and a suburban Wilmington, DE, resident who'd rather live in the mountains.
I started out in Westport, New York, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains on Lake Champlain. Magnificent country. I thought I wanted to live in the city - to be sophisticated and with-it - so I left. Now that I'm over wanting to be sophisticated and with it, I'd like to go back home.
I graduated from Syracuse University and received my master's degree from Youngstown State University.
I'm certified as a teacher, guidance Counselor, instructional supervisor, and, in Ohio, school administrator.
After college I worked wherever I landed. I've been an elementary teacher, an instructional supervisor, a guidance counselor, an orthodontist's chair assistant, a group home parent, a reform school childcare worker, a Kindergarten assistant, an apartment rental agent, an EFL teacher, a swimming instructor, a life guard, an English and literature teacher, a gem and jewelry salesperson, a receptionist, a bar maid, a camp counselor, a condominium sales agent, and a teacher at Adler Schools, Inc., a private school in Chicago owned by a family that also owned a towing service. I still need to write a story about that one.
I recently moved from the Chicago suburbs to Wilmington, DE. It's almost as good as living in the mountains, but I'd rather live in the mountains.
What does all this have to do with writing, book design, web development, and the rest of my projects?
Everything.
Experience seeps into the imagination and makes the creative spirit explode with novelties - like rice noodles hitting hot oil.
I'm a Book Designer & more
I design, format, and otherwise prepare books for on-line, print-on-demand (POD) publishing. I establish and manage an author's on-line account until the book has been approved for final publication, at which time I turn the account over to the author. Currently, I use Create Space and Lulu as my on-line POD services, both of which turn out beautiful products.
I started creating books five years ago when my husband, Ed Searl, an author who has published with Skinner House and Berkley, asked me to format several of his unpublished manuscripts and prepare them for publication. The books I created were professionally produced with high quality components. My hobby soon became a business.
To showcase books, businesses, or other interests, I create business cards, postcards, bookmarks, flyers, logos, greeting cards, etc. I also design and manage websites and blogs. I use GoDaddy, Wix, and Blogger to produce websites and blogs. I created my flashy website, Publishista.net, with Wix. It has moving parts. An experiment in web building. Take a look.
I'm a Writer
I write stories, mostly true ones, about human nature - the ordinary and the eccentric -getting to the heart of life’s yearnings, idiosyncrasies, and ambiguities. The splendor of the Adirondack Mountains and Lake Champlain seeped into my being, as did the rhythms of small-town life. My slice-of-life storytelling draws inspiration from rich experiences with diverse cultures, quirky personalities, and unusual encounters while living, working, and raising a family in New York, Delaware, Vermont, Ontario, Quebec, Ohio, and Illinois. My stories reflect my passion for justice, equality, and freedom of the spirit.
You'll find my stories in two publications and on my literary blog, Ellie Searl Stories.
LITTLE DID WE KNOW: Making the Write Impression and
YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS UP - Real Stories,Real Life.
Literary blog: www.elliesearlstories.com.
My personal website is www.elliesearl.com.
I've Had Many Jobs
While Ed studied for his post graduate degrees, we lived, and I worked, in the US and Canada: Wilmington, DE, Burlington, VT, Ottawa, ON, Montreal, QC, Syracuse, NY, and Youngstown, OH (where I thought I would die of ugly fever but received a Master's Degree instead), before we landed in the Chicago Suburbs.
These stories tell of my more unusual - or fascinating - or unsettling - work experiences: Crayon Cigarettes, From the Frying Pan to the Fire, My Mother Is Better Than Yours, Dr. Marvin's God, Spokespeople, In a Borrowed World, and Echoes of Marian Hall - Parts One and Two.
I'm a Wilmington, DE, resident who recently moved from the Chicago suburbs.
My husband Ed and I moved to Wilmington in January 2013. We lived in La Grange, IL, twenty miles west of the Chicago Loop, for many years. I liked the excitement and activity of the city, but I didn't like the flat landscape, even though it provided longer sunsets and lots of corn.
I love the rolling countryside of Southern Pennsylvania, the history of our country's first state, the 17th Century stone houses, and our proximity to great cities: Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Our daughter Katie lives in Brea, CA, with her husband Mike and their two children, Brett and Bridget.
I'd Rather Live in the Mountains
Whenever possible, I visit my growing up town of Westport, New York, to play in the Adirondacks and walk the shores of Lake Champlain. Westport, a tiny town on the lake, is where the Adirondack chair was invented. I think it's that chair that shaped my spirit and saved me from the jitters that so many city people seem to have. It's impossible to sink into an Adirondack chair without sinking into a meditative state. I particularly liked to sit at the edge of the lake and watch the sun rise over the Green Mountains.
Sometimes I get my mountain fix by traveling to my brother's home in Winthrop, Washington, just beyond Washington Pass in the exquisite Methow Valley of the Cascades.
Methow Valley
Winthrop, Washington