Hi all!
I'm brand new both to this particular forum, so instead of standing awkwardly in the corner, which is what I'd probably do in real life, I thought I'd take a deep breath and say hello.
My name is Robin Malcolm. My husband and I are missionaries to children in West Africa, and we currently live in Lome, Togo. I am originally from Seattle, Washington, but have strong ties to Oregon state and most recently lived in Springfield, MO. My husband is the child of American missionaries and grew up as a "Missionary Kid" in central and southern Africa. We have two adult children. (Wow- I'm still not used to that. Our son is 21, our daughter 18. This is new territory.)
Among my many hats, my primary role as a missionary is to locate existing curriculum and culturally edit it for use in Africa. Since that pool is very shallow, I also develop and write original materials. Together my husband and I have written two books and a large number of curricula.
For a long time, I've known that someday I would write our story. Our first term of missions service was in Cote d'Ivoire from 2000-2002, where a cascade of trauma and tragedy beat us up, culminating in a military evacuation from a civil war. It's taken me this long to get to the point where I feel like the story is "finished" enough to tell.
Now I'm standing on the edge of this enormous endeavor and sometimes I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff without a rope. The book is underway- currently its about 18,000 words, but I still feel like I am riddled with self-doubt most days. I'm hoping to eventually get some honest feedback from other writers. Writing curriculum and teacher resources is a completely different skill than writing a story.
Wow. That is way more words than I ever would have said in person to any stranger. But there you go. Hello. Glad to be here.
Blessings!
Robin