exception of the Signature Restaurants (Shula's, etc.).

All I'm saying is for the love of mike, ASK! Ask for discounts and don't be ashamed to do it. Our spouses, or we, serve and should take advantage of any military discount provided.

Lenore Skenazy is ba-ack with a hairbrained idea to keep our kids UN-safe

2010-05-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

In April 2008 I wrote that Lenore Skenazy thought it was a good idea to drop her kid off in Manhattan with $20, a subway map and a bunch of quarters to call home (no cell phone, btw, when payphones are basically non-existent these days) http://writingmilitarymom.blogspot.com/2008/04/find-your-way-home-at-nine.html. Now she wants parents to drop their kids off at a city park and leave them alone so they can get to know each other.

I don't even have words this time.

2010-05-15T15:55:00.000-05:00

I found a great 20% Disney World deal. FYI, I am not being compensated in any way for promoting this discount. I just LOVE Disney and want everyone to share the magic. Enjoy!

http://www.downtowndisneyhotels.com/Promotions/

Military Spouse Appreciation Day is tomorrow!

2010-05-07T12:24:00.000-05:00

May 8th, 2010

Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

Show a milspouse how much you appreciate his or her service to those who serve. I am always touched when someone thanks ME for serving my country by supporting my husband. It takes so little and means so much.

Presidential Proclamation--Military Spouse Appreciation Day

What are you looking for?

2010-03-26T15:35:00.000-05:00

Attention all Milspouses:

I am in the process of developing a website for Military Spouses. As a military spouse (ret.), I am tired of searching through link after link to find what I’m looking for, so I want to have a site for links to some (or all!) of the main sites, such as Military.com and Military Onesource. I also want other things such as the best blogs written by military spouses and those written for military spouses. I don't want to give away the idea, but I wanted to reach out to the community. Right now, I just want to find out what YOU want to know!

Let me know what you want to see in a military spouse website. And pass this on to your milspouse friends! I'd like to have a good sense of the community's wishes by April 9th at the latest, but feel free to continue sending ideas past that date. This is a major website that's going to take a few months to build. I need everyone's ideas to create the best site possible. (I even have a terrific name!)

:)

I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your help.

Rosemary

2010 - Bring it!

2009-12-31T15:52:00.000-05:00

Wishing Everyone a

Happy & Healthy

2010!

- Rosemary O'Brien

Survey about Military Family Programs

2009-12-17T09:58:00.001-05:00

Officials Seek Feedback on Family Programs
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – Defense officials have launched virtual “listening sessions” in hopes of gaining more insight into the effectiveness of military family programs, a Pentagon official said today.

The anonymous, online survey solicits feedback from servicemembers and their families on the military’s educational programs, support networks and other services. (Read original article.)

Servicemembers and their families are invited to participate in the survey at https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1253631402808.

(Thank you to MilitaryAvenue.com)

Cpl. Xhacob Latorre from Waterbury Passes

2009-12-10T19:39:00.001-05:00

Send a card to a soldier or sailor

2009-11-25T09:57:00.001-05:00