My dear Eugenia has been a steadfast support and friend in this space and I totally appreciate the hand of fellowship encouragement and constant interactions with her.

Her humourous outlook, Tuesday chatter and other thoughtful posts on her blog always leaves me refreshed and I am glad that she obliged my request to let us get to know her a bit better.

Thank you Eugenia for your warmth and kind spirit. It’s my pleasure knowing you.

Hi Jacqueline and thank you for selecting me for your interview. Quite flattering, I must say.

You know you asked for a bio, which the word bio is the shortened version of the word biography. I am going to do my best to compile a shortened version of my life, bio vs. biography.

Born and raised in Orlando, FL before the mouse, meaning before Disney World was built. Disney created the opportunity for numerous modeling and acting jobs. I did a lot of modeling and had  parts as an extra in a few commercials. No big time jobs but I had a lot fun.

It was obvious I wasn’t going to eke out a living in modeling so I landed a job at an insurance company. After 40+ years in the insurance industry, I retired. This coming July 1 marks my 3^rd year of retirement.

I moved from Orlando when I turned 30 and I lived from one end of Florida to the other (Tampa to Daytona Beach and Miami to Jacksonville).

Other than attending college in Fulton, MO and living in Marlton, NJ for a few years, I lived most of my life in Florida until 2012.  My insurance career, which I was co-owner of my own agency for nine years, led me to many great experiences including travels to London and several U.S. cities. It also led me to the finality of my career, via transfer to Atlanta, GA, where I retired.

Yes, there is a lot more to my story but this will hopefully serve as a petite summation of many years and experiences.  Currently, I live in Roswell, GA with my husband, Paul and our cat, Amanda. Neither Paul nor myself had children, so it is just the three of us. I must say, I am at a very happy time in my life.

The photos below are:  Amanda Panda, our Cat kid.   Canton Street in Roswell, GA, a very charming little city outside of Atlanta; and Paul and I while on a train ride in Blue Ridge, GA.

 

After retiring, I had a void in my life. My position in insurance required a lot of writing, which it is referred to as documentation, and can be used in a court of law. So I was accustomed to writing and I am computer savvy. I thought what better way to fill some of my time than to write. I somehow stumbled on WordPress, which was the start of my blogging experience.

I believe the blogging phenomenon is fantastic! It is wonderful opportunity to be creative by expressing yourself in words, photos, and art; and the learning and sharing of ideas. Undoubtedly, the most fulfilling part of blogging is the camaraderie with others. I find the blogging community very welcoming across all platforms.

I have no set goals or visions of grandeur for my blogging. My need it to fill my time and feel useful. In the beginning, I found It took some time not to write like an insurance underwriter, meaning dry and factual with no flair. Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts – know what I mean?

Here are a couple of my own favorite publications:

https://amanpan.com/2016/04/30/you-know-2/

https://amanpan.com/2016/05/22/remember/

I also run a weekly event, Tuesday Chatter, which the intent is to have fellow bloggers share their link thus increasing their exposure.

https://amanpan.com/2015/10/27/tuesday-chatter/

My typical day begins early. I am an early riser because I enjoy the mornings. After putting myself together, breakfast, and playing with the cat, I am on my computer. I check our email and then access my favs. I spend a lot of time in beBee, LinkedIn and WordPress. I also play games on Pogo.com.

Yes, I do other things besides look at my computer all day – the usual cooking, cleaning, and shopping. My husband and I share in the household duties. Amanda, being a long-haired cat, keeps us busy.

Regarding any future plans for blogging, I don’t have anything carved in stone.  I blog as much as I can across 3 platforms: beBee.com, LinkedIn and WordPress. beBee keeps me extremely busy and WordPress runs a close second. In case you are not familiar with beBee, it is the new experience in social media. I migrated with my online friends to beBee from LinkedIn as we were not enjoying LinkedIn’s recent implemented changes.

My beBee group is made up of professionals, with many being professional writers.  I have learned a lot, published a lot and I run 4 groups (groups are referred to as hives on beBee). It’s fun, it’s fulfilling and I enjoy it. Several of my publications on beBee are not on WordPress and vice versa. And some publications parallel one another. Here is a publication that I posted on LinkedIn, WordPress, beBee and Millionaires Digest. It generated 5,000 views on beBee. I am truly thrilled.

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@franci-hoffman/you-yourself-and-you

Jacqueline, my attitude toward life has always been positive. I’ve had my share of bumps in the road and feel they are life events that make me a stronger person. My favorite type of writing is poetry, which I can be creative, whimsical, serious, or even melancholy in my reflections. You write beautiful poetry, Jacqueline, so you know understand what I mean.

https://amanpan.com/2016/06/01/life-death-and-inbetween/

Life is like a dream

It can be good or bad

It can be happy or sad

Death is like a dream

Never ending

And unforgiving

In-between is like a dream

But still remains unseen

As experiences of your being

Life may be pleasant

Death may be peaceful

No shows won’t know

In-between may be troublesome

But, isn’t it what you make it?

Wise up and don’t forsake it

-Eugenia

Well, it’s time to wrap this up and again, Jacqueline, thank you for selecting me for your interview.

Cheers!

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A Richly Layered and Passionate Read. Jan Cliff

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