Lindsay Ann Hawker

Last month marked the two year anniversary of the death of Lindsay Ann Hawker.



I know most of you will have never heard of her, but her death rattled all us foreigners living here in Japan.



She was a British girl living in Tokyo. She had come over for a year to teach English.



A Japanese guy stopped her on the street asking for lesssons. She gave him one English lesson in a coffee shop a few days later. That same day, he killed her in his apartment and left her body on his balcony.



It's a really creepy story and many of us foreign teachers were greatly affected by her death...because it could've happened to any one of us.



At the time of her death, I was giving 11 private classes apart from my regular job, going to people's home. I know it was stupid of me and I stopped them afterward. I was very lucky.



The police were tipped off about him, went to his place and found him leaving his apartment. The officers found her body and tried to chase after him. They lost him. And they haven't found him to this day.



It's frustrating and must make her family crazy to know that they had the man who killed their daughter in their hands, and they let him slip away.



I was asked to write an article for the Being A Broad magazine, who has tried to raise awareness and make her murderer's face known to everyone, in the hopes of catching him.



The article includes many quotes from her family. I thought it best to use their words mainly, rather than my own. They visited Japan last month also to help people not forget that their is a cold-blooded murderer free on the streets and asking for people to help.



I can't imagine what they must be feeling, nor would I even pretend to. While I was writing the story, I admit there were a few times my emotion got the better of me. Lindsay's story is such a sad one and the love her family had for her is so strong.





Although I've never met the Hawker family, since writing this article, I've had them in my prayers. I hope the police do catch her murderer so her family can finally rest and put closure on this nightmare.

My Published Works

Here is an article I wrote, published last December in the Being A Broad magazine for foreign women living here in Japan.

Just click directly on the article for a bigger, clearer image.






Next month, I will post another of my publications. :)

Today is the day

Well, great news!

Another article of mine has been accepted! I was contacted by the editor of the magazine awhile back for a 'rush' article she needed done. I got that done in a 'rush' and it will be published this month.

She sends me another message yesterday, asking if I'd be interested in writing another article she needs for next month. I ask her for a sample and she sends me one this morning.

I thought: What the heck? Why not? It's a great way to get tearsheets.

So, I start fooling around with an idea and an hour and a half later, I send her my first draft.

She emails me back so excited and happy. She loved my draft and said she'd be willing to publish it, as is! And says she's impressed how fast and great I am.

Now, I'm not trying to stroke my own ego here, because I know these are not major kick-ass articles. Actually, all three articles accepted by this magazine were non-fiction, life articles.

But I am feeling pretty damn good! And it inspired me to write another article which I want to send in to another magazine. Yes, a paying one.

I finished that article today, as well.

So I must admit, it's been a pretty productive day. I taught three classes, wrote two articles.

One has been accepted already and the other is now sitting patiently, while I do my Market Research Analysis and hopefully that will be out by the weekend.

Now, I have an inkling of what my life will feel like if I reach my goal of writing from home.

Today, I feel like a writer :)

What a wonderful surprise!

Well, you just never know where, how or who will surprise you. :)

I opened my blog today to find my faithful TWF Friends as my followers. You guys are awesome!! :)

I'm proud of the community The Writing Friends has become over such a short time. We met at different points in our lives. We're all from such different backgrounds, but having the love and struggle of writing in common, brings us closer together.

I feel more at home in TWF than any other writing site I've found. I am proud of everyone's successes and sympathize with everyone's letdowns.

It's nice to feel part of a community that is still very personal and one that helps us grow. It will be awesome to watch everyone progress and reach their goals!

Perhaps very few of us have blessings in all aspects of our lives, but some blessings make you feel so warm inside, it makes up for where blessings are lacking.

I will sign off wishing you all a wonderful week and leaving you with my Quote for the Week:

"I'm so lucky. I have such a great support system. All I have to do is run. "
~Cathy Freeman~

Back again, pushing forward

Ok, I'm back...

Haven't forgotten about my blog...just had things in the way.

Well, things are looking good for us, so far. I don't want to say too much in case I jinx it, but we are getting things in order quickly...if all goes well, we can get our papers in by mid-April. YAY!

Then, it's just wait, wait, wait.

Also, I sent in my submission to a Canadian Publisher for my children's book. Crossing my fingers on this one! I'll be so excited if they accept it.

I haven't dedicated anytime to finishing my novel, but this month I'll have a couple weeks free and I plan on dedicating most of that time to my novel. If I can finish it by the end of this month, then I can do the edits little by little and be on schedule to submit it by the summer.

Slowly but surely, things are coming together. I'm feeling much more peaceful these days. I'll admit, exhausted, but peaceful.

When I'm working towards a goal, no matter how little I accomplish, I feel like not one day is in vain. Little accomplishments each day is what gets us to the big ones.

Things are coming together :)