I’m Carol, aka “Nonnie.” I am an educator, writer, proofreader, editor, and wanna-be novelist.

I know first-hand how overwhelming it can be to find the right word and then put strings of right words together in a grammatically correct, reader-friendly format that will have readers coming back for more. And I love helping other people find those words.

I went to college and earned my B.S. in English and a Master’s in Education. I have thirty hours above my Masters in rhetoric, but I learned more about writing by living and teaching than I did in the hallowed halls of my favorite colleges. It is interesting, ALL of my writing professors and half of my education teachers told me that would happen. So, why did I take out all of those student loans?

Anyway, today I am teaching by day at both the high school and college levels, and writing, editing, and proofreading for individuals, companies, and social media by night.

To be honest, I just love words — especially the right words.

I think I realized my talent for putting someone else’s ideas into written words when I married this great guy who has phenomenal ideas but struggles with getting ideas into written format. I used to say he married an English teacher so he’d have a writer constantly at his disposal, and boy, have I earned my keep!

Writing for him helped me realize that my tangible skill can serve many people.

Writing for him also illuminated a skill that I can use to fund my camping escapades when I decide to hang up my teaching credentials.

Though I never thought it could happen, after teaching for over 15 years, I suspect that while I absolutely, positively love teenagers and first-year college students today, their attitudes and antics may not be as endearing to me ten years from now.

Still, I know my desire to help others and my need to earn a source of income will still be strong, so I have ventured into this new territory.

I knew I was going to turn my skill into full-time blogging, I just didn’t know when nor did I know what I would write about. So when my husband and I bought a travel trailer, I started a camping blog. While I plan to get back to that, my heynonnienonnie blog, thanks in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, turned into more of a life lessons blog where I discuss everything from book reviews to community angst to lessons I learn from teenagers. It’s fun, therapeutic, even, but not a money-maker.

The blog turned into a hobby but, whether it was through that blog or some other avenue, a company contacted me to see if I would ghostwrite for other blog writers, and my freelance business was born.

It was all very official, of course, because clearly all of my English studies prepared me for a freelance business, right?

I spent days Googling what a ghostwriter was, how to deal with taxes on money earned through freelancing, and then more days determining if ghostwriting was plagiarism. (Remember, I’m an English teacher and writing professor by day; plagiarism is worthy of, well, you know.)

So once that research was out of the way – ghostwriting is NOT plagiarism — I found my new passion: helping others find the right word(s) for their audiences, products, and passions.

So, today, I am still working on that camping blog but find myself helping many people with unique ideas find the right words for their blogs, brochures, social media, and letters. So far, the topics have included:

• Literature study notes.
• Blogs about catamarans in the Caribbean.
• Bass fishing in America.
• Finances.
• Student loans.
• And a whole host of “how-to” articles.

Today, I am having a blast writing content, editing, providing advice, and proofreading.

Oh, and my students think it’s cool that someone actually earns money using something they learned in school. (Their antics are still endearing – today.)