Meet Linda

In the last 18 years, I’ve written more than a dozen nonfiction books and offered book and personal coaching and workshops, all to help people improve their lives. But there have been some big hills to climb along the way.

As the only child of an alcoholic mother and account father, I learned early to care for     others and hide my own pain, which taught me to be self-reliant and independent from childhood on. When I married at 25, I chose the wrong man. My rose-colored    glasses cleared after a time, and 26 years later, I finally left and started over. But I’d  discovered so much joy by then!

First, my two wonderful children and now 5 grandchildren, whom I love so dearly  make my heart sing in a way I hadn’t known was possible. Secondly, my beautiful friends. And then there is my writing.

In 1989, I became a professional writer. That is, I got paid for my words (not counting the squash recipe I sold to Family Circle magazine in 1966!). Post-divorce, my focus turned to writing books. The first was a short business book on promoting seminars. Sales for that were oh-so-modest.

But my mission became explaining the separation and divorce process to those who, like me, were absolutely clueless about ending a marriage. After hours of interviewing and research, the first edition of Your Pocket Divorce Guide and the co-authored The Divorce Recovery Journal hit the book stores, followed soon by The Basic Divorce Workbook. Gender-neutral, written to help both men and women, they’re concise, useful, and focused on fairness. Shortly thereafter, I began giving divorce workshops and coaching. After that came The Many Faces of Journaling: topics & techniques for personal journal writing, And Now We Dance: journaling for the woman within, and How to Write Fascinating Memoirs (temporarily out of print).

In 1995, I opened Pen Central Communications, and in 1998, the publishing division, Pen Central Press, which is a traditional publishing company.

Other books on writing, a teaching guide, student manuals, business handbooks, and college class exercises packet used with my Many Faces of Journaling. In 2006, I officially began book coaching, followed in 2008 by personal and divorce coaching.

Of course, there’ve been other emotional “bumps” along the way: people dear to me have health challenges, the Great Recession hit my small business as it did so many others, and in 2013 I had a health scare. But I feel blessed by love and being able to help others through my work.

My Earlier Work Experience

• Medical Office Receptionist: for Internist M.D.
• Assistant to Outside Purchasing Agent: Southern Equipment Company, commercial kitchen equipment fabricators and suppliers
• Manager of Main Line Shelving division: Sales Engineer, Sales and Factory Liaison
  (promotion within Southern Equipment)
• Secretary to Education Department Manager: Visiting Nurse Association, St. Louis MO
• Happy Stay-at-home Mom
• Professional Writer
• Founder and CEO of Pen Central Communications & Pen Central Press
• Author, Personal Coach, Mentor, Teacher, and Speaker

Offices held

• Past President and 3-year board member: St. Louis Publishers Association
• Past Secretary and Trustee: Eliot Unitarian Chapel Board of Trustees
  Eliot Unitarian Chapel, Kirkwood, MO