Short? Bio--Sunrise class

     
                  WHO I AM, WHERE I CAME FROM, HOW I GOT HERE, WHERE I WANT TO GO

          I am jennyj; my full name is Jennifer A. Jenson (my married name  is Jennifer J. Cartwright).  I will answer to any and alll of the above!  I signed up for this class because I haven't taken a Creative Writing class since 1981. I graduated from law school, but that doesn't count as creative writing.  (Law schooo tries to breed any and all creativity out of the law students; I feel lucky to have escaped with my soul.)  I practiced law from 1984 until 2003, when my MS made me too physically disabled to practice.  While my MS has been in remission for severak years, I am in a wheelchair and am hopefully learning to walk again.  There is a very good reason why most humans don't wait until adulthood to learn to walk.  The average beginning walker falls alot; I am now 6 feet tall and learning to walk again is a trip!  After you don't stand up for awhile, you literally lose your balance.  As is, can't stand up without balancing against somethingj like a bed or wall or walker.  But I am pleasesd with my progress--I am doing self-directed PT and can pretty much stand myself up.  I am trying to stay up for longer periods of time.

          I currently write poetry.  Right now,  I am living with my husband and sister-in-law  at her home; the household joke is that all I do all day is eat and write poetry.  That's not quite true, but it is close.  All I can say is "I'hank God for WDC."  I am new in town and right now, my writing is my lifeline.  I am beginning to pursue freelance writing jobs; I have only been in this situation for a few weeks and am still working the basic bugs out of my life first.  My longterm goal is to publish poetry collections and be the  poet laureate of the U.S.; right now,  I don't even have access to all of my writing!  It will be a long process.  But you can't be very happy in a wheelchair unless you are patient and innovative.  For me,  it is the journey as much as the destination.

          I like to write poetry and non-fiction.  I like to read poetry, non-fiction, science fiction, memoir and inspirational writing.

          I think that one of my biggest weaknesses in my writing is my typing; I also tend to ramble.  I think a strength is my easy conversational style, and my love to do research.