Lesley Ann McDaniel
Who am I? Let’s see…wife, mother, child of God, writer, costumer, and now blogger. I wouldn’t want to spoil the movie-of-the-week version of my life when it comes out (they’ll be asking me any day now, I’m sure of it) so I’ll give you the abbreviated rundown of how I got from there to here.
I grew up in Montana, under the influence of two great parents, a brother who daily demonstrated on me the skills that would make him the fine lawyer that he is today, the Missoula Children’s Theatre, which brought me out of my shell, and a teacher named Mr. Smart (I’m not making that up) who encouraged my writing. I went to Willamette University in Salem, Oregon to study acting and, thanks to the amazing head of the costume department, fell in love with costuming. Funny, since I have no fashion sense whatsoever. Maybe I was just born in the wrong era. But I digress….
Moving to Seattle, I launched myself into the adult world with a degree in acting but no desire to live the lifestyle inherent to that profession. Instead, I got a “real job” at a medical research lab (yes, I befriended the mice and the bunnies) and put my heart and soul into acting and costuming for free. Ah, the energy of youth.
All of that came to a crashing halt when a friend asked why, if I loved costuming so much, I wasn’t doing that for a living. Talk about a revelation. I immediately kissed the corporate world goodbye (not literally, you understand. We never hit it off all that well) and started sewing in the costume shop at Seattle Opera. I was in heaven- the one with a little ‘h’.
Through a series of circumstances that I have to think were God-led, I started working wardrobe for the union theatres in town. I’ve had the joy of working with many amazing people, some whose names you’d recognize if I wanted to be a name-dropper, and many of whom I’ve seen in their underwear. I’ve gotten to work on lots of big Broadway tours, which has been more fun than you could imagine and more hard work than you could believe.
In the meantime, I met a nice young man (what kind of movie-of-the-week would this be otherwise?) who led me to the Lord. I was so grateful I married him, and we now have two beautiful kids.
As if life wasn’t full enough, one day the Lord gave me a gentle nudge and pointed out that those stories He’d given me were ready to be written. I knew that would happen someday. Now, four years and two novels later, I’m in the midst of seeking a publisher. I have no idea what God has in store, but I trust that He knows what He’s doing.
One of the things “they” tell you to do as a writer seeking a platform is to blog. I resisted, thinking there are plenty of writers out there who know more than I do about the craft and the business of writing. What could I possibly put into a blog that would be worth the effort it takes to “click” in?
Again that gentle nudge from God. Ok, maybe not quite so gentle this time. For reasons still unknown to me, He put it on my heart awhile ago to share the boatload of information I have in my head about alternative healthcare. No, I’m not a doctor, but I have a crazy fascination with natural healing and the reasons so many people are sick in America. Could it have something to do with our national obsession with fast food and prescription drugs? Hmmm….
Anyway, God whispered in my ear “write about it”, and that brings us to this blog.
I decided to call my blog “The Healthy Writer” not in reference to myself (because believe me, I’m facing my own share of issues) but in tribute to what we’d all like to be- healthy. My focus, however, isn’t just on writers- that was a clever ploy to get your attention. We all face the same challenges, particularly those of us who embrace a lifestyle of sitting at a computer with a donut in our hand. As the commercial says, “I’m so there”.
I hope you enjoy the information I’m sharing in this blog. You might not agree with all of it, and that’s ok. Just remember that knowledge is power. And now the disclaimer….
